Fleet Feet = Perfection

8:57PM

So my Ipod has been in a bag of dry rice for about 4 days now. As noted in my previous post, mine got wet last Sunday on my long run and quit working. I called Best Buy to ask if they thought they could fix it. They said they couldn't touch it if I didn't buy it there. I didn't. It was a gift - from the school where I teach no less. An anonymous parent donor had given all the teachers Ipods a couple of years ago. Now that's a gift. Not that I don't love the 12 loaves of banana bread I get every Christmas, but if I ate everything I got from my students around the holidays, I would not be a runner. And I'd weigh about 30 pounds more. But the Ipods were nice. We were all thrilled, so I hated to see it go. It's been good to me. I did a little internet research and found that if it gets wet, you can try putting it in a bag of dry rice to dry it out. Someone on Twitter suggested the same, so I tried it. All I have is a dead Ipod on rice. New dish? I pulled it out night before last and plugged it into the computer. Hope. A picture showed on the screen. It was a red battery and said "charging - please wait". It was like it was completely dead and needed some life. I waited with new anticipation thinking maybe it wasn't dead after all. But when I came back after several hours, it still said the same. And when I unplugged it, nothing. Wouldn't come on and now I can't even get that picture back. I'll keep it on rice for another few days but then it'll be time to say goodbye. Luckily, I have an old MP3 player that I can use. It'll hold me over until I can get something else. Not sure what yet.

Fleet Feet. Love that place. I went today to get new shoes. I posted a little while back that my Mizunos weren't holding up. They lost the heel at about 200 miles which I thought was strange. I usually get a lot more miles than that. So I went to Fleet Feet today. That's where I've gotten my last 10 pair of running shoes. I love the personal service you get there and I've actually gotten to know a few of the workers. Today, I met Ryan. I had heard about him as he and his fiancee had started going to the church where we attend. It just so happened that I was his first customer of the day. He was great, so helpful. And when I told him that I had only had the Mizunos for a couple of months and had only run about 200 miles on them, he credited my account with the cost of them. So basically I got free shoes today and still had about $15 in credit. I did not go into that store expecting anything. When he told me he was going to give me the credit, I told him he didn't have to do that. After all, I did run 2 months and 200 miles in them. But he said they are supposed to get at least 400 miles and that he would just send them back to Mizuno. Now that's quality service. I appreciate that so much but I wouldn't expect anything else from Fleet Feet. It's just a great store. I ended up getting Nike Pegasus. I was a little reluctant to get Nike. I haven't run in Nike in many many years b/c I had a couple of bad experiences with them falling apart a long time ago and it kindof gave me a sour taste in my mouth for them. But I had heard they were making a comeback and Ryan said the same. So I decided to give them a try this time. I'm anxious to see how they do. I ran 5 miles in them tonight and they were good. They need a little more wearing in, but they look like they'll hold up well. And I'm not completely done with Mizuno. I've had too many good experiences with them, plus I like how light weight they are. I may try them again some day. I think I just got a bad pair.

Carter and I did his first 3 miler today. It didn't quite go as planned, but I'll save that story for next week as we approach his first 5K. Hope everyone has a happy Easter and a great new week!!

Keep runnin',
Albert