Three - the magic number

Yes, I'm totally stealing from Schoolhouse Rock which just celebrated its fortieth anniversary - impressive!  We heard an interview with the composer and sometimes singer of the songs, Bob Dorough, on NPR last month.  Apparently, "Three is a magic number" was the first Schoolhouse Rock song, and I would say that it's one of my favorites (although maybe NOT quite up there with "Conjunction conjunction what's your function" in my mind).

Recently, in my own small world, I've seen the number three appear in different configurations, some positive, others not so much.  For instance, I'm on my third cold of the academic year which seems to be a ridiculous number!  I should appreciate that I haven't been knocked completely on my ass, unlike some of my colleagues, but I still can't believe that I've been sick this often.  Maybe this is what the 40's look like?  Along with this third cold, I took three 'rest' days this past week. Gasp!  Just more evidence that I will never be one of those hard-core people who hate taking a day or two off, even when they feel like complete shit.  I didn't feel that bad, just like poop (yes, I'm have the vocab of a three-year-old), but sleeping 10 hours Friday night plus taking a 2 hour nap yesterday seemed to do the trick.  But, still, there are some twinges of guilt about the 3 days of rest.

On a more positive note, I've found that the notion of "third time's charm" is apt for new running shoes!  After a lengthy search, it seems that I've finally found something of the holy grail.  Since the initial flare-up of plantar fasciitis, I blamed my shoes, whether that was a fair assessment or not, I'm not sure.  Since last spring, I've been running with Brooks Trance, which I settled on but never felt that they were a great fit.  So, with PF, I started grasping at straws, reading about neutral shoes, barefoot running and stability shoes.  I decided that I needed extra stability and went for an Addidas shoe that offered such.  To my dismay, that was just about the worst running shoe decision I've made in recent years, and I suppose that I should have known that I needed something a bit more neutral since I've been in Brooks Cascadia for the past 2 years without any issues.  So, if anyone wants a pair of extra stability running shoes, size 7.5, please let me know.  I also invested in a pair of Mizuno's Wave, and they've worked out pretty well - I didn't just *love* them, but they certainly felt better than the Addidas.  However, I recently found my perfect fit in the form of Brooks Ravenna:

Source

The guy at In-Step, the insole place in Boulder, recommended these to me.  I tried them on in his shop, and they seemed to fit just right.  So far, I've taken them out twice for a run, and both times, my stride, gait, all that running jargony-stuff felt great.  YES!  I'm so excited to find a shoe that definitely works for me.  In fact, I might go buy two more pairs so that I'll have three! Ha ha (sort of).

As I've wrestled with the fact that I've spent a pretty penny while trying to find the right pair of shoes, it's also a relief to find shoes that really work! Through this search, I've channeled my inner Goldilocks - too hot, too cold, just right.  On a final note, I hope that the three bears don't come after me now!