The naughty VFF Bikila continued

I finally managed to fix my left running Bikila.

I was impatiently waiting for the shoe goo I had ordered to arrive. Once it got here I made an attempt to reattach the soft arch bit to the actual rubber sole as they had come apart. Not sure what caused it - they might just not have been glued properly initially. I was glad to see that there was no damage, just a bit of detachment ;o).

So I got a bit of surgical spirit, some cotton buds and some clamps. I cleaned the area with the surgical spirit, using the cotton buds to reach inside the little gap as well. I then went and put some shoe goo in with the cotton bud end minus the cotton. It seemed to go in pretty well, and I probably even used a bit too much. As it's a big tub though I didn't worry about that (there's enough to fix another ton of shoes, but I hope I won't have to use it again anytime soon). I put loads in and then secured the two parts with a big clamp. I wiped off any excess goo that was coming out of the gap as soon as I put the clamp on and put the vff into a safe and well ventilated spot....and left it there for the next day and a half to allow the goo to cure.

The fixed Bikila with excess shoe goo

Decisions decisions...

I am currently in a position where I have to make a good few decisions. Some are going to affect my life more than others. They just all seem to come at the same time and anybody who knows me has a fair idea of how difficult it can be for me to make up my mind.

Decision number 1: when am I going to start my own business. I have the qualifications, can get insurance and membership in a professional organization and have most of the gear I need as well. But am I ready yet? Do I know everything I need to know about being self-employed? I'm not sure. Doing a course at the moment to learn more about starting a business that will still be on for another month. I guess it would make sense to be patient and not dive in too soon and at least hold off until the course is finished.

Decision number 2: I need a new car. What car to buy? A smallish cheaper one that would cause more trouble taking Cara anywhere and later fitting my work gear in? Or a bigger one that has enough space to carry all the above but might be slightly more expensive to buy and to run? I tend to option 2 for convenience reasons. No having to fold down seats and the dog cage fits in easily too. Starting to look at cars next week hopefully.

Fun Dog Show

Today I took Cara to her first ever dog show. It was a fund raising event for "Halfway there Hounds", a greyhound and lurcher rescue organisation. It was held at our local boarding kennels as they are heavily involved and give a temporary home to the dogs before they are being brought to England to be rehomed.

So for the laugh I entered Cara into a few classes. I didn't expect her to win anything and just wanted her to get to know other dogs and have a bit of fun. At the same time we were helping the good cause.

Reconsidering life

On Saturday my life changed. Drastically. Before Saturday I was not too happy - holidays over, job lost, no jobs around so trying hard to get my own business set up. Everything just seemed to work against me.
Saturday morning was no different. I got up to go to college, just starting a new massage course, which I was really looking forward to. But I never made it to college, missed my first day there too, what a pain. That's what I thought initially.

Barefoot Treadmill Running

I was dying to go for a run today as I haven't been running in a week. The last time was still in Germany. My VFF Bikilas are still not fixed, waiting for the shoe goo to arrive.

As the weather here has been anything but pleasant since we got back on Sunday, I opted for a treadmill run (otherwise I would have used my new Bikila LS on the road). No need for Bikilas there (they're slippy as hell on the belt because it's quite worn, kinda like sand paper that has been used a lot). No need for any sort of shoes for that matter. I decided to go barefoot and work on my form. I find the treadmill quite good for that as it is unforgiving. One wrong step and a blister is guaranteed.

The naughty VFF Bikila

During my last 5k race one of my beloved silver/green Bikilas started to disintegrate... The rubber sole is starting to come off the EVA arch yoke (not sure does it actually have a name...). I spotted it after the race. Not sure if it was due to the amount of water on the course - we were pretty much constantly running through puddles. When I took the shoes off I saw an approximately 3 cm long gap under the left shoe. I was not happy...to say the least. Cian helped me to do some research on the interweb to find out how to best deal with the issue at hand as I was not prepared to give up my Bikilas because of that. And we found an answer: SHOE GOO! :)

Back in Ireland....

We have just arrived back in Ireland. And - as expected - it was raining again. (It never really stops raining here). I was wishing my life away and so wanted to be back in Germany.

A little shopping in the big smoke on the way home lifted the mood a little. Another pair of VFF's richer (even if not the ones I actually wanted as they had no women's Komodo Sport in the shop....will have to save up now for the winter and might be able to get the Komodo Sports then - at least I was told that they would stock them towards the end of the year...) and plenty of other goodies later (crocs wellies, board shorts and some habanero nibbles) we hit the road to lovely (and wet...) Leitrim.

My new classics

Cian's new classics