Tempo Tuesday
Today marks the first (real) week of training for my next marathon. I went to clinic last week, but, seeing as I’d run a 50km two days before – have I mentioned that? – I decided a 6km tempo would be a bad idea.
I have a 6km tempo (plus warm-up/cool-down) on the schedule for tonight. I haven’t done any sort of speed work since May 2011 and it’s definitely showing. I may or may not explode my lungs this evening. Here’s hoping the positive attitude I have right now sticks around…
On another note, running an ultra can completely kill your shoes. Mine didn’t have close to the usual end-of-life mileage, but they are done. I tried to run in them on Sunday and made it a measly 5 out of 10km. My knees told me that it was time to pack it in. Thankfully I have a loving husband who picked me up a pair of my standbys while I was at work.
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| Asics GT-2160 |
This is the 3rd pair I’ve had of this exact same shoe.
And I’m thinking of mixing it up a little, which terrifies me.
Let me explain. I have been wearing some version of the Asics 2100 series for years now. I have had very few problems (fingers crossed/knock on wood). They have served me very well. However, I’ve started to consciously make the effort to not heel strike quite as much so I think that they aren’t the best full-time shoe for me anymore. I’m still willing to keep them around for long runs – as a friend at the running store said, I’m more likely to need the cushioning at the end of long runs when I’m tired and not so focused on form.
I’d like to get a second pair of shoes that are more suited to a midfoot strike while still providing some sort of pronation control. I would use these shoes for my shorter runs. I put the question out there on Twitter and got a couple of answers back so far. I’m not 100% brand loyal – I’ll get the one I can find at work or for cheapest.
Here are my options so far:
As suggested by Asics – Neo33:
As suggested by Melody (a Brooks rep and HTC teammate) – PureCadence:
I still want to see what the comparable Saucony and Nike shoes are as well.
Any thoughts? If you run in either of these shoes how do you like them?
Yes, I’m Still Alive…
My mum pointed out to me today that it’s been a while since my last post. Yup, a week and a bit ago. Oops!
I haven’t had a lot going on lately that’s exciting hence (fancy word for the day) the lack of writing. Here’s a short list of stuff that’s happened:
• Finally got over flu. Thank goodness. I would prefer not to deal with that again this year… Gained back the weight in a matter of hours days. Still pretty tired though.
• Learned how to NOT break in shoes: Part I: After looking at the store closest to me where I could use my discount I found out they didn’t have my size in stock. Ran a very pathetic 10km on my birthday. Putting Dr. Scholl’s cheapy insoles under the stock ones doesn’t help if the actual foam in the sole is shot. B****ed, complained and hobbled for the last 2km due to severe knee and hip-flexor pain. I picked up my new pair of shoes last Saturday at the start of work and “broke them in” during my 8 hour shift. Walking from the front of the store to the back a few times didn’t really do much I don’t think.
• Learned hot to NOT break in shoes: Part II: Ran 32km on Sunday. The long run was in downtown Vancouver along a pretty good chunk of the marathon route. The Good: friends, sunshine!, adequate fueling. The Bad: worried about shoes the whole time (same series, new model). The Ugly: made use of EVERY bathroom on the route. Thankfully my friend was extremely patient and understanding. She was more than willing to run at my slow pace and stop when necessary. Bonus: she had meds! Now that’s when you know your friends… we decided/reaffirmed that no topics are off-limits!
• The new shoes (Asics GT-2160) worked out really well. I went up a half a size – yippee I wear an 11 now (sarcasm) – since my store doesn’t sell 10 ½. Turns out there’s not much difference. Yes, it’s about ½ cm longer, but my toes probably need the room. When I put on my old shoes my little toes feel a tiny bit cramped. I didn’t trip over my feet at all during the long run. No blisters either! The only issue was that I had a tender spot on the top of my left foot because the laces tie in a slightly different spot. Nothing a little toughening up can’t fix…
• Lived in compression for about 12 hours after run – calf sleeves during run and socks after. My lower legs were great on Monday, but my quads were so stiff. I need a compression suit!
• Wednesday was the last day of hills for this clinic! Booyah! I actually did a happy dance at the top of the hill (5km at 1min run/2min walk intervals). Pretty sure I looked like Snoopy, but there were only a few friends around so it was okay.
• A non-running question: If you have a 3 ½ year old do they listen to you? Please tell me that Spud having to be told things a dozen or so times is a stage… I have some luck with counting to 3, but I can only threaten to take things away so often. Today was a challenge with a lot of Spud “not using his ears.” Give me some sort of hope to grasp on to!
Love My Runners 