Friends it has been a week of unboxing new shoes here at Chez Road Warrior. For a while I was on a running-shoe-buying hiatus, and I am still being pretty choosy about it as I still have a few brand-new pairs of Saucony Kinvaras and Brooks Launch tucked away in the closet. That said I've definitely been wearing through plenty of pairs over the course of the panini and cutting down on the number in the active rotation.
I realized a few weeks ago that I was starting to have some weird foot pain that may or may not be my old friend PF rearing its ugly head, and I also tweaked a calf muscle last week which put the fear of god into me for a few days. I was ruminating on what in the world could be causing these things, and then also realized that I had at least three pairs of shoes that I had continued to run in even as they were worn down to the midsole (or worse!) because "they still feel good."
Sigh. Like many runners, especially those that run enough miles to be buying several pairs of shoes a year, I have definitely always erred on the side of squeezing every mile possible out of a shoe--a couple months on long run duty (up to say 200 miles), a few months in the easy run rotation (until they start to show serious wear), and then maybe a few months ferrying me to the gym and back. Basically, I will keep wearing them for *something* until they start to feel actively bad.
But like....look at this.
just a flesh wound lol
They're so obviously done, and I had to ask myself....Why are you risking your feet and legs over these particular pairs of shoes? Why not just pull out another pair of fresh whatever from the stack, especially just for easy daily runs?
And when I really thought about it, I realized it was because I just *loved* these particular shoes and how they felt to run in, and I didn't want to give them up. Replacing them also felt wasteful when I already had plenty of new shoes in the closet.
Finally I said, "OK, look. If you love these so much, just frickin get another pair. It's fine. You know you'll use them."
But then womp womp, I went to find another pair of Altra Solstices, and apparently they just don't make them anymore. (They make a shoe called the Solstice XT 2, but it's not really the same thing.)
I poked around for a while to see what Altra was making these days in the way of road shoes, and after eliminating shoes I definitely didn't want (for example, anything described as "luxe" or "plush") and shoes I've tried before that just weren't for me (i.e., the regular Escalantes), I decided the Escalante Racer seemed like a strong bet.
Some web searching turned up this absolutely flamboyant colorway which Running Warehouse was offloading for less than $55, as compared to $120+ for the more demure options. (Boston 2020 special edition! Can't imagine why they didn't sell! 🤣).
Less than half price to try out a shoe that I *probably* won't hate even if I don't absolutely love it? Sold!
Also unboxed this week was the pair of New Balance 1400v4s that I got for free back in 2016 for negative splitting CIM. I used to have a pair of 1400v2s that I just LOVED so the newest version (at the time) was definitely my pick for a free pair of New Balances. But then somehow they ended up in the back of the closet (probably because we started renovations not long after that and honestly a lot of things went missing during that time lol). I was so thrilled to find them last week and so bummed that New Balance has discontinued the model (though the FuelCell offerings are pretty sweet.)
And finally we have this wee little beastie which I managed to get my hands on a few days early:
More to come on this guy later!
~*~*~One Week to San Jose (40)8K~*~*~
Grand Total: 41 miles- * 28.25 easy
* 3.5 tempo
* 9.25 speed
Monday 4/11: 5 easy in the 1400v6s
Tuesday 4/12: 3 easy (part 1 & part 2, ugh garmin get it together) + 1 hour strength -- My usual jog to the gym & back.
Wednesday 4/13: 2.75 warm up, 5 x 1200m / 2:30 jog, 3 cool down = 10.5 total. The pace for these was anywhere between 7:00-7:15, but I felt like I had to hold back not to run them in the 6:50 range, especially the first few. Back in the day training for 5Ks, I used to run 1200m's in 5:00 flat (so ~6:40 pace) like clockwork but it's been a loooong time since that was in the cards. But...I ran all of these in like 5:15, and it barely felt like speed work? I don't know if I could have run them all in 5:00 flat but I really don't feel like I was that far off.
Thursday 4/14: 3 easy + 1 hour strength. Took the new Escalante Racers for a spin to the gym and back; it was rainy that day and they felt pretty slippery, so maybe not great wet weather shoes.
Friday 4/15: 6 easy. I wore the Racers again on Friday which was much sunnier and drier and it was a different ball game. More to say on them in the future but it seems that I'll definitely be able to get my $55 worth out of them with no trouble. :)
Saturday 4/16: 3.5 easy
Sunday 4/17: 2 warm up, 3 @ HM pace, 1/2 mile jog, 4 x (1/2 mile @ 5K pace / 2:30 jog), 1.7 cool down = 10 total. First run in the Altra Vanish C's and I am LOVING them. Hey, a shoe that is current enough that a review might actually be useful to someone! 🤣
I feel like I am still trying to recalibrate my paces and levels of effort as compared to last summer. The 3 miles were supposed to be in the 7:35-7:55 range but my pace was more consistently in the 7:29-7:34 range. I kept thinking "Slow it down, slow it down, slow it down" but my legs were like "NOOOOOOO WE LIKE IT HERE!!" which is not a great way to run your workouts.
Same with the half-mile intervals. The goal was 3:32-3:33 each (7:05 pace) which had me thinking, "Right, probably need to hammer a bit there." But....hammering resulted in more like 6:15/6:30/6:45, so again, those reps were much more about "OK slow it down bud" than struggling to hit a pace. (Yes the shoes are awesome but I've been having this issue for a while so I think I can take at least part of the credit for running fast feeling easier lately!)
One week to go until the 8K in San Jose. It's a Pacific Association races so there should be a VERY deep field with plenty of fast people to chase. I have never raced a (certified) 8K but I am thinking 7:15ish pace/something with a 36 in front is a good place to start. It sounds ridiculously fast compared to anything else short I've run in the last few years but why not go big, amirite? What is there to lose? 🤷🏻♀️ A nice consolation prize would be beating my current 40s+ 5-mile PR of 38:11.
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