Tag: running shoes

Week 46: Well, I Tried?

Fallon @ Slacker Runner3 Comments

Upcoming Races-

*Oakland Turkey Trot- (Thank you BibRave!) 11/22

Last week was a little up and down.  Not gonna lie, I am a little stressed.  Ok, maybe more than a little.   I feel a little under water but lazy at the same time.  How does that work? 

The time change is adding to that as I have yet to run after work since the change.  November and December are traditionally my lowest mileage months.  However I just signed up for something in December that means I need to get my tush in gear.   More on that soon.

So what did I do last week?  No, wait, what did I do?

Monday- 5K
I love days off during the week.   I was a little concerned how this run was going to go as it was my first run in over a week.  Oops.  It was surprisingly pretty decent.   There was a little bit of smoke in the air but it wasn’t bad and my run felt decent;y paced.

Tuesday-Shaun T workout
As much as I love 3 day weekends, the Tuesday back is chaos.  This was no exception.  I managed an at home workout and oh boy did it kick my ass.   I was toast.

Wednesday-Sick
Ok, so maybe the reason the previous nights workout felt so hard was because I wasn’t feeling well.  I actually went home early from work.  Say what?  I was still in denial though.  I was blaming my stomach.

Thursday- Sick
Ok, maybe I really was sick.  Once again, I went home early from work.  Damn it.

Friday- Liift4 workout- mostly
I still felt crappy but I made it through the full day of work.  I was feeling super sloth like so I attempted Liift4 once I was home.  I just went really slow and modified the hell out of the HIIT work.   I felt like I sweated some of the funk out.

Saturday- 5 miles
I had originally wanted a real long run but with slightly smoky skies and a lingering feeling of crappiness I decided not to push it.   I headed out in the late afternoon and even though the weather apps all said it was good to run, the skies seemed smokier than that.  However my lungs felt great.  What??  This was actually a pretty awesome 5 mile run.  I finished it by dancing out the last 1/4 mile in public.   The only downside to this run was that I somehow paused my Garmin in the beginning so I under recorded by 1/4 mile.  Boo. 

Sunday- Shopping
Shopping counts as cardio right?  I planned on finishing the day with a hike but ran out of daylight. Womp womp.   However I did pick up some shiny new kicks, so all was not lost, right?

So that’s like 8.1 miles for the week and 2 cross training workouts?  Better than the previous week and could have been worse since I was sick but it was still kind of crappy.

How was your week?
Are you Turkey Trotting this week? I have the Oakland Turkey Trot (virtual)!

Give Me a Boost

Fallon @ Slacker Runner12 Comments

Disclaimer: I received a pair of Adida’s Ultra Boost X to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

I think I’m in love.

If you’ve been following along for awhile now, you know I’ve bee struggling with shoes since last year when they changed my beloved PureFlows to an unrecognizable shoe.  I’ve been through numerous shoes since- various brands and types.  Some I’ve suffered through and then “donated” to my mother’s emergency stash for her tennis team and others I full on returned to the store.  Sorry Running Warehouse.   I hate returning shoes, I feel bad.   So when an opportunity came up to try the Ultra Boost X from Adidas you’d think I would jump on it.  But I deliberated- I’ve become leery of new shoes and these looked different.   Curiosity won me over.    Then I was overly impatient to get my hands on them or more like my feet in them. 😛


These are so different than any of my other shoes.  In some ways they feel like more shoe than I am used to and in other ways they feel like less shoe.    The more shoe comes from the sole- I went from a 4mm drop to a 10mm drop.  Whereas my previous upper was more of standard upper and the Ultra Boost X foots your foot like a sock.  In the beginning I wondered if I even needed the shoelaces or if they were just for looks.   And a floating arch? I could stick my finger through it- how would that work?

Ok- first some data straight from Adidas-

Adidas snip

Ok, first impressions- what the heck is on my feet?   They felt so tight.  I kept loosening the shoelaces.   Turns out I just wasn’t used to the arch support.  I kept trying thinner socks before I realized the shoes are actually slightly too big.  Oops.   Thicker socks and 3 runs in was all it took and I was all adjusted to the extra support and cushion.  🙂


Then I started to notice something.  My shin pain was going away.  My knee pain was a thing of the past.  My feet and ankles were happy.   Was this for real?  It had been so long my legs hadn’t hurt in some way I felt like it was a trap.  I was to the point that I was wearing them for every run but the longest run I had completed was 8 miles.  I didn’t know what to do about San Diego.  Should I try the Ultra Boost X for 13 miles?   Spoiler: I did and they were awesome, my feet felt great for all 13 miles.


In short I am loving these shoes.  I do have some concerns though.  1- go to a store and try them on.  Mine are big, which I correct with either thick socks or 2 pairs, but I think  I probably could have and should have sized down.   Never thought I would say that.  2- the cost, these shoes are not cheap but then again injuries and pains aren’t either so it’s 6 in one, half dozen in another.   One of the Pro’s who met with an Adidas rep said that they were made to last longer than most shoes so we shall see.   You know I will report back on that.  😛  That said, I have already added a price alert to ShoeKicker to let me know if they ever go on sale. 😀😀. Too bad Adidas doesn’t want to give me a pair in every color.  Until then I’ll just keep running in these.

Ever worn Adidas?

What do you run in?

 

The Weight on my Shoes

Fallon @ Slacker Runner10 Comments

Thursday’s run hurt.

My calves were tight and my arches were sore and achy.  I think my PureFlow 4’s are dead.  Which is not cool as they only have 146 miles on them.  I think… I lost most of my shoe data when Nike updated their running app.  Boo.   But they felt dead on my run and since is my third pair of them, I am pretty familiar with the signs of a dead shoe.

So now what?  I am not hugely fond of the 5’s I have been testing.  Granted, I’ve only put 5 miles total on them.  The toebox feels small- which I usually like- but the ankle area feels very floppy.    I tried re-lacing them on my last run in them but they still felt off.  No bloody heels though, so that was a plus.

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So while I was running, ok well, taking lots of walk breaks, I was thinking.   I’ve dropped thoughts about my weight recently- this still isn’t that post- but what if my weight is affecting my shoes?

Am I too large for my shoes?

I am honestly wondering this not trying to stir anything up.  When I was heavier I ran in support shoes.  Over the years as I both ran more and lost weight, my shoes kept getting lighter and with a smaller heel toe drop.  And things were mostly fine.   But now, I am heavier than I want to be by a decent amount.  Let’s be real, I am closer to the weight I was when I first started running than I am to when I was at peak fitness  2 years ago.    Could that be affecting my shoes?

I know the weight affects my form at times.  Especially if I wear the wrong pair of shorts on a run.   It could have all the markings of a great run but the wrong shorts right now will turn it to a crap storm real fast.   Which then throws off my stride.  So why couldn’t that be happening with my shoes?

Problem is that I don’t know how to test this little theory of mine.    I mean I could by another pair of shoes but all this shoe buying is getting a little expensive.  I am hesitant to return the PureFlow 5’s as I’ve only put 5 miles on them.   It took me 20+ to break in the teal pair of 4’s that I had but then I put another 200ish miles on them.    The last pair of normal running shoes-i.e more support- I owned was well over a year ago.  I actually gave them to my mother to be gardening shoes.  So that’s out as an option too.

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Then on Saturday, I ran 8 miles in my Nike’s and my legs felt better than they have in weeks.   They have even less to them than my Brooks.  But, I was also in compression socks.  Is it all in my head?!?!

I would love to say I as going to lose the weight and all would return to normal.  But again, let’s be real, I’ve trying that for a year and failing in numerous ways.   So now what?

Help me, blog land, you’re my only hope!!!

Seriously, what are your thoughts?

 

Back on track?

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Can you be back on track if it’s only been one day?  After choosing to take another rest day yesterday, stupid ankle, I hit the park after work.  Today was also my first day back to work so bring on the heels too!  Wore my lowest pair as they are still more support than my tiny little flats.  Too bad I can’t wear running shoes to work 🙂

Leaving work, I was so tired.  Today was such a Monday, plus the first day back is never stress free.  I had planned to meet my friend at the park for a few laps.  However her work day was just as crazy as mine, so she wasn’t able to make it 😦

After 3 days off my plan was to go slow and walk when my ankle hurt.  I also planned on only 2 laps.  It would be just under 2.5 miles, small but I figured it would be a good test.  Those 3 days off felt like forever once I started out.  I was so sloooooooow.   Which was the plan but it still irritated me.  Maybe I should have run this without my GPS, but where’s the fun in that?

2 laps turned into 3, all still slow.  Slow but steady with some walk breaks.  I can feel my ankle, it’s not as bad as it was but it’s not exactly happy.  So after tomorrow’s volleyball finals, I have decided to push my Wednesday run back to Thursday to give it a little more time.

On a funnier note, I had mentioned previously that there was a section of the park path that reeked.   Today when I ran passed that section the first time; I noticed a sign but didn’t stop to read it.  After the second pass, I busted up laughing and on the third pass, I stopped to take a picture.  Guess I wasn’t the only one who thought it smelled 🙂

This is awesome!
This is awesome!