Love New Shoes!

Late this morning I did my tempo run. It was a bit cooler early today, probably in the high 70s when I ran, and it was sunny, but still managed to hit 90 degrees this afternoon, even with some good cloud cover that moved in. It feels hot.

I did 10.4 miles on the Power Trail at an 8:25 average pace, not bad. I'm making progress. At least I'm consistent. There's a place along that bike path, about a mile or so from my house on the way back, where I always hear Shannon saying "I'm gonna eat SO MUCH FOOD when I get home!"

I was even more proud of myself, though, for spending a solid 2 1/2 hours studying for my oncology certification exam, something I've blown off the past 2 weeks.

After I got done, I remembered I had two shoe boxes in my closet and I've been getting close to needing a new pair. For some reason I thought I had two, but only have one pair of shoes, and they are the oversized ones for super long races or super cold days. The other box was empty!

So I made my trip over to Runners Roost and they only had one pair of Brooks Addictions in an 8. Since Steve Folkerts, the manager, was there, I asked him if he could give me a tour of the newest shoes that are motion control and are not minimalist. I looked at the Saucony and Asics models, along with the Brooks Ariel.

I've been running in the Addiction for nearly 20 years and I have tried other shoes, with little success. I did well in the Avia 2050s for several years before they stopped making them. But the Sauconys I tried about 3 years ago, were the ones that led to my ankle demise.

Every few years I get a wild hair and decide I want to try something new, just for the variety. We looked at the wall of shoes and then Steve remembered the New Balance WR940WB shoes. They are made for people like me. Heavy duty stability, deep enough for orthotics, wide enough forefoot for my table tennis paddle-shaped feet, and solid. I did well in some New Balance shoes years ago, but it's been a long time.

He didn't have a size 8, but he did have a 7 1/2, so I tried them. Poof! They fit! They feel great with my orthotics in them, needed a little lacing adjustment, but it was love at first stride on the sidewalk outside the store. So I got a pair of them too, along with the Addictions.

The other thing I did today was signed up for another 5K this Saturday, in Berthoud, just a few miles down the road from here. The race was a bargain, $15 entry fee, plus it starts at 9 am so I don't have to get up at the butt crack and drag myself out of bed.

When I was at the Roost, I also picked up a few more 5K brochures for upcoming local races. What the hell, might as well continue my 5K ultra training experiment, it seems to be working. I don't expect to hit my sea level 5K time from 2 weeks ago, but it would be nice to see an improvement over previous altitude times. I'll find out Saturday...