Shoes R Us

The weather girl on the local Fox affiliate lamented last night that it looks like we're in for another spell of "boring weather."  I almost jumped out of my chair.  Boring weather is a good thing.  To news-people, a string of unseasonably mild, sunny days is boring, as in bad.  To the rest of us, it's good news.  We can get outside more and stay longer.  The furnace will run less and we'll save on the heating bill this month.  Where's the downside?

"If it bleeds, it leads," is the mantra of television news.  Bad news for you and me is good news for journalists.  Have you ever noticed how excited the folks at the Weather Channel get when there's a hurricane churning up in the Atlantic?  They seem to forget that hurricanes mean death for some people and loss of homes for many others.  To the Weather Channel, hurricanes mean eyeballs, and eyeballs mean advertising revenue. 

Anyway, I've been loving this winter's boring weather.  And, today is another example.  Although we got a dusting (less than an inch) of snow overnight, we're quickly warming into the 30s with sunshine and light winds.  I took advantage by doing a leisurely one-hour maintenance run this morning.  Since the weather wasn't chasing me back inside, I followed it up with a two-mile walk.  Just to be out longer.  Burn a few more calories.  Be pleasantly bored!

Tomorrow is cross training.  Friday is another maintenance run.  Saturday is cross training.  And, Sunday is the season's first speed workout.  I'll do 4 x 1 mile repeats at a pace to be determined.  Probably 9:30.  

As regular readers of this blog know, I'm a running-shoe junkie: http://runningthrutwenty12.blogspot.com/2012/01/channeling-my-inner-imelda-marcos.html

So, it'll come as no surprise that I'm always on the lookout for intriguing new shoes.  I've already reported that I'm looking forward to the May 1 intro of the Kinvara 3.  That's not all.  Yesterday, I came across another promising new shoe: the ASICS Gel-Fuji Racer.  Right now, my go-to shoe for trail races is the Saucony Peregrine.  I ran the Madison, Wisc., North Face Endurance Challenge 50K last September in the Peregrine and experienced no problems.  What attracted me to the Peregrine was the weight: 10.2 oz.  Given the cushioning and support, that's excellent.  But, the Gel-Fuji Racer promises to deliver similar cushioning and support in a shoe weighing only 8.7 oz.  If ASICS can deliver, the Gel-Fuji will find lots of fans.

I've thought about taking a closer look at the Brooks PureGrit, the trail model in their popular new Pure series.  The PureGrit comes in at an advertised 8.9 oz.  That's plenty light for a trail shoe.  I own a pair of the PureFlow, but I haven't taken them out of the box.  I've had them for over two months now and need to give them a try.  My son likes his  PureFlow's, but is ambivalent about his PureGrit's.

I'm somewhat amazed that Brooks can build a trail shoe (the PureGrit) that's only .2 oz. heavier than its road-shoe cousin (the PureFlow).  Considering the extra hazards of trail racing--rocks, roots, mud, etc.--that a trial shoe needs to protect against, .2 oz. isn't much.