Today is a nice winter day. Despite some clouds, the temp is a relatively comfortable 35 degrees and the wind is light. I set out for a one-hour maintenance run and ended up doing an hour-and-a-half. Obviously I felt good, but I probably should dial back the exuberance. It's still too early in the season for that. Anyway, if Saturday's 22-mile long run goes off as planned, this will be my first 40-mile week in the train-up to the Colorado Marathon.
Yesterday, I hit 500 miles on my ASICS GT-2160 Trail shoes. My usual rule--probably as a result of being brainwashed by the shoe companies and their agents at the running magazines like Runners World--is to discard any shoe that makes it intact to 500 miles of service. The truth is that few running shoes are that durable--at least in my experience. I love the ASICS GT-2100 series because of their durability, and even though I'm trying to move to a more minimalistic shoe, the GT-2160 (road and trail versions) continues to be my go-to training shoe. I'm thinking of giving the Saucony ProGrid Guide 5 a try though. It is lighter than the GT-2170 (the latest iteration of the GT-2100 series) and has a smaller heel-to-forefoot differential yet still offers decent cushioning. Whether it is as durable as the GT-2100 series shoes is another question.
I never completely retire running shoes that appear to have life left in them. They get a second life as yard-work shoes. Waste not, want not.
I say that, but some runners--even elite runners--make me feel like a wastrel. I was watching "Unbreakable," a documentary on the 2010 Western States 100 ultra marathon a couple of days ago and couldn't help but notice elite ultra runner Antony Krepicka's training shoes. They were gnarly. What's more, he was shown repairing/altering them by shearing off part of the soul with a knife. Here's a guy who likely gets all the free shoes he wants and he's wearing these hacked up, beaten down shoes. Plus, he runs 150+ miles per week without injury. Go figure. Maybe my 500-mile rule is too arbitrary. Just saying . . .
Speaking of shoes: In addition to the Saucony ProGrid Guide 5, I'm also considering a new trail show, the ASICS Gel-Fuji Racer, and a couple of training shoes: the Altra Instinct for the road and the forthcoming (Fall 2012) Inov-8 Trailroc series for the trail. I've never run in either Altra or Inov-8 shoes, but I've heard good things about them and would like to try them one day. You never know when you're going to find another Mr. Good Shoe!
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