Running Shoes Reviews

Hey!
So, I did my 20 miles on Tuesday. I did the first 7 miles with Roadbunner, then headed off for the last 13 by myself. It was a great run. The weather was absolutely perfect. Sunny and gorgeous. I felt really good, but went very slow so that I didn’t wear myself out. Toward the end it hurt a fair amount and my knees felt like they might pop, but it wasn’t horrendous.

I have 2 more 20+ runs before my marathon and I’m trying to decide what distances I should go for. I’ve pretty much thrown my marathon schedule out the window…I would be doing 19 next week if I were following it.

I’m thinking I’ll do 22 next week and then 24 for my final long run before the marathon. I feel like that is reasonable, but it also seems like more miles than most of the training schedules I’ve seen call for. Any suggestions?

And now for the shoe review entries:

Audrey

Women’s Nike Air Zoom Vomero+

Marlene

Women’s Mizuno Wave Alchemy

duffrunner

Men’s Asics Gt 2140

Jared

Men’s New Balance MR8507

Ariel

Women’s Nike Air Zoom Skylon

Dylan

Men’s Nike Air Alvord

Scotty

Men’s Adidas Ozweego

Ashley

Women’s Pearl Izumi Syncro Float

Conner

Men’s Salomon XA Pro

Elle

Women’s New Balance RC152

M2M

Women’s Asics GT 2130

Ken

Men’s Puma Burmei

Marlene

Women’s Adidas adiSTAR

Marissa

Women’s New Balance WR833

Alisa

Women’s Saucony Pro Grid Ride

Stuart

Men’s Pearl Izumi Syncro Infinity

Blaine Hawkes

Men’s Mizuno Wave Rider

Amy

Women’s New Balance W790

I took a video of myself pulling the name out of the hat, but my hair looks soooo bad yo! Jeez! Um, so I’ll just tell you who the winner is: It’s Ken! Yahoo! Go Ken!

If you guys make me, I’ll put up the video, but it is truly the definition of bad hair day…ha ha!

I did my long run on Sunday. I was intending to go 17 miles, but I overshot by a mile and ended up going 18. Honestly, it was kind of awful. Most of the run was near the ocean and the wind was CRAZY! It was blowing sand in my face and sapped a lot of my energy. It was astonishing to me how much more work it is to run against the wind and how quickly I got tired. Even my knees started to hurt earlier than normal. I was walking most of the time for the last couple miles. I just couldn’t get my body to go anymore. Uff!

I am very thankful that my 15 mile long run last week was fantastic so that at least I know how wonderful long runs can be. Swinging from one extreme to another!

Next week I’m dropping back down to 13 miles, which is perfect since I’ll be back in Wisconsin where the weather will probably be uglier, though it looks like spring might be perking up there too.

Today I’m meeting up with Roadbunner for our weekly jaunt around the park! I didn’t get to see her last week because I was in Vegas, so I’m excited.

Vegas was soooo awesome! I stayed with a friend and we headed to the hot springs about an hour after I arrived. The terrain around Vegas is beautiful! I didn’t do any gambling, but it was fun to see all the silly buildings and the lights and fountains.

The Miracles first recorded “Heard it Through the Grapevine” back in 1966. In 1967 Gladys Knight and the Pips released a version of the song. Most music fans would argue that Marvin Gaye’s 1968 rendition was the most successful, but I’d counter that the California Raisins’ cover of the song back when I was a kid is the most memorable.

Speaking of miracles and raisins, I’ve discovered that raisins are my distance running “miracle”. I’ve substituted raisins for sports gels on three long runs so far and I think it’s going to be a thang.

I decided to test out raisins since they seemed similar to Luna Moons or Shot Bloks in consistency and portability. They are delicious (to me), cheap, convenient and filled with sugar. The market near my house has golden raisins that taste like caramel…mmm!

I did a little research to see if anyone else had tried using raisins as fuel for endurance sports. Not only have people tried it, there has been a STUDY about it! Click here to read download the pdf of the study.

The study tested “the differences in metabolism and cycling performance” of athletes who consumed raisins vs. sports gel. Eight endurance athletes, four men and four women were the subjects of the study. The conclusion was that raisins are a “cost-effective source of carbohydrate for pre-exercise feeding in
comparison to sports gel for short-term exercise bouts.”

It seems I’ve made myself into a guinea pig to determine if raisins are any good for long-term bouts of exercise, and as far as I’m concerned, the answer is yes! They’ve kept me feeling great for up to 15 miles (well, as great as I can really expect to feel after running for almost three hours)!

My 15 miler was truly incredible. The weather was ridiculous…60 degrees, sunny, flowers blooming, birds singing, waves crashing! I loved it!

When I met up with some of the other Bay Area bloggers a couple months ago, I remember saying how difficult long runs were and how I wasn’t sure marathon running was for me. Aron said that long runs were what she loved about marathoning and that she fell in love with them. I think I get that now.

I’m flying to Vegas tomorrow for a conference. I’ve never been there before, but I’m pretty stoked. I’m definitely not a gambler, but I’d like to see the spectacle.

I’ll make sure to do something crazy while there so I can say “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”