After a long awaited trip to Fleet Feet, I am finally sporting some new Saucony Kinvaras and I am head over heels happy with them. My ‘coach’ recommended them to me as a nice low profile, lightweight training shoe and he couldn’t have been more right about it. This was my first time buying shoes at Fleet Feet (I had only previously walked through their doors when picking up my race packets for other races I registered for), but I felt extremely confident in the fact that they would know what they’re talking about because of friends’ reviews. The last time I bought a new pair of running shoes was December of 2009 after returning from my study abroad trip to Belgium–I was determined to run my first half marathon the following May after being deprived of some sort of athletic culture and overindulging in Belgian fries and samurai sauce and delicious Belgian brews. My dad bought them for me as a Christmas present and I was all too happy to strap them on and hit the pavement. Since the Indy Mini Marathon last May I have continued to use the Brooks and probably should have bought a new pair months ago. [I’m not sure what their mileage count was but I can tell you from the shin and foot pain I was having, they had to have been long gone for plenty of miles now.] I walked out of Fleet Feet tonight after trying on some Mizunos, New Balance, Pumas, and finally the Saucony’s.

They felt so incredibly light that by the time I got on the treadmill I realized I was more motivated than I had originally planned to be. (Yes, some days I PLAN to be motivated. Others…not so much.) I was thinking that I would do an easy 5 mile at pace, but instead I did a tempo run with my fasted mile being at a 7:30 min/mile pace. I haven’t run that pace in an extremely long time. In fact, I probably can’t even tell you when that last time was! I had no tightness in my hips which is the first place to feel fatigue during an ambitious workout. I’m looking forward to more runs like this one–they’re the ones that keep you going. It’s funny how all of the struggle is relative; Mile 5 was at a 9:00 min/mile pace and it felt to drag on and on and on!

And when I got home I was happy to find my welcome packet to the ACS Team DetermiNATION with a nice training tank tucked inside. Nothing like some nice apparel to get you motivated, right? [Anyone else look forward to collecting race shirts as much as I do?]

I’ve found myself so distracted at work lately, just itching to lace up my shoes and go out there during the day when the sun shines through the office windows. One of these days maybe I’ll go for a run during lunch if time permits. It will sure be nice to run along the lake as the sun sets in a couple of months. 🙂

-J