My Shoes are Catching Up to Me

I recently bought two new pairs of "running only" shoes, the Nike Free 3.0 V2 and the Saucony ProGrid Kinvara 2.  Both shoes are part of the new "minimalist running" or "barefoot running" shoe line.  I wouldn't exactly call them barefoot running shoes, as there are plenty of other shoes, such as the Vibram Fivefingers, that are much more like barefoot running.  Without getting too in-depth tonight, as I want to review each shoe individually, I'll touch briefly on the shoe features.

I have been using both sets of shoes for a few weeks now for my marathon training.  Slowly, I have been logging miles in running more on my mid-foot, with my toes pointed down, rather than pointed up with a typical running shoe.  I used to be more of a heal striker, landing on my heal first and rolling my foot from heal to toe while running.  Striking on my mid-foot allows me to shorten my stride, lessen the blow on my bones and joints, and lets me run in a more natural way.

Anyway, they finally caught up to me.  My legs finally feel like crap.  My calves feel it the most, with some bigtime soreness in the middle of my calves.  I was 1/3 of the way through my speed intervals tonight and had to just stop.

If you have read this, my second daily posting, I appreciate you sticking around.  My shoe reviews, plus a page on barefoot/minimalist running and its benefits will be updated as well soon.

Waking up to Run

So I am in the first stages of my training program for my first marathon this fall (2011).  I have been running mainly at night after work, but while some of you may or may not know, I walk upwards of 10-12 miles a day at work.  Tacking on anywhere from 4-5 or 10 miles after work or on the weekend takes a toll on my legs, at least at night.  In the past, I have had good success running with fresh legs in the morning.  My only issue is, getting out of that comfy bed at 5:30am to get in my miles before work.
I managed to crawl out of bed at 6:00am this morning to get a short run in, allowing myself to do strictly short sprints or strides tonight after work while Morgan was riding her bike.  Yep, two-a-days, running style.  Since I work full-time, go to graduate school, and spend time with my family (and the honey-do list of course), I had to find a way to get both my long runs in while also working on speed to help improve my turnover.

I am going to keep this post short, as it is the first of this new blog I am using, turning away from the previous one I used over at Wordpress (withoutlimitsblog.wordpress.com).

I just uploaded new pictures of the shoes I am reviewing, the Nike Free 3.0 V2  and the Saucony ProGrid Kinvara, and should have those reviews posted within the next day or so.  Thus far, both have been a great pair of shoes for moving more toward a natural stride.