After 3-4 years my trusty old Asics DS-Trainer 14 had to go. They will be missed, but new shoes are already in to take their place:

Enter the Saucony Kinvara 2 – one of the most praised running shoes of 2010-2012. I am not going to so a review of the shoe – that has been done by so many other people but I will keep you updated on my venture into the lower heel-to-toe drop of 4mm that could help me transfer into a more natural stride.

I have already done 2 x 45 min treadmill runs in them and my initial thoughts are that the shoes are really light (253 grams in my size 12.5) – almost as light as my Adidas Adixero Feather that I use for races. They are however a totally different shoe. The Adidas is firm and springy and tends to beat my lower legs up when I run more than 15k in them. The Kinvara seems much comfortable both on the upper part and in the sole. And lastly the Kinvara seems to be a lot more durable than the Adidas that tends to feel as if I am tearing the upper part apart every time I lace them up.

Oh – and if you need new running shoes the Kinvara 2 is on sale at most online shops for $50-60. That’s a great deal!

Yesterday was the start of the 2012 race calendar although not in my regular category, the triathlon. Instead I ran the the 2012 Rutgers 1/2 marathon. Way back in 2011 I promised a friend of mine to help her through her first 1/2 marathon, but as she got injured back in February and I mostly put focus on triathlon training I hadn’t really set up a focused training plan before the race.

My long runs during the winter/spring have only been around 10k with just one 12k run put in there a few weeks ago and I hadn’t tapered at all up to the race with just one rest day in the last 10 days leading up to the race. So early on I decided to think of the race as more of a really long training run instead go going all out.

The day before the race the weather looked far from perfect with the forecast promising 40mm of rain of the day of the race, but fortunately the rain was postponed and it and it didn’t really start to rain until after the race.

The race stared at 8am so as I always do before a race like this, I got up at 5am and got some wholesome cereal with raisins and a glass of orange juice (I can’t wait for next week’s 6:50 am race start…)

At 6.30 I was picked up by another friend that also participated in the race and although I was still quite sleepy, we drove off towards Rutgers University.

I started off with an intention of just running a 1:40 race (i.e. 4:45 pace/km), but the first 5k was done in 4:37 pace and it still felt like I held back a lot, but I also knew that with the lack of training and tapering then the long distance would get back at me in the end if I didn’t watch out. So I slowed down a bit and did the next 8k with a pace of 4:41.

At 14k I was still feeling really good and just minding my own business when it happened – my mind played the oldest trick on the book on me: Another runner passed me running really effortlessly at something like 4:30 pace and my mind instantly told my feet to speed up and try to draft a bit – after all I couldn’t have somebody pass me! and my body felt a little bored after the long run and slowish tempo. I guess the competition gene just couldn’t be stopped.

So the next 4k was done at 4:29 pace – quite a bit faster than I had promised myself. My body still felt fine, but hearing my breathing getting more strained and seeing my heartrate spike to race levels made my mind come to its senses again towards the end of the race. I slowed down a bit got my heartrace and breathing to a comfortable level and finished the last 4k at 4:38 pace.

Overall I finished the race in a time of 1:37:36 so a bit faster than my intention, but without going for it 100%. Now I can start my tapering for next week’s sprint triathlon. I just have to get on my bike now and do an easy 1 hour roll.

You can see my race activity here:
http://app.strava.com/activities/7202550

I went by the local Dick’s Sporting Goods today as I often do – I seldom buy anything but it takes the edge off my buying desire to browse around the megastore.

I went down to the shoe section and quickly found myself giving the Men’s ProGrid Kinvara 2 a look, as it was on sales at the bargain price of $59. So I decided to try it out. After looking in the shoes I had on, I went for a size 13, but it was just a tad too roomy, so I asked the sales guy for a size 12.5 and he told me, without blinking that the shoe was only made in size 12 and 13 – not a size 12.5…

Under normal cicumstances I would have not have though any of this, but the funny thing is that the same statement was made a few months ago in the same store when I tried out a Adidas AdiZero shoe – “Sorry sir, the Adidas doesn’t make this shoe in 1/2 sizes… It only comes in size 12 or 13″

At that time I bought the shoe in 13 even though I might have been better off with a 12.5 (Note: havn’t experienced any problems with the shoe due to this issue) but when I came home and investigated further I found out that Adidas indeed makes the shoe in a size 12.5, so understandebly I was a bit p***** at the sales guy for lying to me (and to myself to believe the story).

This time I said no thanks and went home and loked at the Saucony website, and sure enough – the shoe is made is a size 12.5!!!

Goddammit Dick’s, that is just a really bad sales technique!

No need to say that all I will be using Dick’s Sporting Goods for in the future is to make sure what size shoe I need – purchases will be done online or at other stores.

It took around 3 hours of self-convincing, but in the end I made it outside for my daily run in the pouring rain. Thank good for Tiësto and his Parade of the Athletes album. If not for that, I wouldn’t have made it through!

What is your favourite album to run to?

Get the album now if you want to run faster! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parade_of_the_Athletes

Even though yesterday was pretty wet with rain for the most part of 20 hours I felt like going for a trail run in the local Mercer County Park, so I put on my Speedcross and went out the door.

At the park conditions were pretty mixed at some spots there was 4-8 inches of water on the trail so those areas were pretty much un-runable. Some of the other areas that were a little higher were fine. So the run was a 70%-30% split between trail and asphalt but still very nice.

Again – the Speedcross are really good at these conditions. The wetter and more slippery the better!

Its a pretty nice kit that Omega Pharma-Quick Step revealed yesterday. Color-wise it looks a bit inspired by the Leopard kit.

Its just a shame that the very blue Quick Step logo totally sticks out of the rest of the design.

Just found this new Asics shoe – the Asics Gel-Fuji Racer. A lightweight (not totally minimalistic though) trail shoe for neutral runners. It sports a forefoot rock plate and an outersole that is only a little rougher than its road siblings the Hyperspeed and DS racer.

And of course a really cool purple/yellow color combo!

Maybe this is the all-purpose road/trail shoe that I have been looking for?

I ordered a new pair of Salomon Crossmax shoes the other day eager to try them out as my new “lets run from home to the trail, around the trail and back again” shoe. I had heard nothing but good things about the shoe and its dual capabilities on trail and road.

But when the shoes arrived I was really disappointed with the weight of the shoe. My usual go to trail shoe the Salomon Speedcross 2 is around 340 pr shoe, but this was closer to 410 grams pr shoe – More than my Nimbus 12!

That was simply too much for my liking.

So instead of getting to test it out and writing about it on the blog, the shoe was sent back to www.runningwarehouse.com (BTW: Great site and service)

Now I am looking for a new road/trail shoe. Any ideas?

When I started my winter training schedule a few weeks ago I had a few goals:

1: Get my core and upper body into shape doing my P90X program
2: Take a break from from activities that could get me injured such as running.

I am still on track with the first goal. The P90X is quickly whipping my arm,back, abs, shoulders etc into shape.

But the second goal toke a punch to the stomach this week.

After my half marathon in October I haven’t really been running that much. I have taken a few quick runs on my treadmill, but not more than 20-30 mins in a slow tempo. But Thursday the nice weather took me outside for a quick 10 mile run with my buddy, Nicolaj. At mile 7 (after a steep 2 mile ascent) me knee started to hurt and swell and I had to stop. Luckily Nicolaj volunteered to run back for the car and pick me up. The pain wasn’t too strong but it kept me limping a bit on Saturday as well

Then Sunday during my regular P90X workout, I get a light sprain on my ankle (Damn those monster tire jumps) and I had to wear my ankle bracelet the rest of the day and Monday morning.

But today my knee and ankle felt a lot better and with the weather being 21 degrees and sunny I couldn’t help myself from going on a slooowww 5k run. And what do you know: No problems with neither knee or ankle!

Now it is off to Denmark. I have packed my running shoes along with my P90X sessions (I tried to fit my bike into the suitcase, but couldn’t get it in my hand luggage) so we will see what the following days bring.

Have a nice and injury free day!