3.5 Tempo in New Shoes

I was itching to run today.  I took two full days off (due to out of town guests!) and I was looking forward to getting a run in.  The plan for tonight was a 3.5 tempo run with Maggie.  In my mind, the pace would be 10:30 for the first and last mile and 9:30 for the other middle 1.5 miles.  I didn’t expect us to go quite so fast, but it felt good!  Our splits:

• Mile 1:  10:33
• Mile 2:  9:12
• Mile 2.0 – 2.5:  4:27 (8:56 pace)
• Mile 2.5 – 3.5:  9:49
• Total:  34:04 (9:44 average pace)

I was really happy with this pace – it’s the fastest I’ve run 3.5 miles and it felt good.  When we first started running my legs felt a little sore and the 10:30 pace felt fast.  Then we picked up the pace, and I could feel my legs loosening up.  By the time we finished 2 miles I felt great, and the 8:56 pace was pushing it, but not terrible.  When we slowed back down for the last mile we were going at what felt like a comfortable pace, so I was pretty excited to see it was under 10 minutes – but I did sort of sprint to the end.

This was my first run wearing my new Brooks.  To be honest, I’m not sure about them.  I definitely noticed the fact that I had less cushioning by the end of my run.  For the first time since running outside my toes actually hurt.  But they are lighter than my Asics and didn’t really bother me while I was running (after the initial mile anyway).  I’m going to give them another chance tomorrow night, and hopefully it’s just a matter of breaking them in and getting used to the switch from the Asics.

Back to why I missed my run yesterday – we had some special out of town guests!  My roommate from undergrad, another Jessica, and her husband Donald came to visit 🙂  We hadn’t seen each other since my wedding a year and a half ago so I was really excited they were coming to town! 

While they were here, we took them on a tour of one of the best things to do in Houston – eat and drink.  We visited some of our favorite Houston restaurants – El Tiempo for Tex Mex, Romano’s for pizza, Hickory Hollow for BBQ, and Swirll for frozen yogurt.  It’s a good thing I got that 8 miles in on Saturday!  We also tried a new brunch spot I had heard good things about called Cadillac Bar.  Picture a buffet with every breakfast food and every tex mex food you can imagine – plus a build your own bloody mary bar and some awesome mimosas.  Yikes – I’m glad we gave it a try but I think it’s the kind of place you only visit once a year!  We didn’t eat again for 8 hours after that meal.

Besides eating (and drinking) we also did some book shopping.  Jess is a big reader and thanks to her suggestions and $1 books at Half Price Books, I ended up buying 8 books.  I now I have a pile next to my bed that will probably take the whole year to get through!  I’m starting with Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult.  I’ve never read her books before, but I hear this is a good one.  What books would you recommend?

And the Winner is…

While I was at Luke’s Locker yesterday, I noticed a special coupon.  It was advertising group runs with the store, and if you participate in one of the runs, they give you 15% off most merchandise in the store.  Given that I was about to make a somewhat large purchase for new shoes, this sounded like a great deal.  And the next run happened to be tonight!

I was a little nervous about running with a new group of people – what if everyone else was faster than me and I couldn’t keep up?  But they kept a decent pace, and I did fine.  It was a small group, just six of us, but it was fun!  It was cold, but one of the other runners was very nice and leant me a pair of gloves.

We ran about 2.8 miles in 30 minutes (10:42 average pace).  It felt a lot faster at times, but we also had to stop at traffic lights, for cars, other pedestrians, etc.  I’ve gotten used to running on a trail without the stop-and-go.  I also got some good advice on road-running and racing from some of the more serious runners.  It was a productive 30 minutes.  And at the end, I felt I had earned my shoes!

I went with the Brooks Launch running shoes.  Despite the comments supporting Asics 🙂  Ultimately, I was excited to try a lighter shoe.  There is still decent cushioning, and it feels like a snugger fit on the sides of my feet, which was a plus.  I think it will take a bit to get used to, but I think I will need to run in them for a bit to really compare them to Asics.  I’ve always loved and sworn by Asics, but I feel like I need to try the Brooks before I can totally commit to one brand.  I’m scared of (running shoe) commitment.

How do you break in new running shoes?  I’m not sure if my long run this weekend is the best time to break them in.

Asics vs. Brooks?

I need some help.  I went running-shoe shopping tonight.  I’ve run about 250 miles or so on my current Asics and my IT band has been bothering me a bit, so I figure it’s about that time.  And I could use some help deciding which brand I should buy.

I went to Luke’s Locker, a specialty running store in Houston.  It was the first time I’ve been there, but I’ve heard that they are really helpful when it comes to picking out running shoes, and they were!

First, they measured my feet.  I was surprised to learn that my right foot is a full size smaller than my left foot.  I’ve always worn a size 6.5, but my left foot is actually a 7.  I was happy to find that the size 7’s felt good.  They also watched me run and decided that I did not need a correcting shoe – a neutral shoe worked well for me.

I then tried a number of different brands – Asics, Nikes, Saucony and Brooks.  The Nikes were my least favorite.  They had almost no cushion and just felt off.  I liked the Sauconys, but there wasn’t as much cushion as in the Asics.  I’ve always worn Asics, and I really liked the comfort of them.  But then the sales associate had me put Asics on one foot and Brooks on the other, and I felt a huge difference – the Brooks felt so light!  They had some cushion, and they held my feet well.

So now I’m trying to decide between the Asics vs. the Brooks. 

The Asics:  Gel-Cumulus 12 ($99)

• Pros:  good cushion; a brand I’m comfortable with
• Cons:  they’re heavy

 

The Brooks:  Launch ($89)

• Pros:  very light, cute design, price
• Cons:  not as much cushion, new brand

 

Which shoe should I buy?  What is your favorite brand of running shoes and why?