today i realized that i am no longer a runner. i was, and want to be again, but currently i run almost never. some of which is due to a lack of motivation and more of which is to do with frustration and pain related to an injury sustained this past spring. having fully recovered, it's time to get my butt in gear.
step 1 - find local running group (check!)
step 2 - find and sign up for spring marathon (in the works)
step 3 - find a suitable running shoe (the tricky part)
step 4 - feet to pavement (or trail, or track, or treadmill... you get the point)
back to step 3. there are approximately 348,278,941,283 types of running shoes available. of which i have found exactly 2 (YES TWO, ONLY TWO & NO MORE!) that my feet enjoy. so far, anyway. the new balance minimus WT10 and vibram fivefingers. it's tough to find a good transition shoe, that will provide slightly more cushion for the longer mileage in my future (currently my runs are 2-6 miles and very infrequent).
taking advantage of road runner sports and their 30 day wear-the-crap-out-of-it-and-return-it-if-you-dont-like-it policy, i recently tried the brooks pure connect. yowzers, i was not a fan. although the shoe was incredibly light weight and had great breathable material, i found that the shoe kept my foot in a very uncomfortable position, there was too much arch support, and the toe bed was too narrow for my liking (really, what does the split toe groove do?). the sole of the shoe had already started to show serious signs of wear with light use. needless to say, those shoes were returned. and so the hunt continues.
a dear friend, and superstar runner who logs some serious miles each week, recommended the saucony kinvaras. running warehouse describes a medium toe bed and medium-high arch support, and states the most similar running shoe is the brooks pure connect. time to find a store and try these guys out before ordering yet another pair. not willing to give up on me - she called one of her other super-awesome lady runners who was on a similar search when she started running higher miles. she, too, did not care for the pure connects or kinvaras. she recommended the nike free 4.0 (and specifically NOT the nike free run). i went through a few pairs but ultimately found that they were quite tight across the top of my foot and caused a lot of pain in my arches. perhaps i was running in the wrong size, maybe with a size up these could be a nice balance between minimalist running and added cushion for lengthy runs. ahhh, who knows. for now, i'll keep running in my trusty minimus' and train for an 8k on november 10th. i have to start somewhere, and might as well start small.
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