Shoes!

I've been running a long time.  How long, you say?  Well...my first

running shoes were New Balance 320's, I had Nike LDV's (one of the "big" distance shoes Nike had BEFORE there was "Air Everything."  And I remember when Nike came out with their new technology, the Air Tailwind.  Yes, I even remember the Waffle Trainer, although that predated my running days by a couple of years. 

My shoes have run the gamut from very minimal to monstrous.  Some of my favorite shoes were in the early-mid 90's by ASICS:  the Gel-Lyte series.  They were more of a minimal shoe, eschewing even a tongue in some models, with mostly blown rubber outsoles.  And I ran the Army 10-Miler in a pair of Nike Niobe's, which were basically a track spike for the roads (minus the spikes and spike plate). 

And now we've kind of come full circle in our technology.  The latest and greatest idea is the minimalist shoe.  (I'm going to differentiate this from the barefoot idea, since I still haven't bought into the 5-Fingers a

nd Tarahumara Huarache idea, although I do like the Nike Free's)  I'm sittng at my desk, having just completed a run in Saucony Mirages, which have a 4 mm drop from heel-to-toe, a minimalist shoe.  My other running shoes are Newton Motus', which also have a 4mm drop, but still have a fair amount of cushion.  And my new racing flat is... TA DA!  The Saucony A5.  These are really light, a little over 5 ozs, and also have the 4 mm drop.  I've done a few track workouts and one race in them, and I really like them. 

 After adding in some Xtenex laces, I've found my short course triathlon shoes.  (If you haven't tried the Xtenex laces, they're really nice; best elastic lace idea I've used).

It's funny.  As I've said, I've been running a long time.  There was a period, though, a few years back, when I didn't really enjoy running much.  The cumulative mileage was starting to wear on me, and I was running more out of necessity (hard to do a triathlon well without running) than because I enjoyed it.  It seemed that everything kind of hurt when I ran:  my feet, my back, my legs.  After trying my first pair of Newton Motus', my running felt easier and better, and things stopped hurting.  I may be back to the enjoyment phase thanks to the minimalist shoes that I'm currently using.