7 runs and 36.75 miles into March so far.
1st – 3 miles
2nd – 7.3 miles
3rd – 10 miles
4th – 1 mile
5th – 10 miles
6th – 4.45 miles
7th – 1 mile
I’m 67 days into the 2016 run streak attempt and I am feeling good and running appears to be a habit again. Whoohoo
Now about shoes…
Since October 2014, I have been using solely Hoka One One Cliftons to run outside in – long runs (including my 2 12 hour races and the Dopey Challenge in 2015), short runs and everything in between. But my current set is close to being done according to my mileage tally and the way my legs feel after using them – I would just buy a new pair but Hoka has updated the model and depending on the Clifton fanatic you talk to they are either completely ruined or close to the same. I tried a pair on for myself and I found the toe box to be too tight on the size I wear (the original version is snug for me in the toe box but the new version is way too tight) meaning I would probably need to go up a half size…unfortunately I wear a 12 and I can’t find a 12.5 anywhere so I would have to go up to a 13 which might be too large a change.
I have also managed to burn through my stash of Nike Pegasus 30s that I love and that Nike changed too significantly for me to want to continue with them. I did work through a pair of 31s but they only seemed to be good for me on the treadmill and I didn’t enjoy them outside at all.
So I also needed to find a new indoor shoe. I did some digging and settled on the Nike Vomero 10s and after finding them on sale I bought a set and gave them a try. I found them very close to the ride of the old Pegasus 30s that I loved and I have been using them as my indoor shoes ever since – up to about 200 miles on them now and they still feel great.
While on vacation I found major deals at a Nike Outlet store on Vomero 9s and a big deal on a set of Vomero 10s at Scheel’s in Fargo – in the end I bought 4 pairs for what I would pay for 2 sets up here (even after the exchange on the dollar right now). I ran the Vomero 9s the entire time I was on vacation and found them to be very good, just like the 10s.
With that in mind I decided to try the 9s outside this past weekend back here in Winnipeg on a morning after we had had some fresh snow fall over snow that had melted and re-frozen the night before. What a chore! The 9s just could not sustain traction – I struggled to maintain anything close to 5 mph – it was an exhausting 10 miles! My legs felt great after though so the shoes are good for distance but they just couldn’t handle the slippery conditions.
To make sure that it was the shoes, I ran in the Cliftons last night in sloppy / icy conditions that were arguably worse than the day before – combined with it being dark and me running way too soon after eating supper and I expected I had set myself up for another bad run. But I was easily able to maintain over a mph faster pace without issue even with having to carefully watch where every step was going. Definitely had much better traction…but my ankles are not pleased even the next day and that tells me that those shoes are done…
So what do I do now? We are experiencing a bit of an early spring here so there is a chance the slippery conditions could clear up soon and traction won’t be an issue…but knowing our weather we could also end up with snow for another month or more. Top that off with knowing that I have signed up for a trail 50k in early May, if the Vomeros couldn’t handle snow and ice, will they be able to handle trails if they are even a little bit muddy?
Basically, I expect that means I have 1300-1500 miles of brand new shoes that will be designated for pavement and treadmill – not a bad situation to be in but I need to sort out a shoe with more traction that I can do long distance in…and I have to do it fast as it is about 8.5 weeks until the trail 50k and I will need to make sure they work for me in that time.
Crap.
Current plan will be to try on a pair of Clifton 2s that are one full size up from what I wear in the original versions. At this point I have to hope that those will work for me, if they don’t I am going to have to come up with different options…maybe hammer nails into the soles of the Vomero 9s?
Ahh running, you always find a way to make things interesting.
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