So I actually managed to make it to my HIIT class today (yay). The weather was so nice, and I felt like an idiot wearing my fleece jacket and my outer jacket as I walked toward the gym.
Today's stations were a bit weird. There were 8 stations that you do 35 seconds each, but to get to each station you must run across the indoor track (which is 1/13 of a mile all the way around anyway) so there's a bit more cardio involved. We didn't do any additional cardio after a whole round, and we didn't have to repeat each station 2x before resting. But we ended up doing all stations 3 times before starting the last part, and by then I was just a bit bored by all the things we had to do.
But the part I felt really good about myself is that as we stopped each time to take water break, my first thought was "that wasn't too bad". Although, after the 2nd round I kind of felt like throwing up a bit. I still felt like the wind was knocked out of me after we were done for the day but once I survive the class I really feel like none of it was that bad. And I always came out stronger and feeling better about myself.
I'm putting running and badminton on hold for the week or so because starting last night I took up a 4-class R.A.D. course that teaches women how to avoid and get away from a potential sexual assailant. Last night's class was mostly lecturing, but starting tomorrow we are going to have our classes in a gym and learn about different moves and punch stuff. I learned last night how to make a proper solid fist, and how to stand defensively and offensively. I look forward to punch stuff tomorrow, and the final simulation class during which I get to punch a padded and suited police officer. Not because I want to take my aggression out by punching someone, but I've realized that of all the activities I've partaken so far none of it has anything to do with defeating another person. I mean, you play badminton against another person but you sort of know where you stand in terms of your skills and levels. I know who I can beat in a game, who is way out of my league, and who could be a good match. But with person-to-person combat, in a potentially life or death situation, when you really have to rely on your physical strength and your skills to get yourself out of a dangerous situation, is when it really shows how much all your self-improvement activities are worth. I still run a 12-minute mile so I'm not gonna be a world class sprinter, and I still can't run a marathon so I'm not gonna win a golden metal for that, but that's not the point here. If I ever get myself into a situation in which I really have to be quick witted and take physical action to get myself out of trouble I sure hope I don't do so by being really flexible or knowing how to swing a badminton racket. So, yea, real life skill is what I'm trying to learn here. And maybe some of my aggression will be taken out of me, but we will see. I said last night during class that the reason why I'm taking it is that it seemed like fun, and honestly I still fully believe that.
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
It's all mental
Checked the date I wrote my last post. Boy so much had happened since 3/23. Most of it has nothing to do with exercise, but I did start my HIIT gym class again and right from the start I could feel that I was in much better shape than before. Still felt like I was going to die afterwards, which was the reason I've been sort of afraid of going to the last two classes.
Yesterday I did a short run after a week of hiatus. I had my period and I was tired, etc., so I took the week off, but by the end of that week I got comfortable with not moving or having to go to the gym and I got lazy and complacent. My run yesterday was hurried and I didn't really set a goal. Essentially I had about an hour before the gym closed and I wanted to squeeze a run in. I wasn't really tired but I got really bored really quickly. And I felt frustrated. I think as I'm physically getting better I need to prepare mentally for each workout just as much. I need a specific goal, and a fall back goal in case it was a bad day. I need to not be in a rush; if I had to go somewhere afterwards I need to remind myself that the next thing I'm going to do is not more important than my run.
I'm not sure where this post is going... But I just need to regroup. I've not really done a real yoga class since... well, and I haven't played badminton since my tournament. I haven't gone to my gym class on a regular basis, and I'm busy with life and school work. I'm still journaling but that has also become a slog, and I really need to regroup. The weather is getting nicer and with decreasing lab work I have to do it's easier to want to stay home and work and that's not usually the most efficient way of working. If I don't focus this can fall apart very quickly.
Yesterday I did a short run after a week of hiatus. I had my period and I was tired, etc., so I took the week off, but by the end of that week I got comfortable with not moving or having to go to the gym and I got lazy and complacent. My run yesterday was hurried and I didn't really set a goal. Essentially I had about an hour before the gym closed and I wanted to squeeze a run in. I wasn't really tired but I got really bored really quickly. And I felt frustrated. I think as I'm physically getting better I need to prepare mentally for each workout just as much. I need a specific goal, and a fall back goal in case it was a bad day. I need to not be in a rush; if I had to go somewhere afterwards I need to remind myself that the next thing I'm going to do is not more important than my run.
I'm not sure where this post is going... But I just need to regroup. I've not really done a real yoga class since... well, and I haven't played badminton since my tournament. I haven't gone to my gym class on a regular basis, and I'm busy with life and school work. I'm still journaling but that has also become a slog, and I really need to regroup. The weather is getting nicer and with decreasing lab work I have to do it's easier to want to stay home and work and that's not usually the most efficient way of working. If I don't focus this can fall apart very quickly.
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
That extra scoop of coal
Had a really good run today, though it was a struggle getting there. By 6pm or so today I was suddenly famished, and desperately wanted crispy chicken pad thai for dinner. So before I left work today I sat and debated with myself for a long time as to what to do. In the end I decided to go to the gym, run my 5K, and have thai takeout as a reward afterwards to balance out the calorie intake/output.
I was originally going to just run 25 minutes non-stop, and then do a 4-minute run/1-minute walk thing until I get to 40 minutes, which usually equates a 5K more or less. But luckily, I caught half an episode of Castle that just happened to be playing on the treadmill I picked. It was a season finale, during which Beckett was fighting some bad guy on the rooftop of a building that ended with the bad guy getting away and left Beckett hanging by the edge of the building and had to be saved by Ryan. The actual fighting part happened about 20 minutes into my run, and even though I kind of knew what happened, having seen the episode before, I was nonetheless engrossed in the plot and I almost jilted when Beckett was ambushed at one point. The episode cut to commercial right after Beckett rolled to the edge of the building and was hanging by her fingers, and I could feel my heart pumping faster because of the suspense.
And that's when it happened. Just minutes before I started to breathe really heavily and audibly as I usually do around minute 20 and had to really put an effort and focus on my breathing and running, but as I watched the show and I got excited by the plot I found myself breathing normally again, as in, no loud, forceful breaths to artificially pump my heart faster to accommodate the demand of my body. Watching the show seemed to give me an extra shot of adrenaline without me having to do any extra work. The effect was not long lasting though, half way through the commercial break I found myself having to breathe really hard again. I managed to keep running until I did 31 minutes, and ended up running the fastest mile, km, and 5K according to my Nike, earning a pre-recorded congratulatory message from Paula Radcliffe, which was kinda nice. The data is false, by the way. Nike has a tendency of overestimating my distance and I don't always recalibrate afterwards. So now I have a 32-minute 5K record that's not real that I will have to beat later on. Oh well, none of that really matters that much.
But that kind of got me thinking. I used to be really afraid of watching anything suspenseful while running on the treadmill because I didn't want the plot of the show interfere with my breathing. But now it seems that having my heart beat faster is actually a good thing and I might need to do it more often. I also found that during the first 10 minutes or so I really need to concentrate on whatever I'm listening to keep myself from being bored, but this distraction is less necessary beyond the 10-minute mark, as running then requires more conscious effort. Now it seems that around 20-minutes I need something exciting again to give my heart an extra push. I'm not sure this is completely good for me, as people usually talk about increasing their lung capacity instead of heart rate when exercise, but before the capacity of my lungs are properly expanded I'll have to settle with faster heart pumping.
Afterwards as I was walking home I asked myself if I still wanted pad thai, and as usual my appetite gets curbed after exercising and my desire for thai food and fried chicken was not as intense as before. But I still like the idea of very savory food and I couldn't think of any good alternative that I could make at home that would be comparable. I set my mind on the salty ramen noodle in the end, as I was feeling for something soup-y, but I still could not abandon the idea of pad thai. I literally was at a crossroad, having one way leading home and the other leading to the thai restaurant. I ended up sitting on a very cold bench and played 2048 for 3 minutes before my butt got really cold and I just told myself to go home and have ramen and save the $13 I didn't really feel like spending anyway. In the end it was a very successful day with eating, exercising, and money spending.
I've also start to take more walks. On Monday I walked around the nearby pond twice (roughly 2 miles) because I didn't want to go running but I felt the need to exercise. Today I walked around the pond once, since I really need the time to think about the outline of a review I needed to write and I was too full from lunch to sit in front of my desk comfortably. I still haven't come up with a good outline but I did stop feeling bloated. As spring hesitantly approaches there are more runners coming out. On my walk today I saw 2 guys and a girls jogging (separately), and a group of young kids doing some sort of track workout. I started mile 2 and all of a sudden decided that I didn't want to walk anymore but would like to go back and start making a tentative outline and assemble a reading list, so I literally stopped abruptly, turned around, and walked back to my office. As I turned around I saw the group of young kids running their third and they must have thought that I was most weird. Oh well.
I was originally going to just run 25 minutes non-stop, and then do a 4-minute run/1-minute walk thing until I get to 40 minutes, which usually equates a 5K more or less. But luckily, I caught half an episode of Castle that just happened to be playing on the treadmill I picked. It was a season finale, during which Beckett was fighting some bad guy on the rooftop of a building that ended with the bad guy getting away and left Beckett hanging by the edge of the building and had to be saved by Ryan. The actual fighting part happened about 20 minutes into my run, and even though I kind of knew what happened, having seen the episode before, I was nonetheless engrossed in the plot and I almost jilted when Beckett was ambushed at one point. The episode cut to commercial right after Beckett rolled to the edge of the building and was hanging by her fingers, and I could feel my heart pumping faster because of the suspense.
And that's when it happened. Just minutes before I started to breathe really heavily and audibly as I usually do around minute 20 and had to really put an effort and focus on my breathing and running, but as I watched the show and I got excited by the plot I found myself breathing normally again, as in, no loud, forceful breaths to artificially pump my heart faster to accommodate the demand of my body. Watching the show seemed to give me an extra shot of adrenaline without me having to do any extra work. The effect was not long lasting though, half way through the commercial break I found myself having to breathe really hard again. I managed to keep running until I did 31 minutes, and ended up running the fastest mile, km, and 5K according to my Nike, earning a pre-recorded congratulatory message from Paula Radcliffe, which was kinda nice. The data is false, by the way. Nike has a tendency of overestimating my distance and I don't always recalibrate afterwards. So now I have a 32-minute 5K record that's not real that I will have to beat later on. Oh well, none of that really matters that much.
But that kind of got me thinking. I used to be really afraid of watching anything suspenseful while running on the treadmill because I didn't want the plot of the show interfere with my breathing. But now it seems that having my heart beat faster is actually a good thing and I might need to do it more often. I also found that during the first 10 minutes or so I really need to concentrate on whatever I'm listening to keep myself from being bored, but this distraction is less necessary beyond the 10-minute mark, as running then requires more conscious effort. Now it seems that around 20-minutes I need something exciting again to give my heart an extra push. I'm not sure this is completely good for me, as people usually talk about increasing their lung capacity instead of heart rate when exercise, but before the capacity of my lungs are properly expanded I'll have to settle with faster heart pumping.
Afterwards as I was walking home I asked myself if I still wanted pad thai, and as usual my appetite gets curbed after exercising and my desire for thai food and fried chicken was not as intense as before. But I still like the idea of very savory food and I couldn't think of any good alternative that I could make at home that would be comparable. I set my mind on the salty ramen noodle in the end, as I was feeling for something soup-y, but I still could not abandon the idea of pad thai. I literally was at a crossroad, having one way leading home and the other leading to the thai restaurant. I ended up sitting on a very cold bench and played 2048 for 3 minutes before my butt got really cold and I just told myself to go home and have ramen and save the $13 I didn't really feel like spending anyway. In the end it was a very successful day with eating, exercising, and money spending.
I've also start to take more walks. On Monday I walked around the nearby pond twice (roughly 2 miles) because I didn't want to go running but I felt the need to exercise. Today I walked around the pond once, since I really need the time to think about the outline of a review I needed to write and I was too full from lunch to sit in front of my desk comfortably. I still haven't come up with a good outline but I did stop feeling bloated. As spring hesitantly approaches there are more runners coming out. On my walk today I saw 2 guys and a girls jogging (separately), and a group of young kids doing some sort of track workout. I started mile 2 and all of a sudden decided that I didn't want to walk anymore but would like to go back and start making a tentative outline and assemble a reading list, so I literally stopped abruptly, turned around, and walked back to my office. As I turned around I saw the group of young kids running their third and they must have thought that I was most weird. Oh well.
Friday, March 18, 2016
Random Thoughts
Running Documentaries
By sheer accident I started to watch documentaries on marathons or people running marathons. I saw one on the Barkley Marathon, one on Desert Series Grand Slam, one on Eddie Izzard, and one on Dean Karnazes. One of the things I learned is that there are a lot of bad documentaries out there about running and marathons. Some of the ones I started to watch were really boring even though they are on very interesting events like the London Marathon or some other ultra event, so you really need to wade through a whole bunch to get the gems, especially if you are fishing on Youtube.
But of the ones I did finish I was inspired by all of them. Like how humble Dean Karnazes is. I first read about him in Born to Run, and for some reason he came off as charismatic but arrogant so I didn't have a good impression of him. And I think this is completely untrue. I've acquired a few of his books now and at some point I'll get around to reading them all.
I was more amazed by Eddie Izzard I think. At 47, this transvestite comedian who had no previous running experience decided to run a marathon a day, 6 days a week, until he goes around the entire Great Britain, for Sports Relief. His marathons averaged about 10 hours each but he still did it and it looked absolutely miserable but entirely amazing. He essentially did it by sheer will power and stubbornness. I think he will have lifelong injuries from this experience, but I can't deny it was just a great feat no matter how you look at it. I was more amazed, and sometimes angered, by how unprepared he was, and how little he seemed to know or care. The support team he assembled was okay at best. The trainer was annoying and not very helpful, and he spent more time in the documentary talking to a camera in sit-down interviews than he was actually by Eddie's side, and somehow he's the trainer, of someone trying to do an impossible feat with no experience. In the middle they brought in some random nutritionist who gave bland and very crappy advice. Eddie did the whole thing while being accompanied by his own ice cream van that went around giving out free ice cream to people for donations, and he essentially snacked on ice cream and candy bars and sometimes beer through the whole thing. And he did the most irresponsible things like trying to do a sub-4 marathon after taking a day off for some pretty bad toe injury, or taking really long detours and refusing to listen to his therapist until he was in serious danger of having to discontinue the runs. But it's Eddie Izzard, and he ran a marathon a day, 6 days a week, around Great Britain. And I was inspired.
Almost Two Years
It's been almost two years since I started running. I started late in March of 2014 for a number of reasons that just happened to occur all at the same time, and I've been running on a off for two years since. I still consider myself a beginner runner, since I don't think I make much progress at all since I started. I didn't lose a significant amount of weight, I've only done a 5K so far and cannot run faster or longer than when I first started, and I'm not sure how much better as a person I've become since I started. The only consolation I could give myself is that, just imagine how much more weight I would've gained if I hadn't run. It's true that I've not gained much weight since I started so I guess that's something.
Advice? What Advice?
Over the two years I've done a lot of reading about running. I've had a Runner's World subscription for almost as long as I had this blog, and I read books about running, watched documentaries, perused blogs written by fellow runners, and read endless articles. I've downloaded marathon training calendars, saved posts about post-run stretches and core-strengthening exercises, listened to talks about running gears, tech or otherwise, and managed to get a signed photo of Shalane Flanagan and had a picture taken with her. I know a lot of stuff, and I've been reading long enough to have some of the basic stuff repeated over and over again.
And there are a number of things that on paper I theoretically should abide by. Things like you have to do tempo runs to increase your speed. You have to vary your workout. That I need a certain kind of shoes given my build and my feet.
Some of the things I read were very helpful. I'm happy with my running posture. And with all my yoga and pilate exercise I've strengthened it somewhat and nowadays I really try to engage my core as I run and the runs do feel a bit easier and more effortlessly. I think I'm done with getting more running shoes for a while. I've worked out my own system while running outside (I've tried bring money to buy water on the way, holding off until I get home, and by the end of last year I got myself a hand-held running bottle with a zipper pouch). My running time are pretty set; I always go around dinner-time. And I've given up on trying to follow any training calendar and just run as I see fit.
I feel that a lot of the advices and guidelines and how-tos are not quite designed for me. I have no explanation for the shoe thing. I guess we'll find out if running with unsupported shoes will give me problems later on. And I no longer do tempo or speed runs. I know they are supposed to help you build your speed, but every time I push beyond my comfortable speed my plantar fasciitis comes back and it's agony. I've done 3 5K runs this week, which is too big of a milage increase from the week before but I don't care since I'm happy with my runs. And I think I'll leave the anaerobic exercise to the HIIT class I signed up again for next term. Running will remain my cardio workout.
And all of a sudden last week and this week I'm able to push through my 1-mile barrier and today I ran for 30 minute straight at a constant speed of 5 mph before slowing to a walk and I've never ever done that before. I know it doesn't sound like much and I'm not going to go any faster in a while but to me it's a substantial achievement. And nothing had changed in the two weeks except my mindset. I told myself that I would run for 30 minutes before stopping to a walk and 40 minutes total and that's what I did. I almost didn't go run today but I told myself that if I wanted to order Thai food for take out I need to go run to burn off the calories. I persuaded myself to hit the gym and somehow also managed to not get Thai food. And I normally suck at self-motivation.
So I'm gonna try something new and just do my own thing for a while. Nothing as crazy and stubborn as Eddie Izzard, but just things that suit me. The heavy, slow me. The unathletic me. I think I need to tailor plans that I can handle, instead of things designed by professionals and for very experienced people. And one of the things is to make small goals. Small and tangible, and make them often as I (hopefully) reach the goals. I told myself that I shouldn't get the Thai dish I really like until I lose 5 lbs. I'm also going to stick with my 5K runs and increase the frequency with which I run them. I want to work my way to one week, hopefully in April sometime, that I do one 5K a day for 7 days. Not at race speed, but just the distance. And I'm not going to do that right away, but I'm going to build to that point. I want to run again on Sunday, so I will have done 4 5-K workouts this week. Maybe next week I'll try 5, maybe I'll stick with 4 again, depending on how I feel. And once I reach my 7-day goal I'll increase my runs to 45 minutes instead of the now-40. Or I'll do a 4-mile target distance. We'll see. But it'll be slow and steady, until my body gets used to it and wants more variety. I'm also going to work more on my mental readiness. Like how not to over-eat, or what to do when I just don't feel like running, or how to better manage the boredom while on treadmill. I know my body is capable of doing more but mentally I'm scared and nervous. I don't really have a race I want to do in the near future but I'll slowly tread toward that direction. And it's going to be good.
By sheer accident I started to watch documentaries on marathons or people running marathons. I saw one on the Barkley Marathon, one on Desert Series Grand Slam, one on Eddie Izzard, and one on Dean Karnazes. One of the things I learned is that there are a lot of bad documentaries out there about running and marathons. Some of the ones I started to watch were really boring even though they are on very interesting events like the London Marathon or some other ultra event, so you really need to wade through a whole bunch to get the gems, especially if you are fishing on Youtube.
But of the ones I did finish I was inspired by all of them. Like how humble Dean Karnazes is. I first read about him in Born to Run, and for some reason he came off as charismatic but arrogant so I didn't have a good impression of him. And I think this is completely untrue. I've acquired a few of his books now and at some point I'll get around to reading them all.
I was more amazed by Eddie Izzard I think. At 47, this transvestite comedian who had no previous running experience decided to run a marathon a day, 6 days a week, until he goes around the entire Great Britain, for Sports Relief. His marathons averaged about 10 hours each but he still did it and it looked absolutely miserable but entirely amazing. He essentially did it by sheer will power and stubbornness. I think he will have lifelong injuries from this experience, but I can't deny it was just a great feat no matter how you look at it. I was more amazed, and sometimes angered, by how unprepared he was, and how little he seemed to know or care. The support team he assembled was okay at best. The trainer was annoying and not very helpful, and he spent more time in the documentary talking to a camera in sit-down interviews than he was actually by Eddie's side, and somehow he's the trainer, of someone trying to do an impossible feat with no experience. In the middle they brought in some random nutritionist who gave bland and very crappy advice. Eddie did the whole thing while being accompanied by his own ice cream van that went around giving out free ice cream to people for donations, and he essentially snacked on ice cream and candy bars and sometimes beer through the whole thing. And he did the most irresponsible things like trying to do a sub-4 marathon after taking a day off for some pretty bad toe injury, or taking really long detours and refusing to listen to his therapist until he was in serious danger of having to discontinue the runs. But it's Eddie Izzard, and he ran a marathon a day, 6 days a week, around Great Britain. And I was inspired.
Almost Two Years
It's been almost two years since I started running. I started late in March of 2014 for a number of reasons that just happened to occur all at the same time, and I've been running on a off for two years since. I still consider myself a beginner runner, since I don't think I make much progress at all since I started. I didn't lose a significant amount of weight, I've only done a 5K so far and cannot run faster or longer than when I first started, and I'm not sure how much better as a person I've become since I started. The only consolation I could give myself is that, just imagine how much more weight I would've gained if I hadn't run. It's true that I've not gained much weight since I started so I guess that's something.
Advice? What Advice?
Over the two years I've done a lot of reading about running. I've had a Runner's World subscription for almost as long as I had this blog, and I read books about running, watched documentaries, perused blogs written by fellow runners, and read endless articles. I've downloaded marathon training calendars, saved posts about post-run stretches and core-strengthening exercises, listened to talks about running gears, tech or otherwise, and managed to get a signed photo of Shalane Flanagan and had a picture taken with her. I know a lot of stuff, and I've been reading long enough to have some of the basic stuff repeated over and over again.
And there are a number of things that on paper I theoretically should abide by. Things like you have to do tempo runs to increase your speed. You have to vary your workout. That I need a certain kind of shoes given my build and my feet.
Some of the things I read were very helpful. I'm happy with my running posture. And with all my yoga and pilate exercise I've strengthened it somewhat and nowadays I really try to engage my core as I run and the runs do feel a bit easier and more effortlessly. I think I'm done with getting more running shoes for a while. I've worked out my own system while running outside (I've tried bring money to buy water on the way, holding off until I get home, and by the end of last year I got myself a hand-held running bottle with a zipper pouch). My running time are pretty set; I always go around dinner-time. And I've given up on trying to follow any training calendar and just run as I see fit.
I feel that a lot of the advices and guidelines and how-tos are not quite designed for me. I have no explanation for the shoe thing. I guess we'll find out if running with unsupported shoes will give me problems later on. And I no longer do tempo or speed runs. I know they are supposed to help you build your speed, but every time I push beyond my comfortable speed my plantar fasciitis comes back and it's agony. I've done 3 5K runs this week, which is too big of a milage increase from the week before but I don't care since I'm happy with my runs. And I think I'll leave the anaerobic exercise to the HIIT class I signed up again for next term. Running will remain my cardio workout.
And all of a sudden last week and this week I'm able to push through my 1-mile barrier and today I ran for 30 minute straight at a constant speed of 5 mph before slowing to a walk and I've never ever done that before. I know it doesn't sound like much and I'm not going to go any faster in a while but to me it's a substantial achievement. And nothing had changed in the two weeks except my mindset. I told myself that I would run for 30 minutes before stopping to a walk and 40 minutes total and that's what I did. I almost didn't go run today but I told myself that if I wanted to order Thai food for take out I need to go run to burn off the calories. I persuaded myself to hit the gym and somehow also managed to not get Thai food. And I normally suck at self-motivation.
So I'm gonna try something new and just do my own thing for a while. Nothing as crazy and stubborn as Eddie Izzard, but just things that suit me. The heavy, slow me. The unathletic me. I think I need to tailor plans that I can handle, instead of things designed by professionals and for very experienced people. And one of the things is to make small goals. Small and tangible, and make them often as I (hopefully) reach the goals. I told myself that I shouldn't get the Thai dish I really like until I lose 5 lbs. I'm also going to stick with my 5K runs and increase the frequency with which I run them. I want to work my way to one week, hopefully in April sometime, that I do one 5K a day for 7 days. Not at race speed, but just the distance. And I'm not going to do that right away, but I'm going to build to that point. I want to run again on Sunday, so I will have done 4 5-K workouts this week. Maybe next week I'll try 5, maybe I'll stick with 4 again, depending on how I feel. And once I reach my 7-day goal I'll increase my runs to 45 minutes instead of the now-40. Or I'll do a 4-mile target distance. We'll see. But it'll be slow and steady, until my body gets used to it and wants more variety. I'm also going to work more on my mental readiness. Like how not to over-eat, or what to do when I just don't feel like running, or how to better manage the boredom while on treadmill. I know my body is capable of doing more but mentally I'm scared and nervous. I don't really have a race I want to do in the near future but I'll slowly tread toward that direction. And it's going to be good.
Saturday, March 12, 2016
It's official; I have a shoe problem
Unlike many other girls I was never one to be obsessed with shoes. I remember in my freshman year I went to a shopping plaza with my friend and we went into a boutique shoe shop. After we flipped over the price tag that told us that the pair of unappealing flats we were staring at cost $130 we both commented on how ugly the shoes were and how many books we could buy instead if we had that $130 to spare.
So I'm surprised at myself now at how obsessive I get when it comes to running shoes.
No I don't have a shoe fetish, but I do have a compulsive shopping disorder when it comes to running shoes.
We all know that finding the right pair of running shoes can be difficult. And as I've learned recently that even when you find a model that fits you your quest will still never end since the old models go out of styles and the new models may not fit as nicely. I've been running on and off for almost two years and so far I have 1 pair of Saucony Kinvara 5 that I run in regularly, another pair of the same model (different colors) that I stocked in a panic after I learned that when Kinvara 6 came out (now the 7 is too) they stopping selling the 5s. I had a pair of Brooks Dyad 7 I got after a visit to the Marathon Running store in Boston, that I no longer use to run (think they were too small and way too heavy; I switched out the insoles and use them semi-regularly for daily walking). I have a pair of Saucony Cohesion 7 which I bought on a whim on Amazon (first time buying an unfamiliar brand without trying them on first) for very cheap, and ended up running almost 60 miles in them, as I recently realized while updating my Nike+ profile. I had a pair of NB trail running shoes I originally used for casual walking but ended up putting a good double-digit milage on, before they became old and full of holes and I had to throw them out. I replaced those with a new pair of NB (model forgotten) that I planned to use only as walking shoes but they are so comfortable I'm thinking of trying them out for running as well.
And today I received in the mail yet another pair of running shoes. This time it was a pair of Saucony Hurricane Iso (1st gen, can't afford the $100+ newer model). This was recommended me on my second trip to the aforementioned Marathon store, and at the time of all the choices I was given I liked those the best. I was told that I needed more support and the Hurricane Iso would be a good fit, and Saucony as a whole is a good brand for my feet. I did not find an affordable pair until recently, and after a 2.9 mile test run today I have mixed feelings about them.
This is also the first time I bought shoes second hand. Granted they weren't from any individual sellers trying to get rid of some old shoes. They were sold by Amazon Warehouse where they would resell returned or opened item. They don't usually have second hand running shoes available all the time but I saw them earlier this week. New shoes often go for about $90 at least and the ones I got only cost me $50. I was very nervous about buying them because unlike sellers on eBay there were no pictures of the shoes at all, and the description made it sound like someone's walked in them for months. But they had such a good return policy that I thought there was nothing for me to lose if I just get them and see how they look. Around the same time I also saw a deal on the same shoes (different color) on Running Warehouse that was a good backup for me so either way I'm adding a new pair of running shoes to my collection.
The shoes looked a lot newer and in better condition than I expected. They came in a Saucony box but no stuffings or wrappings. The bottom of the shoes looked like they've definitely been worn and walked in, but the rest of the shoes looked absolutely brand new. The insoles did not show much ware and the shoes didn't really smell like anyone's feet. I think someone wore them for a few times and decided she didn't like them. I've returned a number of pairs of shoes myself and they didn't look worse than the conditions I returned my shoes in.
So I decided to keep them and ditch my back-up plan. There was no point spending an extra $25 to get a brand new pair when the ones I got were pretty good. And I wore them to the gym, where I ran almost 3 miles in them. Even at size 9.5 (my standard Saucony shoe size; I normally wear 8.5 for casual and 9 for NB running shoes) they felt a but snug, which was kind of alarming since they look huge in my hands. And they do have much better support than the fairly support-less Kinvara I had, and heavier than Kinvara too. As I was walking to the gym I could feel the shoes pushing at my feet in all directions in ways that were not felt with my other shoes. The shoes were't tied right so all the way there my ankles were slipping out, and I had to adjust the laces in the locker room before I went into the fitness room.
I can't really access what really happened during my 3 mile run, but by the end my plantar fasciitis was acting in full force and I started to feel that the support may not be unnecessary. It was refreshing and roomy when I stepped into my New Balance afterwards.
I don't know why my plantar fasciitis was acting up again but I have been feeling it for days now. It could be that was running longer too soon, it could be the shoes. Maybe I'm not ready for running in them yet and still need time to figure them out. Maybe the snugness is a problem. Maybe the assessment given to me by the running store was wrong again and the shoes are just not right for me. I think I want to test them some more before returning them becomes a real possibility.
While I have more shoes than my running habit can justify, I do have rationales for getting all of them. The reason why I wanted another pair of (better support) shoes is that it's getting warmer out and it's almost time for outdoor running again. And while the Kinvara are absolute a dream on the treadmill I am afraid that they would not be enough for while I pound on concrete. I don't remember whether I ran in them outside last year, but honestly I didn't do a lot of running last summer. I wanted something sturdier and something that could maybe handle the trails (even thought the Hurricane is not designed for trail running). But if the Hurricanes are not helping then there would be no point in having them. I still need to give them more time, and I can't bare having to go another half size up. Me wearing a size 10 is just too ridiculous.
But rationales aside I still like to look at running shoes I know I will never buy. I don't have he same attraction for other kinds of shoes, not even canvas shoes or casual athletic wears. Just running shoes. Sometimes it's the colors and patterns, other times it may be the cool design (like the Honka One One shoes). Sometime I suspect I dream of putting them on and go running in procrastination of actual running. Also I'm still trying to work out how the different shoes can suit different people. I'm told by every one that I need shoes with support because I over-pronate a little. And I need arch support. And because of my weight I'm usually recommend heavier shoes like the Brooks. And I was told by some that the Kinvara it not a good fit for me because it has no support. But I'm so happy in them. They are so light and I don't get more injuries wearing them than I would with other shoes. And I can't figure out why that it. Why does logic and reasoning not work? I got the Kinvara 5 purely based on it's good reviews. Everyone seemed to like them. I tried them out in the store and they fit my feet. It took a few tries for me to realize that I needed a full size up with this model (apparently the 6 is even narrower), and I run so happy in them. Yet I still can't ignore the logic and kept wanting to try out different things, and so far none of them have yielded promising results. My baffles only resulted in more temptation to buy; usually it would have to take a few days for me to find out whether I'm truly comfortable in them or not so a quick trip to the shoe store does not usually do it.
So I'm surprised at myself now at how obsessive I get when it comes to running shoes.
No I don't have a shoe fetish, but I do have a compulsive shopping disorder when it comes to running shoes.
We all know that finding the right pair of running shoes can be difficult. And as I've learned recently that even when you find a model that fits you your quest will still never end since the old models go out of styles and the new models may not fit as nicely. I've been running on and off for almost two years and so far I have 1 pair of Saucony Kinvara 5 that I run in regularly, another pair of the same model (different colors) that I stocked in a panic after I learned that when Kinvara 6 came out (now the 7 is too) they stopping selling the 5s. I had a pair of Brooks Dyad 7 I got after a visit to the Marathon Running store in Boston, that I no longer use to run (think they were too small and way too heavy; I switched out the insoles and use them semi-regularly for daily walking). I have a pair of Saucony Cohesion 7 which I bought on a whim on Amazon (first time buying an unfamiliar brand without trying them on first) for very cheap, and ended up running almost 60 miles in them, as I recently realized while updating my Nike+ profile. I had a pair of NB trail running shoes I originally used for casual walking but ended up putting a good double-digit milage on, before they became old and full of holes and I had to throw them out. I replaced those with a new pair of NB (model forgotten) that I planned to use only as walking shoes but they are so comfortable I'm thinking of trying them out for running as well.
And today I received in the mail yet another pair of running shoes. This time it was a pair of Saucony Hurricane Iso (1st gen, can't afford the $100+ newer model). This was recommended me on my second trip to the aforementioned Marathon store, and at the time of all the choices I was given I liked those the best. I was told that I needed more support and the Hurricane Iso would be a good fit, and Saucony as a whole is a good brand for my feet. I did not find an affordable pair until recently, and after a 2.9 mile test run today I have mixed feelings about them.
This is also the first time I bought shoes second hand. Granted they weren't from any individual sellers trying to get rid of some old shoes. They were sold by Amazon Warehouse where they would resell returned or opened item. They don't usually have second hand running shoes available all the time but I saw them earlier this week. New shoes often go for about $90 at least and the ones I got only cost me $50. I was very nervous about buying them because unlike sellers on eBay there were no pictures of the shoes at all, and the description made it sound like someone's walked in them for months. But they had such a good return policy that I thought there was nothing for me to lose if I just get them and see how they look. Around the same time I also saw a deal on the same shoes (different color) on Running Warehouse that was a good backup for me so either way I'm adding a new pair of running shoes to my collection.
The shoes looked a lot newer and in better condition than I expected. They came in a Saucony box but no stuffings or wrappings. The bottom of the shoes looked like they've definitely been worn and walked in, but the rest of the shoes looked absolutely brand new. The insoles did not show much ware and the shoes didn't really smell like anyone's feet. I think someone wore them for a few times and decided she didn't like them. I've returned a number of pairs of shoes myself and they didn't look worse than the conditions I returned my shoes in.
So I decided to keep them and ditch my back-up plan. There was no point spending an extra $25 to get a brand new pair when the ones I got were pretty good. And I wore them to the gym, where I ran almost 3 miles in them. Even at size 9.5 (my standard Saucony shoe size; I normally wear 8.5 for casual and 9 for NB running shoes) they felt a but snug, which was kind of alarming since they look huge in my hands. And they do have much better support than the fairly support-less Kinvara I had, and heavier than Kinvara too. As I was walking to the gym I could feel the shoes pushing at my feet in all directions in ways that were not felt with my other shoes. The shoes were't tied right so all the way there my ankles were slipping out, and I had to adjust the laces in the locker room before I went into the fitness room.
I can't really access what really happened during my 3 mile run, but by the end my plantar fasciitis was acting in full force and I started to feel that the support may not be unnecessary. It was refreshing and roomy when I stepped into my New Balance afterwards.
I don't know why my plantar fasciitis was acting up again but I have been feeling it for days now. It could be that was running longer too soon, it could be the shoes. Maybe I'm not ready for running in them yet and still need time to figure them out. Maybe the snugness is a problem. Maybe the assessment given to me by the running store was wrong again and the shoes are just not right for me. I think I want to test them some more before returning them becomes a real possibility.
While I have more shoes than my running habit can justify, I do have rationales for getting all of them. The reason why I wanted another pair of (better support) shoes is that it's getting warmer out and it's almost time for outdoor running again. And while the Kinvara are absolute a dream on the treadmill I am afraid that they would not be enough for while I pound on concrete. I don't remember whether I ran in them outside last year, but honestly I didn't do a lot of running last summer. I wanted something sturdier and something that could maybe handle the trails (even thought the Hurricane is not designed for trail running). But if the Hurricanes are not helping then there would be no point in having them. I still need to give them more time, and I can't bare having to go another half size up. Me wearing a size 10 is just too ridiculous.
But rationales aside I still like to look at running shoes I know I will never buy. I don't have he same attraction for other kinds of shoes, not even canvas shoes or casual athletic wears. Just running shoes. Sometimes it's the colors and patterns, other times it may be the cool design (like the Honka One One shoes). Sometime I suspect I dream of putting them on and go running in procrastination of actual running. Also I'm still trying to work out how the different shoes can suit different people. I'm told by every one that I need shoes with support because I over-pronate a little. And I need arch support. And because of my weight I'm usually recommend heavier shoes like the Brooks. And I was told by some that the Kinvara it not a good fit for me because it has no support. But I'm so happy in them. They are so light and I don't get more injuries wearing them than I would with other shoes. And I can't figure out why that it. Why does logic and reasoning not work? I got the Kinvara 5 purely based on it's good reviews. Everyone seemed to like them. I tried them out in the store and they fit my feet. It took a few tries for me to realize that I needed a full size up with this model (apparently the 6 is even narrower), and I run so happy in them. Yet I still can't ignore the logic and kept wanting to try out different things, and so far none of them have yielded promising results. My baffles only resulted in more temptation to buy; usually it would have to take a few days for me to find out whether I'm truly comfortable in them or not so a quick trip to the shoe store does not usually do it.
Sunday, February 28, 2016
Sometimes a meal can ruin you
I never liked diets. They don't work and they make you think about food all the time which is the opposite of what I want to do when I'm trying to lose weight. But those who do incorporate diets into their weight loss/ healthier living ways of life often say that if you occasionally have a meal of things that are unhealthy, that one meal won't ruin you. In other words, it's okay if you let your indulgence take over once in a while, and you don't have to beat yourself over that.
Well that's exactly what happened to me earlier this month, and now that February is almost over I'm still paying for it.
Even since I started journaling I've been writing down my weight every morning, and since the beginning of this year, graphing it. For the entire month of January my weight was on this constantly but very regular roller coaster, going up and down by a range of 5 lbs but always got a bit lower at the end of each cycle. I was fascinated by this pattern and generally felt fine about it.
On Feb 7 I celebrated the Chinese New Year by making dumplings from scratch. I mixed my own fillings, and made wraps from flour and water. It was a laborious process that took me almost 4 hours, and I still don't know if I considered it a waste of time but I'm grateful for the process. That morning as I weighed myself I found that my weight had been the lowest since I started recording and I was very happy.
After making the dumplings I decided to pan-fry some. Ordinarily I would eat about 14-15 dumplings if I buy them frozen or if I make them with store-bought wraps. But it turned out that when I made my own wrap they were consistently larger and thicker so 15 of my from-scratch dumplings turned out to be way too much. I still managed to finish them all since I was hungry and wanted to eat the things that took me so long to make, and for the first time in months I felt the fullness I haven't had in a long time. It didn't feel good, and it came with that familiar feeling of self-hatred.
But that was just one meal right? I over-did it on a special occasion so it shouldn't be a problem later on. The next morning I weighed myself and found that I had gained 4 lbs from the day before and I just accepted the fact. I just assumed that over the next week or so it would just roller coast back down and life will be fine again.
Except it didn't. The weight plateaued up there for a few days, made a little dip, and went even higher and stayed up there for a few days more. Now it's going back to that roller coaster pattern but the actual numbers have consistently hovered at a higher range. Overall I think I have gained a pound or two from the whole experience but nothing too bad, and I still weighed less than I did when I first started graphing on Jan 4.
It started with that one meal, which, if everything else had gone back to normal wouldn't have mattered by itself. But with that meal came a bunch of other things. For some reasons for days after that I managed to stuff myself some more for no good reason. I don't even remember what I ate now or what I ate that much but I remembered the fullness and the self-hatred. I skipped some of my gym classes and workouts. I got takeout more; I don't know what triggered it but I went into my phase where I just didn't feel like cooking. I was also sick for a week, during which time I oscillated between having no appetite and eating as much as I could to distract me from feeling shitty about my cold (and of course I skipped all my gym classes during that time).
So strictly speaking it was just that one meal. And there were some stuff that happened during the weeks that followed that were unrelated to that one meal. But I did feel the psychological impact. The sudden and dramatic weight gain, the guilt, the feeling of self-hatred, the frustration of knowing I need to work out more to compensate and the inability to run and feel as light. And it also opened this gate, that it was also somehow okay to go back to the way I was over-eating before. I felt shitty, but so what, I was still functioning like I was before. The consequence was real but at the same time... inconsequential.
Does that mean that we should beat ourselves over every bad meal decisions we have? I don't think so. I still believe that one meal won't make you fat. But I would be more cautious after my next bad meal because the effect may linger for more than just that one meal, and I don't mean just the weight.
Well that's exactly what happened to me earlier this month, and now that February is almost over I'm still paying for it.
Even since I started journaling I've been writing down my weight every morning, and since the beginning of this year, graphing it. For the entire month of January my weight was on this constantly but very regular roller coaster, going up and down by a range of 5 lbs but always got a bit lower at the end of each cycle. I was fascinated by this pattern and generally felt fine about it.
On Feb 7 I celebrated the Chinese New Year by making dumplings from scratch. I mixed my own fillings, and made wraps from flour and water. It was a laborious process that took me almost 4 hours, and I still don't know if I considered it a waste of time but I'm grateful for the process. That morning as I weighed myself I found that my weight had been the lowest since I started recording and I was very happy.
After making the dumplings I decided to pan-fry some. Ordinarily I would eat about 14-15 dumplings if I buy them frozen or if I make them with store-bought wraps. But it turned out that when I made my own wrap they were consistently larger and thicker so 15 of my from-scratch dumplings turned out to be way too much. I still managed to finish them all since I was hungry and wanted to eat the things that took me so long to make, and for the first time in months I felt the fullness I haven't had in a long time. It didn't feel good, and it came with that familiar feeling of self-hatred.
But that was just one meal right? I over-did it on a special occasion so it shouldn't be a problem later on. The next morning I weighed myself and found that I had gained 4 lbs from the day before and I just accepted the fact. I just assumed that over the next week or so it would just roller coast back down and life will be fine again.
Except it didn't. The weight plateaued up there for a few days, made a little dip, and went even higher and stayed up there for a few days more. Now it's going back to that roller coaster pattern but the actual numbers have consistently hovered at a higher range. Overall I think I have gained a pound or two from the whole experience but nothing too bad, and I still weighed less than I did when I first started graphing on Jan 4.
It started with that one meal, which, if everything else had gone back to normal wouldn't have mattered by itself. But with that meal came a bunch of other things. For some reasons for days after that I managed to stuff myself some more for no good reason. I don't even remember what I ate now or what I ate that much but I remembered the fullness and the self-hatred. I skipped some of my gym classes and workouts. I got takeout more; I don't know what triggered it but I went into my phase where I just didn't feel like cooking. I was also sick for a week, during which time I oscillated between having no appetite and eating as much as I could to distract me from feeling shitty about my cold (and of course I skipped all my gym classes during that time).
So strictly speaking it was just that one meal. And there were some stuff that happened during the weeks that followed that were unrelated to that one meal. But I did feel the psychological impact. The sudden and dramatic weight gain, the guilt, the feeling of self-hatred, the frustration of knowing I need to work out more to compensate and the inability to run and feel as light. And it also opened this gate, that it was also somehow okay to go back to the way I was over-eating before. I felt shitty, but so what, I was still functioning like I was before. The consequence was real but at the same time... inconsequential.
Does that mean that we should beat ourselves over every bad meal decisions we have? I don't think so. I still believe that one meal won't make you fat. But I would be more cautious after my next bad meal because the effect may linger for more than just that one meal, and I don't mean just the weight.
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
The continuing adventure of finding the right pair of running shoes
I'm still alive. And running (somewhat). And doing other stuff like yoga and, this term, pilates (which I really like and has turned out to be really helpful).
And still looking for that perfect pair of running shoes.
Right now I'm in a happy relationship with my current pair of Saucony Kinvara 5. They are so light and they are extremely comfy. I've not run in them on concrete a lot so I don't know how they will fare out in the summer time (honestly when did I get them?), but on the whole they are on the more minimal and less supportive side of the shoe rainbow. Which was one of the reasons why I waited almost a year between reading the first (rave) review about them and finally getting a pair.
In December I was in Boston for a play and on the way there I stopped by the Marathon store to see if the nice people there would have any new insight into my (current line of) perfect running shoes. This stemmed from a panic episode I had earlier that year over the fact that Saucony no longer sells Kinvara 5s and instead only carries Kinvara 6s. Honestly my feet really can't tell the difference between 5 and 6 from just trying the 6 on for 2 minutes in the store, but since they are new, they were more expensive and my wallet didn't like it. And since my feet are kind of strange I didn't want to take the chance of having to go through a whole new cycle of finding another pair of good running shoes so I tried to search elsewhere for another pair of 5 that I could squirrel away. I finally managed to find a brand new pair on eBay that was also my size and I pretty much paid the same price as my first pair, but at that point I didn't even care anymore, because instead of being leftover bargains they've become antiques and collectibles. This is really annoying. From a business perspective I can understand why shoe companies would want to come up with new models every season to sell to avid runners, but at the same time the changes they make are not always for the better and we runners don't really want to spend the time and effort and money to constantly worry about what shoes are the best. And for people with weird feet like me (I can't wear any Nike shoes and my right foot is just way pickier and more prone to strange injuries), it's extra time consuming.
So i went to that store. The store clerk lady was extremely nice and friendly and helpful and in the end we decided that the Saucony Hurricane Iso is a good fit for me. I didn't buy them in the end because I still have two pairs of Kinvara 5s I need to run through and I didn't want to pay full price for shoes (now they are in a sweet spot of being bargain but not quite vintage state because the Hurricane Iso 2 is out, and I'm seriously debating whether I want to get a pair). In the end I got a pair of Superfeet insoles (which I don't like anymore and are now sitting pathetically in the back corner of my gym locker). I was shown them because I was told that the Kinvaras, which I love, has basically no support and for someone with my weight and feet I need arch support. I was (and still) am confused because on the one hand I'm so happy in my no-support shoes and so far I have no Kinvara-related injuries, but on the other hand I'm afraid if it's a time bomb waiting to go off because of the lack of support my running shoes carry. Right now I'm really not running that much so it's not a big problem but when it gets warmer and I'm running longer and harder on harder ground maybe it would come back and haunt me.
Plus now I don't even remember what was so great about the Hurricane Isos other than they didn't feel weird when I tried them on and ran half a block in them.
But then again, the first time I went into the Marathon store I came out with the conclusion that Brooks Dyad (7) was a good fit for me. I have wide feet and need support and the Brooks were like a pair of tanks for my feet. I ended up getting them online and ran in them for about a month before realizing that there was something seriously off about them. They started to hurt my feet really bad and twice I had seriously considered getting rid of them on eBay.
I have since found out the reason and am now wearing them as my everyday walking shoes. Shame, walking shoes should not cost this much.
First of all they were too small. They were size 8.5, which is what I normally wear. When I tried them on in the store I was given a pair of 8.5 and they were slightly roomy so I ignored the pervasive advice that i should buy running shoes half a size larger. I didn't know it for a while but they were indeed too small.
Second, there was something seriously wrong about the insoles. Instead of staying put in the shoe for me to step on they like to come up with my foot and it not only created a strange sensation but was not good for my arches. I tried to replace them once and after taking them out I found that they are the thickest, cushiest pair of insoles I've ever seen. They are thick, cushy, and felt really comfy when you poke and squeeze them, and they look so cool that I didn't have the heart (or felt the need) to replace them. I've recently switched them out and replaced them with the insoles that came from another pair of shoes I replaced a pair of Dr. Scholl's with. And now I'm able to wear my Brooks comfortably (for everyday wear), mostly because I created more room in the shoe, and because I got rid of the weird vacuum insoles.
I tried to put them to good use elsewhere. Today I tried to put them in my Kinvara 5 so they wouldn't be completely support-less but not as hard and uncomfortable as the Superfeet insoles. It did not go well. They took up way to much room in the shoe; they were too small so my arches were very uncomfortably supported, and it was overall just a very bad idea. They are now sitting among a bunch of used paper towels in the garbage can of the women's locker room of the gym. I still feel bad because they are so cushy and substantive, but apparently this is a bad thing. Maybe I just can't have very cushy insoles. Support, maybe, but not cushy. So there.
I'm still constantly experimenting, and trying to put everything I own into some good use. Right now the best option is still my Kinvara 5, without any modifications. I am financially capable of buying the Hurricane Iso and experiment them but the consideration is not money, but excess. I have a problem when it comes to shoes. I want to buy all of them! Especially ones that should be good fit for me! But technically I really don't need any (yea yea you should rotate your shoes yada yada), and the truth is I really don't have any more room in my apartment (or my gym locker, for that matter) to have another pair of shoes (I recently threw out a pair of casual walking shoes and bought another pair of new casual walking shoes before successfully turning my Brooks into something useable so I'm already regretting that decision). Reason simultaneously tells me that I should buy them (shoe rotation, etc) and not buy them (no they are not terribly expensive but no I also don't really need them). Plus I'm not that even a heavy runner! It's not like I run a 5K everyday or in the middle of training for a marathon or something. I've just forced myself to go back to running and right now I do about 1.5 miles at a time after my gym classes and I haven't done any runs longer than that in months! Maybe I should just stop obsessing over running shoes and just work with what I have.
My only fear is that by the time I'm ready for another pair of shoes the Hurricane Isos will become dinosaurs and the new models will suck.
Oh well, such is life. And there's always that extra pair of Kinvara 5 that will carry me through any tough times.
And still looking for that perfect pair of running shoes.
Right now I'm in a happy relationship with my current pair of Saucony Kinvara 5. They are so light and they are extremely comfy. I've not run in them on concrete a lot so I don't know how they will fare out in the summer time (honestly when did I get them?), but on the whole they are on the more minimal and less supportive side of the shoe rainbow. Which was one of the reasons why I waited almost a year between reading the first (rave) review about them and finally getting a pair.
In December I was in Boston for a play and on the way there I stopped by the Marathon store to see if the nice people there would have any new insight into my (current line of) perfect running shoes. This stemmed from a panic episode I had earlier that year over the fact that Saucony no longer sells Kinvara 5s and instead only carries Kinvara 6s. Honestly my feet really can't tell the difference between 5 and 6 from just trying the 6 on for 2 minutes in the store, but since they are new, they were more expensive and my wallet didn't like it. And since my feet are kind of strange I didn't want to take the chance of having to go through a whole new cycle of finding another pair of good running shoes so I tried to search elsewhere for another pair of 5 that I could squirrel away. I finally managed to find a brand new pair on eBay that was also my size and I pretty much paid the same price as my first pair, but at that point I didn't even care anymore, because instead of being leftover bargains they've become antiques and collectibles. This is really annoying. From a business perspective I can understand why shoe companies would want to come up with new models every season to sell to avid runners, but at the same time the changes they make are not always for the better and we runners don't really want to spend the time and effort and money to constantly worry about what shoes are the best. And for people with weird feet like me (I can't wear any Nike shoes and my right foot is just way pickier and more prone to strange injuries), it's extra time consuming.
So i went to that store. The store clerk lady was extremely nice and friendly and helpful and in the end we decided that the Saucony Hurricane Iso is a good fit for me. I didn't buy them in the end because I still have two pairs of Kinvara 5s I need to run through and I didn't want to pay full price for shoes (now they are in a sweet spot of being bargain but not quite vintage state because the Hurricane Iso 2 is out, and I'm seriously debating whether I want to get a pair). In the end I got a pair of Superfeet insoles (which I don't like anymore and are now sitting pathetically in the back corner of my gym locker). I was shown them because I was told that the Kinvaras, which I love, has basically no support and for someone with my weight and feet I need arch support. I was (and still) am confused because on the one hand I'm so happy in my no-support shoes and so far I have no Kinvara-related injuries, but on the other hand I'm afraid if it's a time bomb waiting to go off because of the lack of support my running shoes carry. Right now I'm really not running that much so it's not a big problem but when it gets warmer and I'm running longer and harder on harder ground maybe it would come back and haunt me.
Plus now I don't even remember what was so great about the Hurricane Isos other than they didn't feel weird when I tried them on and ran half a block in them.
But then again, the first time I went into the Marathon store I came out with the conclusion that Brooks Dyad (7) was a good fit for me. I have wide feet and need support and the Brooks were like a pair of tanks for my feet. I ended up getting them online and ran in them for about a month before realizing that there was something seriously off about them. They started to hurt my feet really bad and twice I had seriously considered getting rid of them on eBay.
I have since found out the reason and am now wearing them as my everyday walking shoes. Shame, walking shoes should not cost this much.
First of all they were too small. They were size 8.5, which is what I normally wear. When I tried them on in the store I was given a pair of 8.5 and they were slightly roomy so I ignored the pervasive advice that i should buy running shoes half a size larger. I didn't know it for a while but they were indeed too small.
Second, there was something seriously wrong about the insoles. Instead of staying put in the shoe for me to step on they like to come up with my foot and it not only created a strange sensation but was not good for my arches. I tried to replace them once and after taking them out I found that they are the thickest, cushiest pair of insoles I've ever seen. They are thick, cushy, and felt really comfy when you poke and squeeze them, and they look so cool that I didn't have the heart (or felt the need) to replace them. I've recently switched them out and replaced them with the insoles that came from another pair of shoes I replaced a pair of Dr. Scholl's with. And now I'm able to wear my Brooks comfortably (for everyday wear), mostly because I created more room in the shoe, and because I got rid of the weird vacuum insoles.
I tried to put them to good use elsewhere. Today I tried to put them in my Kinvara 5 so they wouldn't be completely support-less but not as hard and uncomfortable as the Superfeet insoles. It did not go well. They took up way to much room in the shoe; they were too small so my arches were very uncomfortably supported, and it was overall just a very bad idea. They are now sitting among a bunch of used paper towels in the garbage can of the women's locker room of the gym. I still feel bad because they are so cushy and substantive, but apparently this is a bad thing. Maybe I just can't have very cushy insoles. Support, maybe, but not cushy. So there.
I'm still constantly experimenting, and trying to put everything I own into some good use. Right now the best option is still my Kinvara 5, without any modifications. I am financially capable of buying the Hurricane Iso and experiment them but the consideration is not money, but excess. I have a problem when it comes to shoes. I want to buy all of them! Especially ones that should be good fit for me! But technically I really don't need any (yea yea you should rotate your shoes yada yada), and the truth is I really don't have any more room in my apartment (or my gym locker, for that matter) to have another pair of shoes (I recently threw out a pair of casual walking shoes and bought another pair of new casual walking shoes before successfully turning my Brooks into something useable so I'm already regretting that decision). Reason simultaneously tells me that I should buy them (shoe rotation, etc) and not buy them (no they are not terribly expensive but no I also don't really need them). Plus I'm not that even a heavy runner! It's not like I run a 5K everyday or in the middle of training for a marathon or something. I've just forced myself to go back to running and right now I do about 1.5 miles at a time after my gym classes and I haven't done any runs longer than that in months! Maybe I should just stop obsessing over running shoes and just work with what I have.
My only fear is that by the time I'm ready for another pair of shoes the Hurricane Isos will become dinosaurs and the new models will suck.
Oh well, such is life. And there's always that extra pair of Kinvara 5 that will carry me through any tough times.
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