Only run 1/4 mile to start.

This is my fervent warning if you buy a pair of these shoes. Only run 1/4 mile the first time you go out in them. Do not try to run further even if you think you can. Literally, run around the block, go into the house and take them off immediately.

That said, I ran 1.7 miles in them the first time. Three days later I am still incapable of walking like a normal human being. The DOMS is so bad. I think its still getting worse. I'm the broken, mangled Terminator. And I'm not sure that I'll be back, haha.

So these are my jazzy new Vibram Five Finger running shoes. I bought the Bikilas, which are specifically made for running (vs hiking, watersports, etc.). Very lightweight. 2mm sole with 1 mm of traction padding that you can see on the bottoms. They have no cushioning and therefore I can literally run them into the ground - until my feet come up bloody, haha.

They are incredibly comfortable. But you have to run on your forefoot, so if your current gait involves your heel hitting the ground at any point, this is going to be totally different for you. And that is why you can't run more than 1/4 mile the first few times out. Trust me.

The New Shoes

I went into Marathon Sports after work today to pick up my bib for the upcoming Jingle Bell 5K in Somerville. And somehow I walked out with a brand new pair of aqua-and-white Vibram Five Finger Bikilas.

I am resting some kind of sad and sorry hope on these shoes that they will fix all of my IT band problems and vault me back into the world of endurance running. See how inspirational they look?

In Review

I was drawn into a training log program and managed to miss out on my running updates. I've been trying to run 3-4 times during the week and the long run on Sat/Sunday. The weekday runs are focusing on speed and intervals. I'll so a fast 8 miles for one, as well as 2-3 drills/short fast runs. I managed to actually do full Yasso 800s last week. I say full, since two weeks back I tried them, mismeasured, and ran 500s instead. I averaged around 3:55 this time. Theoretically, the Yasso 800s are supposed to predict your marathon time. In this case, it's off. I'm a much faster short-distance runner than I am long-distance. I'm putting 4:30 as my goal finishing time, but suspect it will be more near 5 hours or so.

My schedule was pretty thrown last week near the end. Due to Easter, I went up to NH. However, dental troubles left me in Boston until Saturday afternoon. So I only ended up running once and not a long run. I did 9 miles with this big hill in the middle. It's rolling hills in the area anyway, but this particular hill was between 4%-9% for over a mile. The rest of the hills were like 3%. I tried to take it easy. At two super-steep points, I slowed my jog to a walk. I didn't want to risk injuring myself. The rest was easy and refreshing. I wish I lived out in a rural area full time. It's just a gorgeous place to run. I can't believe I took it for granted all those years, and didn't get into running sooner. NH is the best.

Before my run on Sunday, I had to buy new shoes. I thought I'd get a stellar deal up there without the sales tax, but no one had Nimbus 10, let alone in stock or on sale. So it was actually cheaper for me to buy them in Boston with a coupon and with sales tax, than in NH for full price without salestax. Bummer. Olympia Sports had the blue ones on sale for $100 though. That's cheaper than Marathon Sports with a 15% coupon. I think.

Anyway, since I forgot my old shoes anyway, I had to buy -something- in order to go on my run. I ended up with Saucony Triumph 5s. And they're awesome! They feel really similiar to the N10s with a wide toe, neutral and about the same weight, I'd say. Not as natural a fit, but I've put around 12 miles on them thus far and they feel GREAT! No problems. My toe is wrapped, so that might have something to do with it, but thus far no unexpected rubbing or blistering. My distances are short, however. This weekend I'm going to give them a trial on my 20 miler. Hopefully they'll hold the distance, since I haven't seen any signs that they would cause problems at least in the mid-stance.

New shoes for the marathon

I've been a bad runner. A very bad runner. I've been running on shoes with too much mileage. A strain on finances put me in this position - $100 a pop every three months is brutal on the pocket book in addition to all the other expenses that add up.

I rotate my sneakers constantly, however. I have a lot less miles on my Asics Landreth 4, since they're lighter and less cushioned than my Asics Nimbus 10. I bought them as a "race" shoe, so merely broke them in and saved them up for short/fast days. These days I'm relying more upon them since they're my freshest pair.

However, with the big race coming up, I need to commit to a new pair. I've been weighing my options. The Landreth 5 came out this spring. I haven't looked into the updates, since its a less popular shoe - very few reviews and comparisons between models. I'll probably swing by Marathon Sports to see what they have to say about it, give them a trial jog. We originally went with them since I'm a neutral with wide feet. I was getting to many blisters with the GT-1230s. I got the Nimbus 10 at the same time, but they're a little narrower and heavier. I ended up getting a second pair of Nimbus shortly before the CHaD half last fall. I was still getting blisters on my second-smallest toe. Too narrow still. Instead of going wide, I actually went up to a size 9.5, instead of the 8.5/9s that I'd worn in the past. This made a big difference.

Given that I want more cushioning for the long haul, I'm leaning towards the Nimbus 10 for the marathon. But the question is when to buy. How long do I train on these older ones? I don't want injury do to older shoes, but nor do I want to put too many miles on the new ones. I suppose, again, rotation. I finally got something of a recommendation after some googling around:

Purchase a new pair of shoes that you will use during the actual event approximately four to six weeks prior to the marathon. These shoes should be the same model that you've found works well for you during your long runs. The key point here is to have sufficient time to break the new pair in (by logging 60-70 miles including one long run) prior to your race.

I feel good about this. I'm wary of the new Landreth, since I'm unfamiliar with the newest update. I don't want to commit to something I don't full know. Also, I've been running some of my long run miles on the runner-worn hard-pack dirt beside the bikeway/walking paths near the end. When I'm pavement-only running, I'm going to want that extra cushion for the sake of my knees.

My knees are my biggest worry right now. Crossing my fingers for the long run tomorrow. I'm going to map it, hydrate and head to bed!