New Shoe Review: Saucony Kinvara 10

If you know anything about me as a runner, you know that I am die-hard Brooks fan.  However, I just sacrilegiously bought a pair of Saucony Kinvara 10s.  Don't tell all 5 of my pairs of Brooks Launch about this, okay?

Oooo purple!

Since I've been experiencing foot and hip problems, I decided to explore some other shoe brands and styles because it's definitely not that I'm running too much causing my running issues, right?  Right.

Anyhoo, let's get back to those Saucony Kinvara 10s.  Because these shoes have a much lower heel drop than I'm used to (a 4 mm drop, compared to the 10 mm drop of me beloved Brooks Launch 6s) and they say you should transition slowly to a low-drop shoe, I went for a 14 mile run in those bad boys because don't tell me what to do in my own shoes, people on the internet that do running for a living and know way more about this than I do.  And let me tell you, 14 miles is enough miles to get to know a shoe.  So, what did I learn about the Kinvara 10?

• I learned that you can tell your heel is much, much lower than normal in this shoe.  I could definitely feel that my heel was lower than normal, but the forefoot of this shoe had ample cushion.  It felt weird at first, but after the first mile I didn't notice the heel lowness, but I did feel the cushion with every step.
• I learned you can have a cushy shoe that is still lightweight.  These shoes never ever felt heavy, unlike my Brooks Ghost 11s which often feel like bricks tied to my feet at the end of a long run.
• I learned that those weird little bumps on the back inner heel of the shoes designed to do...something...with your Achilles feel weird at first.  I don't know if those are on the shoe as some added sales gimmick, but I thought they were going to be a deal-breaker when I first put the shoes on.  Who wants something rubbing against the back of your heels during a run?!?  But I completely forgot about them after the second mile and didn't feel them again.
• I learned that running in a lower heel drop does make your calves kinda way more tired by the end of 14 miles.  My calves were whinier than normal by mile 12, and I kept hearing them whine when I was walking around the county fair later that night.  Maybe I should listen to those internet people from crazy sites like Runner's World saying to ease into low-drop shoes slowly...
• I learned that the roomy feel of this shoe made the top of my foot NOT hurt for once.  I've been having pain along the tendon extending from the big toe, but there was none of that pain yesterday.  It was kind of nice.  And speaking of pain...
• I didn't have any hip pain, either.  I don't know if the shoe was the cause or the profuse icing I did of my hip the night before, but just thought that the lack of pain should be noted. 
• I learned that while these felt light, I didn't get that "fast feet feeling" I do in my Brooks Launch 6.  I like to feel like I can fly in a pair of shoes...while the Kinvaras are light, the push-off wasn't as nimble as I like it to be.  Contrasting the feel to the tempo run I did the other day in my fave pair of Launches, the Kinvara weren't really up to snuff.  They weren't slow-feeling, just not as fast as I'd like them to be.  
• I learned that the white and purple color scheme matched my nonmatching running outfit theme of the day.

What else do you expect when I'm up at 5:30 AM on a Saturday trying to make my brain pick out something in which to run?

Overall, I'm actually pretty pleased with the Kinvara's performance on this run, but my feeling whilst running in them was that I wasn't overly wowed by them.  I would definitely run in them again, but maybe alternate long runs in them or wear them for easier paced shorter runs.  I still prefer the quick pace and pickup feel of the Brooks Launch 6, but the Kinvara 10 still has a place in my running shoe rotation.  Besides--they're purple; I can't NOT wear them.

Tomorrow's workout: Speaking of quick, tomorrow there shall be speed.  But only a little in the form of 200 m repeats.

Jumping my way to recovery

This pain in my right hip is becoming a pain in the you-know-where. It’s not going away fast enough, but then again I think I should be able to ice it and have it healed overnight.  Well, I am icing it, but I am also trying to correct any muscle weaknesses that caused this mess in the first place—and that’s why I’m trying to jump my way to recovery with some HiiT workouts because, you know, you use your glutes and hips and stuff during those workouts.

One workout that I rediscovered in my Cathe library is CrossFire. 

This workout has a couple of sections to it and has been reviewed as nauseum since it’s release, so I’ll spare you the details. What I won’t spare you from are the reasons I forgot how much I liked this workout:

• You don’t need a ton of equipment. Some 3, 5, 10, and 15 pound weights, a fire walker band (theraband), and some sliding discs are all you need. I like not having to get in another workout cleaning up after a workout. 
• So much getting that heart rate up goodness. While I can definitely tell I have much better aerobic fitness than I did when I first did this workout a few years ago, all the high impact exercises in the first two sections of the workout still give your heart rate a run for its money. Why is that? Well, it because of all the...
• JUMPING JUMPING EVERYWHERE. Jumping is fun, kids!

• You get to test your jumping and not falling skills by jumping and trying not to fall with that band looped around your ankles. Good times. 

Let’s hope all this jumping pays off, especially since I have a 14 mile run on deck for tomorrow. Even workout supervisor is hoping I get better soon so I can do my runs outside without pain. 

But that’s only because then she has a couple of hours when I’m out of the house and not bugging her. 

Tomorrow’s workout: Like I said, there’s a 14 miler on the plan for tomorrow. Hopefully the hip will keep quiet. 

Lessons from Tempo Thursday

Normally I tempo my little heart out on Thursdays on the ‘mill, staring at my reflection bobbing up and downon the big blue wall in front of my treadmill. But not this morning kids—it was 50 degrees outside on this August first, so I took that tempo outside with large dog at 5:30 AM.

I actually programmed the tempo workout I was doing into the old Garmin (7 miles with 30 min at 9:20 pace) and ran off into the gorgeous morning. And while this tempo wasn’t the worst one I’ve ever done (I’m looking at you, 80 minutes at 8:54 tempo 👀), I did learn a few things as I ran off into the cool morning:

1) The neighbors at the ends of streets where large dog and I turn around all have dogs. I know this because large dog barks loudly EVERY TIME we turn around. EVERY.  TIME. The jerk. 

2) When doing tempos outside my house, you’ll just have to suck it up, buttercup, and run some of that tempo on some hills. They don’t flatten themselves just because I have to keep a certain pace. Those jerks.

3) Workouts sent to the Garmin do not auto-pause like a normal run workout. I know this because when I stopped to answer Mother Nature’s very important andurgent call in the middle of the tempo, the minutes just kept ticking by on the watch while Mother Nature held me hostage. That jerk.

4) Large dog just isn’t into post-run selfies that much.That jerk.

Tomorrow’s workout: Maybe some HiiT. Maybe some cycling. Maybe both. You’ll have to tune in to find out.Because I’m a jerk. 

Four Pic Post - a July wrap-up

Pic #1:

Large dog, his tongue, and I ended our July by running an easy 6 while watching the sun rise this morning in some awesome mid-50s temps.

His tongue enjoyed that sunset.

Pic #2:

This run topped off our July total at 155 miles and some change.

I have no idea if this is good or bad.  Maybe good since I ran all those miles.

Pic #3:

My hip wasn't so bad this morning, but I was feeling some tightness toward the end of the run - which is why I did my hip and glute strengthening exercises this evening under large dog's supervision.

He's ready with toys in case I need those for my exercises.

Pic #4:

Female cat cannot believe how stupid this blog post is.  And how stupid this blog is because it has so much large dog on it, who just likes to eat her head when she least expects it.

SO MUCH STUPID EVERYWHERE

And she thinks it's stupid I included a picture of her in this post just because I needed a fourth picture.  Cats.  Sheesh.


Tomorrow's workout: 30 minute tempo - a gift from the My Run Plan gods.

Strength training makes it all better. Not really.

So my sore hip flared up yesterday and today it really hurt to sit. So of course I did some strength training this morning and it’s all better now. Kind of. 

You know you love that crazy turquoise wall. 

Anyway, here are some reasons why I think my hip liked the strength training (Cathe’s PHA 1 workout) so much:

It wasn’t running.

My legs were moving in directions other than forward. 

There was no running involved.

Sometimes I didn’t use my legs during the workout. 

Running was not something I did during the workout.

I guess what I’m trying to say here is that I *may* have to actually stop running for a week just to let it heal.I’m going to see how the next two runs this week go; if it keeps getting worse then I’m going to have to take some time off. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go quietly sob in a corner for the next hour.

Tomorrow’s workout: Easy run. WITH NO HIP SORENESS *wishfulthinkingactivated*

Well hey there. My run sucked this morning.

Well hey there. 

This morning I had a 9.5 mile run on tap in the form of some delicious 1200 meter repeats...seven of them. And this run pretty much sucked from the get-go, and even my dinosaur shorts couldn’t save it. Here’s why:

• I thought 1200s would be easy peasy compared to mile repeats but NOPE NOT TRUE they just suck 400 meters less at an 8:20 pace. My mental game was packed in a box in my closet this morning after I realized these were going to be hard.
  
• Eating red meat for both lunch and dinner yesterday made Mother Nature call about 6 times during the run, and I ended up only running 4 of the 7 repeats uninterrupted.
  
• My nose was running constantly...and having to wipe my nose so often was really pissing me off.
  
• The top of my right foot started to whine in the 3rd repeat. Sooooo annoying.
  

Well, not every run is spectacular.  My own puny win out of this workout is that I got the distance on the training plan done...and I learned red meat is a pretty crappy friend.

Tomorrow’s workout: Some cross training goodness to help me forget the hot mess of this morning’s run.

Sports bras, half marathons, hip pain, and Dr. Google.

I know I say this every time I start blogging again, but I really mean it this time:  I am going to post more regularly from now on.

Even if it's just a picture with one stupid little sentence from the deep recesses of my brain, like this pic from yesterday's 16 mile long run in the heat:

When the dog slobbers all over the front of himself during the run just as much as you sweat....


So expect a lot of what you just saw on here kids.  My sanity these days depends on having some sort of fun and creative outlet, and, unfortunately, you all are going to bear the brunt of my bad sense of humor just so I can maintain the blogging habit again.

But I do have a bit of a longer post planned for today, seeing as some recent running things have happened in my running life:

• I ran a half marathon race in a sports bra and shorts, and
• My right hip has been nagging me with soreness for the past two weeks.

The half marathon was last weekend, and of course it was on a day where we had dangerous heat.  The course had very little shade and, even though it was well-supported, I knew that trying to use the race as a tune-up half to run marathon pace just wasn't going to happen.  So I made my goal just to run my first race in a sports bra instead.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.  Really.

I kept the pace slow (ran it in 2:18...a very slow race for me), but not just because of the heat--I was also running slow because my right hip capsule has been sore for weeks.  And by "sore" I mean "a deep pain would happen trying to hold the gas pedal down while driving" type of soreness.  A soreness whereby I was testing daily to see if it was really a stress fracture in my femur level of soreness.  A soreness where sitting down in a regular position on the couch was painful.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that my hip was really really sore.  And it was very concerning.

But of course I kept running on it, and then complained about my hip being sore.  I finally did what any other normal runner would do to see if could get some relief from the discomfort--do some research on Google. (What, did you think I was going to go to a doctor? Crazy talk.) After exhaustive and extensive research on the internet and a lot of jamming my thumb into various parts of my hip and glutes to see where it hurt the most, I diagnosed myself with a pain in the piriformis caused by weak hip and glute muscles.  This made sense to me, especially since during my last marathon training cycle I did absolutely no lower body strengthening whatsoever.  It seems that the muscles in my glutes and hips responsible for motions other than forward propulsion got all weak and stuff and then all of a sudden it's hurting to drive a car.

Since I made my own expert diagnosis using Dr. Google and my thumb, I have been trying to strengthen those weak glutes and hips with these exercises from Strength Running:

And by doing these plyometric workouts from Cathe because they involve a lot of squatting and lateral hip exercises: High Intensity Interval Training, Plyo HiiT 2, and Crossfire.

Are they working?  Well, remember that 16 mile run I did yesterday?  My hip didn't bother me once.  And while it was a little sore when I woke up today, I am happy to report that I can sit, walk, and drive a car normally.

Now if only I can get that nagging pain on the top of my right foot to go away.  So, if you'll excuse me, I have to go consult Dr. Google again.  Until that time, enjoy the non-learning learnings meant to summarize this post but really are just a list of nonsensical random thoughts I couldn't find a way to coherently put into the post above:

• I do really mean it this time - a pic a day at least on this blog.  Contain your excitement, kids.
• Feeling like someone is grabbing the top of your femur and squeezing while you're driving is a weird feeling.  Very weird.
• Cathe's workouts are full of jumping, and jumping is fun, ergo plyometrics is fun. 
• I'm glad my hip didn't bother me yesterday on my run because then I could really focus on just how miserable I was in the heat and how much my bra was chafing.  Good times.

Upcoming workouts: More plyo and some weights today, and a crazy amount of 1200s for tomorrow's speed session on the 'mill.  Even more good times.