New shoes, long run

The weather was great the last couple days--sunny and cool. Yesterday, Holli, Elliott, and I went to Birch Run to do some shopping and I bought a new pair of running shoes. I found a pair of Vaporflies on sale at the Nike outlet. I found out after I got home that they are actually racing shoes, which is why they are crazy light. I got them to replace the Nike Frees that I'm quite enamored with. They are meant to simulate running barefoot and since I've been running in them I've avoided the knee problems that bothered me during my first ultra. I've been running in the Frees for over a year with several runs over 10 miles. I know you aren't supposed to run that much in old shoes, but they don't have any padding to compress and, frankly, I've been too busy for most of last year to prioritize shoe shopping.

Put 14 miles on the Vapors today and must say that I am pretty impressed so far. There was no knee or joint pain and I really liked how light they are. I don't know how they will stand up in terms of durability, but they only claim to be usable for 300 miles so I won't be disappointed if they start breaking down after a couple months. Hey, they were half as much as the other pair of shoes I was considering so it still works out.

I never really thought I would spend this much time thinking about running shoes.

I just started listening to Scott Singler's new science fiction novel podcast, the Rookie. It's a bit of a change from his previous novels, but pretty good so far. I'd recommend him for those of you who like action oriented science fiction.

Holli, Casey, and Elliott joined me for the first 4 miles of the run. Holli rode her bike while I pushed Elliott in his jogging stroller and Casey trotted along beside us. Well, Casey trotted after spending a half mile urgently trying to get us to go faster. It was actually pretty warm out so Holli and Casey headed home after 4 miles and Elliott stuck with me for another 2 miles or so. He was awake the whole time and quietly taking the scenery in. It's nice to have training buddies.