What am I thinking about this morning?

I am presently thinking about how hot/humid it going to be this morning. Today is a scheduled rest day where I am going to run instead. The legs are feeling as good as they have for a long time and I really, really want to try out my new Puma Deviate Nitro’s this morning. I am not planning on doing anything hard, though I will probably throw in a couple of surges just to see how the shoes do at a quicker pace. With the forecast, I will most likely do Philbrick Laps again, so that if I need to shut it down, I am not a mile or two away from the house and won’t be needing to battle the hills to get back home. 

That is one thing about living up on a hill, to get home on most runs I have to run back uphill for a ways. Otherwise, it will probably be a great day to sit inside, enjoy the air conditioning and maybe work on a small project that I have been procrastinating for a few months – installing heating vents under the kitchen cabinets, where the contractor covered up one of the heating vents when we remodeled a couple of years ago and he “neglected” to put them in. Under the sink during the winter is quite cozy, but the house is a bit chillier than it should be.

Planned Stryd Challenge Description: 

• No planned runs today, so I will run easy and not worry about what I do, other than getting in some miles to see how the new shoes feel.

Today’s Running Focus

• Pay attention to the effects of the heat/humidity

What I Did Today: 

Course: Philbrick Laps & Tiffany Bump O/B

Location: Sidney, ME.

Primary Workout – 

Target Range	Duration	Distance	Power	Heart Rate	Pace	Cadence	Stride Length
N/A	37:47	4.06	211	141	9:18	167	1.01

I started out slow to get used to the new shoes and then played around with a few surges before deciding to see how they did on the gravel road down-back. 

If it hadn’t been for getting the Deviate Nitro’s yesterday, I probably would have taken today off. But I felt better after the run, so sometimes an active rest day with an easy run is something to think about instead of doing nothing.

Did the workout go as planned?

I kept reining myself back to a slower pace and smiled an awful lot.

Injuries/Niggles: Nothing bothered enough to complain about

Weather: Clear sky, 80°F, Feels like 84°F, Humidity 76%, Wind 5mph from N

Shoes: Puma Deviate Nitro – First Run. 

It was one of those runs where I smiled a lot because my running shoes were working the way I wanted them to. 

The snap, crackle, and pop were in the correct amounts, and they didn’t bother my feet at all during the run.

Based on some of the reviews, I decided to wear thicker socks to protect the heel area from potential blistering and did a bunch of rolling the heel area fabric backward on the right foot while leaving the left foot alone. Sort of a quick A/B test to see if there would be any issues with the heel area. Plus, I laced/tied through the last lace hole but did not use a runner’s knot. I am not a big fan of using it if I don’t have to.

Now, remember the Deviate Nitro is a daily trainer. I repeat, the Deviate Nitro is a daily trainer, not a racing or “go faster” running shoe. 

So, my expectations of how I run in it are different from the ASICS Magic Speeds, Reebok RunFast V1, Hoka Carbon X (series), or other speed-oriented shoes that I have in my possession. It is a bit heavier than they are, but it isn’t that heavy at 8.4 ounces in my size 8.0. 

The toe-box was comfortable in my usual running socks, but it was snugger with the thicker ones, not enough to bother, but enough to be noticeable. I don’t think I will be using my toe spreaders with the Deviate Nitro’s. If it is snug with thicker socks, it would definitely be too snug with the toe spreaders.

Otherwise, the fit was spot on for running in the socks that I usually wear, and at no time during the run did the Deviate Nitro’s bother my heel. However, while I was walking to cool down, I felt the heel of the left shoe slightly, but nothing from the right shoe. This means that I will do some stretching and rolling of the heel of the left shoe later, which is what I did to the right shoe. 

My Deviate Nitro’s are probably one of the best fitting shoes out of the box that I have had in a while. Snug enough that the shoe moves with the foot naturally, but not so snug that it bothered me while running. 

During the run, they had a bouncy feel and were smooth from heel-to-toe-off. My stride felt strong, and when I looked at the pace when I was done, it was about 12 seconds faster on average than my usual per mile pace without any more effort. 

Another thing that I also noticed was how quiet the Deviates were. For as much rubber as there is underfoot, they were amazingly quiet. Speaking of all that rubber, I purposely took them down on the dirt road that I run a lot of miles on and had zero issues on the hard-packed dirt. The carbon plate acted like a rock plate while I was having a Harold being Harold moment by testing the tolerances of the shoe and my feet when stepping on some of the larger rocks in the road.

While it was hot/humid when I did pick up the pace (for me), the shoe felt quite good. I want to try the Deviate Nitro’s in a more speed-oriented workout before I give them too much credit, but that pop/snap that I have been looking for in my go faster shoes seemed to be a part of the Deviate Nitro’s DNA. Yeah, I liked the feeling I got when I stepped on the gas a little. 

The difference was noticeable and made me smile back then and again today.

My first impression is good, well better than good, but I want to get a few more runs in them before I pronounce them as the missing link I have been looking for.

I am sure that they will get a few miles on them over the next week or so, and then I will have a clearer picture of what I think about my Puma Deviate Nitro’s.

What did I learn today?

I enjoyed my first run in the Puma Deviate Nitro’s today. They made me smile.

The weather was better than yesterday, so that was nice. I think it was the lack of wildfire smoke and haze that made the difference. 

No, I didn’t do my project and am still procrastinating getting it done.