I intend to do this on Saturday evenings when no one is around and you gotta be bored out of your mind to read it. Then again, you might be like Bennie and snooze through it too.

Just kidding, but it seemed like the best day for me to do it.

Not much has changed when it comes to my running lately, I am still arguing with a balky right hamstring that doesn’t like me much at times and dealing with the crappy weather outside up heah in Maine. Due to the hamstring, I don’t run outside when it gets crappy or cold, since it tends to get quite grumpy in temps under 20F, even when walking.

Which has meant until this week the running mileage totals have been closer to single-digits most weeks, with a lot of time being spent on the elliptical. A tough start to my 2022 for my running, that is for sure.

The great news is that this week, I was able to get over 20 miles (ca. 32 km) in for the first time since the first week of 2022. Back when the weather really decided to play rough and that wonderful right hamstring started talking back to me. It isn’t 100% yet, but it is a lot better than it has been. I still need to baby it a lot and when I start to get a little too pushy, it gets grouchy, and I have to back off.

So progress is being made on that front.

Running shoes, it has been a weird week with my running shoes and I have put a couple pair on the endangered species table, and they may disappear at some point. However, I will wait until I feel confident that WWIII isn’t happening, and the supply chains are back up to snuff or at least at reasonable levels.

Now if I could only find a pair of the Brooks Aurora’s at a decent price point for me to experiment with. They are the one pair of shoes I have wanted to try since they came out.

Brooks Cascadia – Which I am using for general purpose everything winter shoes, walking, running in crappy weather (not that I have run in crappy weather lately) and for anything else. I like them a lot, and they do exactly what I want from my trail running shoes.

Brooks Cascadia

Brooks Hyperion Tempo – I have two pairs, one size 9.0 and another size 8.0, both work for how I am using them. The size 9.0 are great with thicker socks and have decent tread for outside, and I am using them primarily as daily trainers. I like how they feel running faster and also at slower paces. The size 8.0s I have been using on the elliptical with thin socks, and they work great for that, so they will probably be my tempo/light-weight trainers during warmer weather.

Hoka Clifton 8 – They are a little too snug in the toe box, but usable, but I feel sooooo slow in them. It isn’t the weight, it is that there is no give-back in the midsole, they almost feel dead underfoot. I won’t say that I would get them again, but I will use them until they go away.

Hoka Rocket X – I find the Rocket X to be more of a great light-weight trainer than I would a race day shoe. They fit fine, and I wouldn’t hesitate to race in them, but when I compare them to the Flame’s, there is such a huge difference in the amount of pop between the two. 

They are a smooth running shoe that I enjoy running in, but even compared to my Endorphin Speed 2s, they don’t have the same pop. I find this to be the case with most of Hoka’s long-distance racers, (Carbon X, Carbon X2 and Rocket X), they all feel more like a great trainer than a racer that puts a smile on your face, when you are running.

Karhu Ikoni Ortix 2020 – With all the running shoes that I got to ensure that I had enough to survive until summer, these were relegated to purgatory in the back of the garage. Not to go away, but to wait until I got tired of the newer shoes. Today, I got tired of screwing around with some shoes that were not going to work and pulled the Karhu’s out for a run in the rain. They are a bit firm and I wouldn’t run double-digit miles in them, but today the Ikoni’s did what they were supposed to do. 

However, if they were sub 10 ounces versus the 11.3 that my scale claims and not quite so firm, I would be running in them a lot more. The Ikoni’s are a heavy shoe, but they run great.

Brooks Glycerin 19 – I love the way they feel underfoot, but they bother my heel area. The top of the heel/Achilles area becomes a hot spot and while it never quite becomes a blister, they are not a put on and forget about them running shoes. Last night I was walking Bennie and that area just became painful on both feet. I don’t need to deal with it and as much as I like the shoes, they don’t work for me.

Skechers Forza 4 – I ran in them once before and couldn’t get a good heel lock-down and put them in the back of the garage. I tried walking in them again last night and this morning. The last 4 pairs of Skechers Performance running shoes have not fit my feet comfortably, and getting heel lock just hasn’t happened in this brand for me for a while. Yes, I did the runner’s heel lock and I still felt loosey-goosey in all of them, but the Forza 4 have been the worst, so they will go away at some point.

There will be a few more added to the list as we get into warmer weather and if the supply chain improves.

The world keeps turning and history keeps repeating itself. Senseless wars, inflation, pandemics, political infighting, price gouging and all the rest of the crap that is going on today is not new, it is just happening to us.

Most of these things suck and could be avoided, but there are too many out there with outsized egos and pockets to be lined. So, the power brokers will broker power and money will change hands. That’s how it is and the pawns of the world will suffer the consequences of their ambition, greed, paranoia, and lack of remorse for the death and suffering they cause for others.

I have zero answers for how to change the world to be a better place, that’s beyond my pay-grade or ability to make changes.

The rest of us need to do what we can, while we can. There are no guarantees in life and all most of us can do is to love our families, be kind or at least understanding of others, and do the best we can with the lives we have.

Goodnight all, I hope you like the person in the mirror and if you don’t, make the changes so that you will. It is your choice.