Category: Running

One of Those Mythical Top 10 Weather Days – RunLog 8-20-18

On By Harold L. ShawIn RunningLeave a comment

Yeah, today was one of those mythical top 10 days that I dream about and also tell me that Fall is just around the corner. One of those days where the temps were in the 70’s, low humidity and a light breeze that just begged to be run in.

This kind of day makes it so you just want to run…I was supposed to do an easy effort day and had to fight to keep the pace around 9:00 minute miles – that temptation to go faster was there the entire run. My Strava graph was not what you could call very consistent, because I kept speeding up and then had to slow back down again to keep the effort level in the easy range.

I had planned on doing my Tiffany 10K course, but as I got to the turn-around, it was so damn nice that I kept going out to Goodhue. Just a little further, but I wanted to keep going even further. I seriously thought about heading into Waterville and calling Mary to come and get me.

Yeah it was that nice outside.

In the end I turned around at Goodhue, I figured that it was better to stay on the good side of Mary than be an ass and just think about what I wanted to do. Plus I have a faster day planned for tomorrow with either a tough track workout or going to the Quarry Road 5K tomorrow night, so doing a long run today as tempting as it was, wasn’t in the cards.

Although…it would have been a perfect day for it.

This afternoon was moving lumber around, so I got about an hour of functional weight training in – always a good thing, because I hate doing weights and prefer the real deal as a part of doing actual work. Like carrying around logs on my shoulder or dragging brush to the pile to be shredded later.

Overall, it was a great day for being outside and I took advantage of it.

Although when I got done running, where I stopped up the road, this guy was hanging around in the road from a tree.

That was one big ass spider – they seem to be growing bigger up heah than they used to remember them.

An Interesting Week to Say the Least – 8-19-18

On By Harold L. ShawIn Running, week in review4 Comments

Yeah, the week that was.

I made a few changes to the blog – the name is now One Foot In Reality, the tagline has been updated and theme changed. Otherwise the content will stay pretty much the same, with a few added quirks as move forward. I also bailed from a couple of Facebook Groups that were going in different directions than I want to go and leave it at that. We will see how those changes turn out.

My favorite photo from last week:

Running was better than I thought it would be, though my right hip barked a little more than usual, it wasn’t as bad as it has been in the past. The weather is getting better, well not quite as hot or humid and the running shoe rotation is getting smaller. When you add in doggy daycare for SD2 and the contractors are working on her house lot next door, we have been busy.

So yeah, a lot has been happening.

Yard work

We are in the second week of getting SD2’s house lot ready for delivery of her house next Friday, so that has added to the stress and a bit to the workload around our house. It has also meant that I have had the “fun” of getting out the old chainsaw and chipper to do some of the stuff around our property as well. Which means getting 60 year-old muscles that haven’t been used to that kind of stuff, into the groove again.

Yeah, the muscles bitched and complained a bit. However, we have gotten rid of a few hazard trees by the power line to the house, an apple tree that we didn’t like and just general clean-up on the other side of the rock wall, from where SD2’s home will be.

Now I remember why I became a pencil pusher, this physical labor stuff is hard work.

Shoe Rotation

Reebok FloatRide RunFast — I have pretty much moved to Reebok shoes for road running, they just seem to fit my feet quite well.

I have found the Reebok FloatRide RunFast to be a shoe that does just about everything that I want from a pair of running shoes. It is light-weight, just enough cushion, is comfortable and works for me at most any speed I want to use it for – although it excels at going fast. If I had to choose just one shoe to run in going forward – the RunFast would be it.

The outsole is great on everything I have thrown at it so far, dirt, rain and tar. Now to get it on the track to see how it performs there – I have heard that the RunFast is exceptional on the track – now to find out.

The only things I would change is the next time I get a pair it would be a size 8.0 and while I like the classy looks of the white/yellow combination, I would prefer a brassy colorway that doesn’t quite show the dirt as much.

The white shows every spec of mud, dirt, etc., so in order to keep them pristine I have be careful about where and when I run. Yeah right – me…not gonna happen.

The RunFast will be used wherever and whenever I run in them and if they get dirty – that is the life of a pair of running shoes on my feet. They will either wash out or become stained. 😉

Reebok OSR Grasse Road — Now that I have the heel counters surgically fixed, they have become my second favorite shoe. I use them for easy/recovery and long runs without any issues.

Again, I would probably get the next pair in size 8.0, but the 8.5’s are doing a pretty darn great job of keeping my feet comfortable on my runs. The colorway is boring, but I will deal with it.

Reebok FloatRide Run ULTK — Yes, I picked up a pair of these on eBay and have not run in them yet. While the damage to my left ankle has almost healed, unfortunately, I feel the side wall just a little too much when I walk in them to go for a run in them – yet.

The one thing that I am not crazy about, well two things, but they are inter-related are how difficult it is for me to get a good heel-lock in these shoes.

It comes down to the lack of padding where the tongue should be and the plastic caging for lace-up. Although I have looped my laces through the last point in the plastic cage to get better lock it is still not quite secure enough for my skinny heels and if I crank down too hard on the laces, it bothers the top of my feet, so damned if I do and damned if I don’t so far in them.

I will take them out for a run later next week, but as of right now I don’t have a warm and fuzzy feeling about them as running shoes due to the heel lock/lacing pressing down on the top of my feet issues for me. However, as walking shoes and to wear around town – they are fantastic and I can walk all day in them, so at least they will get some use if I can’t use them for running.

Running

I ran five days last week, between the yard work on Wednesday/Thursday and some other stuff going on, I didn’t run those days. I won’t say that I rested all that much, but I did give the legs a break and the right hip seemed to like that. The left ankle that was rubbed raw a couple of weeks ago by the Grasse Roads is just about healed and the right heel blister from my work boots has stopped bothering, so the body is healing up pretty well.

This Fall I am focusing on running faster for me 5k/10K races at some poin and am figuring out how to best train the old body for that and what races I would like to do these attempts at. I am going back through some of books on training and looking at different philosophies about training for an old fart.

I know that I have limitations that younger folk do not have, that I am slower than I used to be and at least for me going up hills jacks the old heart rate up into areas I know it ain’t supposed to go if I push it too hard. So I have to figure out what works best for me and the body I have now.

More to think about on this, but until I figure out the direction I want to go, I will just keep plodding along and doing what I have been to see how that works.

I did two faster workouts in the RunFasts last week and both of them were in the rain. However, I did pretty good on the quarter repeats on tired arse legs and then I had 2 good miles and 1 that I should have done better, during my 5K time trial on Saturday. Even so, I still came within 30 seconds of my fastest 5K time this year, so it was still a confidence builder.

No long runs or trail work this week, but I did get 30 miles in for the 11th straight week, which is very consistent for me. Which is the most important thing…staying consistent and mostly injury-free. A blister or two here or there and the right hip discomfort I can run through pretty easily, as long as it keeps to those levels, I am happy.

The Reality is that

This was a really good week.

SD2’s house lot should be ready this coming week and we have gotten a lot yard work done that needed to be gotten done.

While I made some changes to this blog, I think in the long run those changes will motivate me to write a bit more and look at things from more than just a runner’s perspective and that is something that I want to do. There is more to my life than running, although if you talk much to me, you wouldn’t think so. 😉

I am finding that Reebok’s newest running shoes are working nicely for me and although the Run ULTK might not work as running shoes, as athleisure shoes they are quite nice – I just have to find out this week if they are running shoes for me or not.

Now to figure out how to best train the old fart here to run faster for 5K/10K distances and I will be pretty happy – although I want to do it injury-free of course. So I will be conservative and attempt to not train like a 20 something and be more willing to train according to what the body says is good, not what a particular plan has for that day.

The journey continues and the smiles are still here. 🙂

First Run – Reebok FloatRide Run Fast 8-10-18

On By Harold L. ShawIn Reebok, Review, runlog, Running, Running Shoe Review

Another first run in a pair of running shoes Harold. WTFO???

These are a little different – a pair of running shoes that were released recently and were a birthday present from Mary. They are also the one pair of running shoes this year that I wanted to try more than any other.

The Reebok FloatRide Run Fast. Yes, I have tried the Vapor Fly 4% :-).

I ran my shoe test course for their first run. It is a very good test of how a shoe is going to work for me.

Now I have run this course several times and run over a 1,000 miles this year and when I run this way, without going into race effort levels, it tells me that something has changed.

The only thing that changed today was that I was wearing the Reebok FloatRide RunFast running shoes.

I know that these times are nothing special and are probably pretty soft. At the same time I haven’t run this fast this year. These times are for 2018 only, but to do this on the first run in a pair of shoes, on a day when I couldn’t decide whether to crank it up or hold back to save myself for the 5K Race in the next morning – says something.

Let’s back up a little.

Reebok running has come a long ways over the past few years from what I can see and have gone from department store level of running shoes to shoes that elite runners are looking at closely. Which in my mind is a very good thing, since I enjoyed running in some of their offerings back in the mid 80’s/early 90’s. Glad to see that they have made an effort to get back to their running roots.

After UPS delivered the RunFast last night, I walked around the house and was immediately impressed. The fit was just slightly long, but I had ordered the 8.5 and I am a true to size 8.0, but otherwise I liked the way they felt on my feet. Unfortunately, they were delivered too close to supper to get a run in.

Which meant that I had to wait for that first run.

This morning was a bit crazy around the house and my run didn’t happen until after noon. Which meant it was the hottest part of the day and I had a few walks and doggie day care stuff that left me a bit more tired than I wanted for that first run.

Also tomorrow is the Doc & Marcie 5K in Waterville and I have planned for a while to run the race, so I didn’t want to get too crazy running in them today. At the same time I wanted to see what they would do, so I planned to run fairly hard down to the end of my test course (Pepin Road) and then go easy on the way back to see how they were at a slower pace and running up a big hill.

With that being said, the RunFast once I started to run, wanted to run fast.

I started out and just ran, I did purposely slow down a little at the speed limit sign and then sped back up once I started down the hill. I didn’t give a race level of effort, but I got a bit above comfortably hard through the end of the first mile.

While running down Philbrick Hill I didn’t feel beat up like I have in some shoes this year and was able to quickly transition from the hill to the flat section. No issues with the RunFasts.

Once I got down to Pepin I cruised to the end and then shut down the effort level.

Coming back I purposely just ran easy to see how the RunFast performed at slower paces. I could tell that I had pushed a little harder than usual coming down and paid for it going back up Philbrick, but the legs/shoes were not the issue. It was more that thing called being able to breath well that was the tough part.

No blisters, hotspots or anything other than let’s go faster from the RunFast’s.

The FloatRide RunFast’s are a scary arse shoe to me and I have a feeling will encourage me to run faster than I probably should at some point. They are an easy shoe to just “go” in.

Now to get some miles on them and see what they really can do, I just wish that I could do them justice, but they are shoes that deserve someone much faster than me to be wearing them.

You know a crazy old fart who refuses to admit he is getting too damn old to have toys like this that encourage him to be foolish. :-). Naw.

A Varied Week – But a Pretty Good One – 7-29-18

On By Harold L. ShawIn Running

It has been a busy week with a lot of things happening beyond running, but nothing I want to put into this week in review. On the running front I had a really good week, where I got over 35 miles for the week, without a long run, lifted weights a couple of times and even went on a hike with Mary and Bennie.

For the first time this year, we headed out for a hike. Mary’s old EMS boots finally fell apart when she was wearing them up back raspberry scouting last weekend and she got a new pair of Keen’s this week. So of course we had to try them out. No issues or problems on a nice 4.0 mile hike down in Montville. Continue reading “A Varied Week – But a Pretty Good One – 7-29-18” →

First Run – Salomon Sonic 2016 – RunLog 7-28-18

On By Harold L. ShawIn Running

There have been far too many “new” shoes in my running shoe rotation this year, but I am getting to try a few brands that I haven’t before, so that much is good. I am also learning that there is a quality difference between brands that gets pretty apparent once you have seen the differences up close.

However, I have never run in Salomon running shoes before today, though I had tried them on a few times before, but the narrow toe box and price points had always scared me off before.

So today I got to run in another pair of new shoes, the Salomon Sonic (2016) version. The Sonic’s are a birthday present from Bennie and he found them on eBay and then negotiated with the seller to get them for a really good price.

The weight at 9.3 ounces is right in the wheelhouse of where I want my trainers to be, the shoes themselves seemed to be well built, no obvious flaws and appeared about as close to new as any shoes I have received through eBay. While they were a tiny bit snug in the forefoot, the rest of the shoes fit perfectly with my toe-socks. Continue reading “First Run – Salomon Sonic 2016 – RunLog 7-28-18” →

Nike Pegasus 33 Shield – 50 Plus Mile Review

On By Harold L. ShawIn Nike Running, reflection, Running, Running Shoe Review

Now this review is just for continuity purposes, since the Pegasus 35 and Turbo models have already been released. I have a feeling that not too many people are going to be very interested in reading about a model that was released two models ago. 🙂

If you are – read on.

I got these at our local Mardens (a close out store) earlier this summer when I was wandering around in there and couldn’t resist the price point they were at. I certainly didn’t need them at the time, although the Shield technology intrigued me as well.

After almost 80 miles in the Nike Pegusus 33 Shield model, they have been the pleasant surprise of the summer for me. Continue reading “Nike Pegasus 33 Shield – 50 Plus Mile Review” →

Fast, Long, Recovery, Trail, Tweener – What Are Your Shoes?

On By Harold L. ShawIn reflection, Running2 Comments

Yesterday afternoon when I looked at the Pegasus 35’s, it really got me to thinking about how they would actually fit in my current running shoe rotation. After thinking about it overnight – I know that right now they wouldn’t have a fit anymore than the Pegasus 33’s that I am using more than I should.

I really do not need another pair of go faster than I should – super-duper daily trainers. What I really is a pair of daily trainers that are comfortable to run longer distances, easy and recovery runs. So I am glad that I didn’t have Bennie buy me a pair for my birthday – it is not what I need, they are more an example of Harold being Harold and getting something that I want.

Whew, got by that running shoe crisis – just barely. 🙂

Stages/Categories

It seems that as I pass through different stages in my running (that getting to be an old fart thing), that the way that I look at running shoes also changes. Over the past six years I have worn a lot of running shoes, written a LOT of words about those running shoes and am finally starting to figure out how I need to use my running shoes.

For now at least. Continue reading “Fast, Long, Recovery, Trail, Tweener – What Are Your Shoes?” →

Cony Track Session 4×400 & 4×200 – RunLog 7-17-18

On By Harold L. ShawIn #trackTuesday, reflection, runlog, Running, Track Repeats

The weather forecast for this morning was not all that great, a big storm was expected, with lots of rain, lightning and some winds forecast. Not a great day for the Quarry Road 5K Trail Race tonight and looking at the weather radar, I pretty much expected it to be postponed. Rain is one thing, thunder and lightning, well that is a different story altogether.

So I decided that it might be a great day for Track Tuesday this morning before the storm hit. I haven’t been to the track since April and definitely need to work a bit on running faster for me. Since I have decided to chase a faster 5K, I need to train a little differently than I have been.

The track is the best place to do that – IMHO.

Colby’s track is closed, Lawrence and Winslow were a bit further, so that pretty much left Cony being the only choice that made sense. When I got there a bunch of kids were doing 400’s and I asked the coach if it was okay if I used the track or would he prefer I came back later, while they were doing a lap. He said go ahead, they might be using lanes 1 and 2 a few more times, but they were moving on to field work, so sharing the track wasn’t an issue.

Continue reading “Cony Track Session 4×400 & 4×200 – RunLog 7-17-18” →

First Run Nike Speed Rival 6 – RunLog 7-15-18

On By Harold L. ShawIn Nike Running, reflection, Review, Running, Running Shoe Review

Another pair of new to me shoes, this time courtesy of eBay for a price I couldn’t resist. Did I really need a pair of race day shoes? Ummmm actually yeah.

While I love the Green Silence and have been using for that purpose, I can feel that they are a bit long in the tooth and don’t have the “pop” that my newer shoes have. While I don’t have that many miles on them, the midsole does feel pretty lifeless and I need every little edge I can get. So I had been sort of looking at what would be a nice race day shoe for me going forward.

Since I don’t see a pair of Nike Vapor Fly 4% in my rotation anytime soon, I needed to find something else.

I had read some pretty good reviews of about the Speed Rival 6’s and that they had a wider forefoot, which is unusual in a “racing” shoe. While I hadn’t purposely been looking specifically for them, when I was wandering around eBay last week and came on these. I figured why not put in a minimum bid and see what happened. Especially, since the seller said they had only about 5 miles on them.

I won.

When I got them in, they looked like new and only weighed 7.0 ounces.

Walking around in them the heel felt a little loose and I knew that I was going to have to play with the lacing to get the right feel with them. Also I will be honest, for a pair of Nikes (a company that prides itself on the great looks of its shoes), when I look down at them – they just look fugly. They look like some of the vintage shoes from the 70’s or 80’s with how the toe comes to a point from both sides, which is not always a good thing. Continue reading “First Run Nike Speed Rival 6 – RunLog 7-15-18” →