New Kicks ... And Back At It

Doug checking the tread on my new Kinvara 7's to make sure he approves

Besides the fact that I'm still eating fairly poorly ... I've began putting together solid runs lately, mixing in some core work, and slowly turning myself back into somewhat of an athlete.  After the race last Sunday, I ran a couple of light recovery runs during the week, followed by a fairly good 15 miler on Saturday.  Of course the long run nearly killed me, but at least I got it in.  I averaged about 7:45/pace while actually running, but stopped for extended periods for water. I totaled about an 8:10/pace overall, which is acceptable since I'm carrying about 15 extra pounds with this food baby.

I also ran in new shoes on Saturday.  My new Saucony Kinvara 7's.  And frankly ... I LOVE THEM!!!  Like I've done with every pair of shoes over the past several years, the litmus test is can I take them right out of the box and run in them without "breaking them in".  And these passed with flying colors.  They literally still had factory paper around them at 7:00 a.m.  and at 7:05 a.m. they were in the middle of mile 1 of 15.

The fit was a little different than the Kinvara 5's or 6's ... but it seemed to be better for my foot.  More than anything there seemed to be more room in the toe box.  The extra width really seemed to help with keeping my toes from bunching too much.  There is also a 6.7 mm drop from heel to forefoot, so not completely flat, but not a big bulky heal.  The men's size 9's are 7.7 ounces.  I wear a size 12, so mine are probably a little over 8 ounces, but they still feel really light.  Overall, the Kinvara is just a great shoe that I've enjoyed wearing for a couple of years now.

So hopefully now that I'm back in a bit of a groove, I'll start logging some miles in these new kicks.  It's gonna take most of the summer to get back to where I want to be, but maybe if I stay at it, I'll be ready for some speedy fall races.  Have a great weekend!