New Balance Minimus Trail

It seems that the "minimalist running" craze picked up steam in 2010 and New Balance was right there working on a line of shoes that they hoped would get them a large market share in what will either be the future of running or a flash in the pan.

New Balance did an excellent job of letting runners know that their shoes were coming and that they had been working on them with the right people for a long time (with video's like this one). They also managed to create interest by getting the shoes to popular bloggers months before the release date (see reviews here and here). Whether New Balance intended to get me hooked on these shoes months before I had even tried them on I don't know, but they managed to do it anyway. I couldn't wait for them to be released!

I had been impatiently waiting for them to arrive at the New Balance store when I saw a Facebook post from my local running store saying that not only did they have them, they were giving a $20 gift certificate away with their purchase. I won't name the store here as I am not even sure they should have been selling them before the official release date, but I rushed down and bought myself a pair on Saturday February 19.

I tried them on in the store and was amazed at how low to the ground and flat they are. They have a Vibram sole that looks like it would last hundreds of miles which is 9mm thick at the heel and 5mm thick at the midfoot, which is much thinner than my Nike Free's and Saucony Kinvaras. The 4mm drop is the same as the Saucony's, but with the thinner sole it felt smaller.

I rushed home from the store, did a quick warm up and went out to run on the trails at the Nature Park. I quickly noticed that the shoes were very comfortable (tight around the heel but with plenty of toe box space for my toes to spread out) and didn't seem out of place on the asphalt of the Greenway as I ran the 1.5 miles to the trails. When I got off-road and on to the trails I could feel that I had plenty of grip and protection on all of the different surfaces that I ran on (packed mud, shingle, rock, wooden bridges) and that was something I hadn't felt when I had been running on the trails in my non-trail shoes. I had a great 2.2 mile run around the Nature Park and then I headed back home on the Greenway, wondering when I could schedule another trail run in to my training plan - I had had so much fun, I couldn't wait to do it again!

The following day I had a track workout scheduled and by the end of that run my calves were very tired indeed (I did that workout in my other new shoes) so I decided to hold off on running on the trails again until the next Saturday. It was well worth the wait and I had another great run in the Nature Park - I really do love trail running and more importantly, trail running in these shoes!

I have noticed that my calves and my left Achilles tendon (the one I hurt last year) are a little tired and tight after I run in these shoes, but I am not really surprised as they are lower to the ground and it will take me some time to get used to running in them. For now, I am going to use them once or twice a week and give my body time to adjust...

I no longer love my Saucony Kinvara's

You may remember that in early November I purchased a new pair of running shoes - the Saucony Kinvara's. I had done my research and was excited to run in the shoe that is the top ranked shoe by many minimalist runners. The first two months (and about 50 miles) went well and I felt like I was running on my mid-foot more. The shoes were comfortable and although they had a tighter toe-box than my Nike Free's, my feet seemed to be fine. My legs felt great and I thought I had successfully transitioned to running in minimalist shoes.

At the beginning of 2011 I started my Half Marathon training and used the Saucony's for the majority of my miles (I still used my Nike Free's for about 2 of every 6 runs). All of a sudden, after only 4 or 5 days of training, it felt like one of my toes (the second smallest toe on my right foot) was hitting the front of toe box. After comparing the toe boxes on the Nike Free's and on the Saucony's, I noticed that the Saucony was tighter around the area that had been hurting me. I ran for a few days with a band-aid over the offending toe and the skin healed. Maybe the tighter toe-box wasn't for me after all.

As the next couple of weeks went by and I put more and more miles on my Saucony's, I began to notice that my feet had started to ache and that my calves were taking longer to recover from each hard run. I also noticed that when I switched and ran in my Nike Free's that for the first couple of miles the area in front of my arch on both feet ached. It was as if a bone was out of alignment. The pain was gone by the end of each Nike Free run, but I was confused as I never felt the pain in the Saucony's.

I paid more attention to my foot strike over the next couple of Saucony runs, and noticed that I was landing on my mid-foot but with the initial contact being slightly off to the lateral (outside) side of my foot. It wasn't a huge amount, but it was noticeable that the outside of my foot made contact first. After some research, I determined that it isn't uncommon for runners with a mid-foot strike to land initially on the lateral side of the foot and then roll in to the middle, so, I took a look at the wear pattern on the Saucony's and discovered the problem!

Areas of most wear

The black triangles are the harder, durable material that comes in contact with the ground and the yellow areas are a softer material which forms the rest of the sole of the shoe.

I noticed that the black triangles in the highlighted area had nearly completely worn down to the yellow softer material and that on the lateral side of the shoe, the yellow material was already been worn down - this after running just over 150 miles!

I am fully aware that I run most of my miles on the asphalt of the greenway or the concrete/asphalt sidewalks and that those surfaces are hard on shoes, but I'd expected to get more than 150 miles out of a pair of shoes that were built for road running. I am also aware that I am not landing completely flat on the black triangles and that it is most likely this that is causing the pain I have been feeling.

So, given that the toe box is too tight and that the black triangle design doesn't fit my running form, I have decided that I have run my last mile in the Saucony Kinvara's.

Half Marathon Training - Days 41-50

I started this cycle with a few rest days and avoided the hard workout to allow my legs and back some time to recover from the fatigue I had been feeling in the previous cycle. When I was ready to return to running, I was in Chicago for work and had no choice but to use the Treadmill. I ran in my Nike Free's as I had decided that I was done with my Saucony's (more on that decision in another post) and had no issues or fatigue. When I returned home from my trip I ran 5 miles at a faster than normal Easy pace (again in my Nike Free's).

On Saturday I ran for the first time in my new New Balance Minimus Trail shoes on the Trails in Durant Nature Park. It was nice to run off road again and although I took a few wrong turns, the trails were in good condition and my new shoes felt great! I'd like to run two of my four 'easy runs' on the trails if the weather permits. I think it would be good for my legs and feet to run on a more forgiving surface and the trails certainly are more fun!

Cycle 2
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1: Tempo Workout (25 minutes): Rest
2: Rest/Cross-Train - Rest
3: 5 miles Easy - 3 miles Easy (Treadmill)
4: Speedwork (12 x 400) - Rest
5: Cross-Train -Yoga
6: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles Easy (Treadmill)
7: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles Easy (Treadmill)
8: Long Run (10-12 miles) -5 miles Easy
9: Rest - Rest
10: 5 miles Easy -5 miles Easy (Trail)

Half Marathon Training - Days 31-40

This cycle went gradually downhill and finally ended with me deciding to take a few days off to let my aches and pains go away. My Saucony's had started hurting my feet and calves during the last cycle and they were very painful after the speedwork session. My calves and hamstring were tight and tender and my lower back had started to ache as well, so I decided to take a few days off and rest.

Days 31-40 (Cycle 1)
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1: Tempo Workout (20 minutes) - 5 miles with tempo miles of 7:28, 7:26, 7:22
2: Rest/Cross-Train - Rest
3: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles @ 8:24
4: Speedwork (3 x 800) - 3 x 800m: 2:54, 3:04, 3:08
5: Cross-Train - Yoga
6: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles @ 8:17
7: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles @ 8:56
8: Long Run (6-8 miles) - Rest
9: Rest - Rest
10: 5 miles Easy - Rest

Weird Track

Last night I went and ran on the local track for the first time and noticed something weird - it was a strange shape.

I ran the half a mile or so from the house to the track and set off on a couple of warm up laps. As I rounded the first corner I thought to myself that the distance seemed short and the turn was tighter than I remembered. I brushed it off as I haven't been on a track in months and I was just jogging at this stage. I completed my first warm up lap and couldn't get it out of my head that the track just seemed short. I decided to check the distance of the track - surely they wouldn't make a Middle School track that wasn't 400m would they?

I finished my second warm up lap and my Garmin measured the distance to be 0.24 or 0.25 miles - so it wasn't short after all. I was now warm and ready to go, so when I passed the finish line I set off on the first of my three 800m repeats. I rounded the first turn and it just felt wrong, it was much to tight. Before I knew it, I was in to the back straight. I looked for the relay boxes and couldn't find them, so I had no idea what my first 100m split was (not that I could see my watch with the glare of the sun and my sunglasses!). I passed 200m and in to the other turn, again it just felt weird... what was wrong with this track?

I completed my first 800m repeat in 2:54. I had been distracted by the strange track and not being able to see my splits and had gone much to fast. I jogged my recovery lap and set off on another 800m repeat. By 400m, I wasn't surprised to find I was out of energy. That first 800m had been too fast, and I was going to pay for it. My second 800m was 3:04 and the third 3:08 - consistently inconsistent, and very frustrating.

I jogged home but couldn't get the shape of the track off of my mind. Today, I pulled up Google Maps and looked at the track that I used to run on last year (near the old house) and the track that I ran on yesterday. There doesn't appear to be a huge difference, but there is a slight difference - the weird track has slightly longer straights and slightly tighter turns. I have tried to illustrate the differences below, but even that isn't easy!

This is the 'weird' track

This is the 'regular shape' track

After writing this blog entry, I am fairly certain I am not making all of this up and that the track really is a different shape - and that was what I wanted to achieve!

I have no problem using this strange track - it is better than no track at all for sure! Hopefully the next time I run on it I will be thinking about my pace instead of the shape of the track and I'll have a better workout.

Half Marathon Training - Days 21-30

The cycle with the most miles didn't quite go according to plan. I wasn't able to complete the 12 mile long run that I had scheduled due to a stomach ache and I dropped a 5 mile easy run to give myself enough recovery time from the NHL All Star 5K (that I did instead of the 3 x 1600m intervals session).

1: Tempo Workout (35 minutes): 6 miles with tempo miles of 7:20, 7:20, 7:16, 7:24
2: Rest/Cross-Train: Rest
3: 5 miles Easy: 5 miles easy
4: Speedwork (3 x 1600): NHL All Star 5K
5: Cross-Train: Yoga
6: 5 miles Easy: 5 miles easy
7: 5 miles Easy: 5 miles easy
8: Long Run (12-15 miles): 9 miles @ 8:59
9: Rest: Rest
10: 5 miles Easy: None