Shoes

Nike have got some great new running shoes coming out at Olympics time. This heads-up is courtesy of Dwight Cornwell of Gap Coaching, who just bagged second in his age group at the Carslbad 5000: 18:45 at 61.

I caught up with Dwight after our Saturday high-altitude run on Magnolia Road; he was absolutely flying, while I staggered through the first 6 miles at barely above jogging pace, then enjoyed the benefits of the downhill-trending last 6 after my turn-around.

New research claims that expensive running shoes are a waste of money and may lead to increased injury.

Cheap and moderately priced running shoes are just as good, if not better, in terms of cushioning impact and overall comfort, concludes the study led by Prof R J Abboud, Institute of Motion Analysis and Research at Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, University of Dundee, Scotland.

I got some much needed bounce back in my stride by simply buying a new pair of shoes. I even changed brands (to Saucony from Asics) because the store manager was extolling the virtues of the new "paramount." I've never paid this much money for a pair of shoes and fear that my running may not be worthy of such a magnificent pair of shoes.

I brought a secret weapon to Saturdays 400 meter time trial... Kevin's gold shoes.

Lucky for me Kevin in a moment of despair about sprinting gave me his golden spikes, specifically designed for 400 meter racing. Kevin is a true sprinter. When you see his physique, your thought right away is "sprinter". Sprinting is fraught with danger as it requires all that explosive motion and intensity. For this reason Kevin has his love/hate relationship to sprinting and when it was not going well... I got these shoes. Thanks Kevin, if you ever want them back, they are nearly new.

I flew down to San Diego yesterday for a retreat of the Board of Directors of the Challenged Athletes Foundation and figured out the secret to a good run in a pair of Newtons... GI Distress...

OK - so I've tried the Newtons.. Maybe it's my flat-footed/borderline heal striker running style or maybe it's the fact that I went from an extended vacation from running straight in to a new pair of shoes (very different shoes, I might add)..

I just don't see how these things are supposed to help!

When your body starts to jiggle.... you know it's time to either accept the "jiggles" or make them sorry they decided to show up. I chose the latter..

My family and I just got back from a road trip to Disneyland followed by a three day saunter back up Highway 1 to our home in Oakland. Two days of walking (and standing in line) with either a 28 pound weight (my daughter) or a 46 pound weight (my son) on my shoulders made me realize the importance of staying in top form. I seriously don’t know how people who are out of shape handle a full day of Disney fun (at least, with the energy level of a 6 year-old). I’m sure most compensate for a low VO2 max with a constant stream of sugar and caffeine (all of which are in abundant supply at Disneyland)..

By now I had hoped to have interviewed Danny Abshire, man behind the revolutionary Newton running shoes and be inundating you with technical detail, the story of the seven patents behind them, a podcast and so on... but things have got in the way.

News media were wetting themselves with excitement at an outrageous marketing coup, but I'm wondering just how great an advertisement it was for the controversial Spira spring-heeled shoes to send two Kenyans out in front wearing the bright yellow flats -- only to see them drop out after 92 minutes of running.

Maybe the springs in the shoes don't give quite enough advantage?

See this video newscast to catch the hype. (The site plays an ad before going to the newscast.)

Make sure you check what Kenyan Joseph Sitienei runs at Boston. The 32-year-old Kenyan sub 2:20 marathoner is the most well-known of a clutch of athletes who plan to run in the banned Spira shoes that feature energy-return springs in the heels and forefoot.

The move comes hard on the heels of news that Spira Footwear has filed a lawsuit against the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) and the United States Association of Track and Field (USATF), alleging that their Rule 143 -- which allegedly bans spring technology -- is a restraint on trade.

Runners who have used the shoes claim that they don't necessarily improve times, but are just mroe comfortable. However, thsoe claims took a knock recently when, as Spira reports: "Keith Pierce, a track coach from Krum, Texas, and a US Olympic trials hopeful, competed in the shoe at the 2007 Cowtown Marathon in Fort Worth, Texas. He won the race by over 12 minutes."