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.

Well I came out of my first week of training with 2 major observations. The first observation being that I need a new pair of running shoes. The second observation being that I might actually be able to run a marathon.

I covered 19 miles with 2 rest days this first week and concluded with a “long” run of 5 miles on Sunday. I am sure that is not that long to most people on this site but for me it was.

5.3 miles tonight...my regular loop.

I didn't run Monday, and yesterday I only did 2 miles in the woods with my daughter at 10 yr old pace..

So tonight, I got back out there and did 5.3 miles. I wore my new Brooks shoes as the rain stopped earlier and the streets have dried...

I felt like I was putting out a good amount of effort but when I got to the fountain at 2 miles, my time was 19:00...a full minute slower than the last time I ran this loop. I pressed on, trying to keep my effort level up to make up some of that time and approach my best time on this route of 45:08 from a few weeks ago.

I was going to join my fellow-miler Kyle for a two-mle race in Greeley on Sunday, but have just cried off.

Reason is I think I overcooked the last two workouts. I've been breaking in the Newtons and some new orthotics to go with. After getting a bit carried away with the hill run (did 2 hours instead of 1 -- I just couldn't stop!) I went for an easy run last night that turned into a speed fest. Doing an easy run in the new shoes is like taking a Ferrari to the corner shop for a pint of milk.

So... I went out this evening to do 5 one-mile repeats today and there was nothing in the tank. I did a very easy three-mile warm-up run, then the drills. When I clocked my strides were at 9:00 pace or something equally ridiculous, I gave up and jogged home.

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."