Mizuno Wave Rider 15 Product Review

So comfy!!

I have the best relatives! People who barely know me, yet send me money from New York to help buy running shoes. Thanks mom and dad, and Bruno, Camille, and Aunt Lorraine!!!! There has been a lot of internet searching lately to try to decide on my newest pair of running shoes. My best estimate is that I have about 150 more miles left on the other shoes I use, so it's time to work a new pair into the rotation.

I wear a 9.5 or 10, but also need the EE wide size to accommodate my huge left foot(that's right ladies!). The helpful people at a local gigantic national chain running store have told me my left foot is larger than my right foot and that a wider shoe will be more comfortable on longer runs. Sure. They also convinced me to eat a cricket for three dollars, and that's the LAST time I ever will.

Does this really need a caption?

I've been very happy with Asics and mostly happy with my Brooks, but I couldn't find the size with preferred color combination or limited edition, so down to the store I went. And this time, there would be know way I was going to eat another cricket. I met the helpful sales girl and gobbled three crickets before she could say hello we proceeded to talk about the shoes I have been using. She explained the minor differences between the neutral and neutral plus shoes, and I tried on about 5 or 6 different pair. Eventually I decided that the Mizuno Wave Rider 15's felt the best and bought a pair of size 10 EE.

After stopping off to buy some Ramen noodles for my family with the remaining grocery money, I unpacked, sniffed, defiled, and drooled on these babies until it was time to go night night.

This morning's run was a scheduled 5 mile progression. Planned 9:30, 9:15, 9:00, 8:45, 8:30. My Garmin battery died so I don't have exact data beyond the first mile, but I ran faster than planned and felt great the whole run. My feet had plenty of room in the toe box, which is great because I suffer from left-foot giant black toes. The soles felt grippy on the pavement and there was nothing else remarkable about them. They're new and over $100, of course they feel fantastic. I'll run on these exclusively for the next couple of weeks and write a review update. The sales girl person told me that Mizuno has a larger toebox than Asics and a better heel cup, and we sat and chatted about canal running, Adam's transgender modification surgery, and the Celtics, and would you know it? We both went through a whole bag of crickets.

2012 RTP Summer Goals

I've worked pretty hard the first half of this year to get into better shape. I put a big brake on sugary treats and started following a running plan. As a result, I've lost a little over 20 pounds (would like to drop 5-10 more), and have PR'ed every distance I have run by a relatively large margin. One of my 2012 year-long goals was to 'say good-bye' to the 10's. That is, pace times greater than 10 minutes per mile. I'm starting to push the 9 minute per mile mark, but what Phoenix so graciously gives in the mild winter, it sneeringly takes back in the summer.

Phoenix runners can almost always count on slower paces from mid-June through September. Many times, the heat is so debilitating that runners take a hiatus, switch to less rigorous aerobic activity like llama farming, or worst of all, run indoors on a treadmill--sometimes barefoot!! Sickening I know but that is the price we pay for a democracy with people named Larry.

Well not me! With only a few days of adieu, I present the first draft of my summer running goals*

• Track work once per week focusing on improving ladder times as well as.......
• One mile at sub 7:00
• Maintain a base of 25-30 miles per week with 4-5 runs
• PR the 5K distance at SYTO in July and again in September......
• at the Grasshopper Bridge 5K finishing sub 25:00
• 3X per week Kettlebell cross train -barefoot, YES BAREFOOT!**
• Swim laps twice per week
• ease up on hyphenation and made up words
• Continue to document and report blog-world plagiarism

The summer schedule looks pretty consistent-- a trip to the coast, some work in the office, lots of family time. These goals should fit in nicely and set up this soon to be 46 year old for The RTP 2012 Fall running goals.

* I will certainly adieu and re-draft these goals as many times as I damn well please this summer
** Show me proof that pre-historical humans wore shoes while doing a kettlebell workout. I'll wait....
I thought so.

2012 Pasadena 1/2 Marathon Race Report

13.27 miles
2:03:42 Garmin Time
2:03:51 Chip Time

Have you ever heard that line about the the journey being worth more than the destination? That was the May 2012 Roadtrip to Pasadena for the 1/2 Marathon. Chris, Suzanne, and I headed out on Saturday at about 8am driving West on some flat-ass desert to go and embarrass some California poser-racers and bring their 1st place money back to Arizona (to spend on.... you guessed it, things that come from California). They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I say just do captions, I'm tired and lazy  these should be worth about $2.98.

Lovely scenery as we approach the AZ/Cali border

Hgthdesswqttkyt

Could I look any happier?

DO NOT SEEK THE TREASURE!

and do not try to bring agriculture across this border

Executive Vagabonds, that's us

Expo at the Santa Ana Racetrack

This place is huge!

Outdoor hot Expo, typical

Chris eating and drinking everything not nailed down

and I ate and drank the things that WERE nailed down

Art School

art

art

part of the Marathon relay route

"Do not touch" art. Touched it!

Staring at the magazine rack at the airport

Have you seen my dog? Anyone seen my dog? Anyone?

Art

Race day porta potties

Really kinda cool

Designing Cars for 2022

Looking East down into the Rosebowl

Finished!

Post Race Festivities

Playing Frankin's Tower

Finishers

Volunteers not doing a very good job of.... Putting water into cups??!!????

Buffalo finisher!

Chris and Suzanne

Los Tres Amigos

Why I Run

Into the Fire

Really?

Windmills, 105 degrees, and snow up on those mountains

It was fun. I'd do it again. Now on to getting faster.......

Two Runners and an Anti-Baby Household

Mrs. RTP and I have been running a lot more since January. We both have taken the no-sweets diet plunge, and except for a handful of 'cheats', we have done well and lost a bunch of weight. The increase in running combined with the weight loss has resulted in much faster times and a big running performance boost for both of us.

It puts the Sugar in its mouth

She mainly runs in the morning on Tuesday and Thursday with our neighbor, and I run on M/W/Fr, and we both run Sat morning. I go first because I get up to run at 4am. It has worked out great for both of us, but the summer heat will soon challenge. And a bigger challenge is our daughter Amelia who is now crawling like Lindsey Lohan whenever a Greenie rolls under her couch.

Daddy's little princess

Amelia is coming up on nine months and wants to do everything her 4 year old brother is doing. Now that she can crawl, she follows us all over the house eating whatever she finds. She favors the bleach bottle and I usually let her have it because the safety cap seems sufficiently impermeable. Dust kitty? Into the 98 degree filter and out in the diaper trash. Thirsty? Dog's water dish. I need to take a trip to the local Home Despot and buy a bunch of anti baby-happiness devices and install them around here and there. And on we trudge.

Don't Bogart that Double Chambered Plexiglass Bong My Friend

This morning was the last longish run prior to Pasadena. I've pretty much been training for this half-marathon since January first. My main 2012 running goal is to break 2:00 in a half-marathon. I had originally set my sights on a race in December, but I got faster a lot faster than I thought I would. I've been very close to the goal in training, knocking down a 2:03 a couple of weeks back with energy left in the legs at the end. Very likely could have gotten it that day. This goal is there and within reach. Just gotta stick to the plan and run the paces I need to run. But what if......... And try to ignore the What ifs.

A baby and a bong? In a Running blog??

I ran 8 miles this morning and had planned to run them at about 9:30 to keep it easy. I had an attack of ego somewhere in the middle and grabbed a few sub 9's, but finished with an overall pace of 9:15 and plenty of energy. This week has 3 easy miles on Monday and Thursday, and 4 miles at 9:00 on Wednesday for  race simulation. The main goal of this 'taper' (I hate to call it a taper because I sort of believe that term should be reserved for full marathons or for faster runners. But it is a good idea to let the body fully heal and go into the race hungry to run) ..the main goal of this taper is to keep the legs fresh but let them heal. And don't do anything stupid. Not sure how I can avoid that part. The family is staying home for this race, and I am traveling with my buddy Chris who is trying to finish without crapping out his pancreas.

(Internet images related to final sentence too disturbing to publish. I need to go to therapy)

Today's Long Run into a Wall

Cock a Doodle Doo

I got up pretty early today to run 14 miles. For the past few weeks, I've been getting up when Norman gets up to pee. Norman is our almost two year old Choc lab and my running partner. He gets up right around 4am, and I started running at that time to be able to finish in time for work, and also because it's peaceful and the air is cool.

The plan for today was to get the miles in and to also do some REAL hillwork. I've been practicing hills to try to get ready for Pasadena. There's a pretty decent mountain in central Phoenix called Camelback, and the streets near this mountain are the best bet around for building hill strength and experience. So the route I built has some mild rollers for the first three miles, then a flat stretch where I extended to about 7 miles. Then the ascent.

I've been eyeballing Tatum Blvd. going North for the past year as a hill challenge. I've only ever flirted with the very bottom 1/4 mile, but today, I was determined to crest the beast. Tatum goes up about one mile at a pretty decent grade before it flattens, then MacDonald goes East into a 1/2 mile mega-incline. This was tough, but I slowed my pace and got into my hill-chug "I Think I Can, I Think I Can" mode and turned around at the 9.1 mile mark. I had been thinking about the reward of the downhill after slugging through this uphill, and my pace was almost instantly fast.

Crap. Now I'm going to have scary clown dreams tonight

But what I didn't count on was that I would get tired of going downhill!???!!! WTF! I had planned to glide down to the 11 mile mark and push back home for the last three miles (mostly slightly downhill) while keeping a 9:00/mile pace. I ate a GU somewhere between 7 and 8, and had had most of my water, but I knew a couple of abandoned houses along the route where I could refill. But all of that was not on my mind, as my quads and hammys started complaining, and I began hearing the internal "WALK" chant. I had hit the wall and still had 2.5 miles to go.

The Wall is a phenomenon in running when a person 'runs out of gas'. Technically, when we exercise, our bodies use oxygen to burn (oxidize) fats and other ready sources to meet our energy demands. But if we create too much of a demand by going too fast or too far (or both), our bodies build up lactic acid in the muscles (which feels sore) and we can't get enough energy to keep going because we can't get enough oxygen into our cells to burn stuff to create energy, so our brain tells us to stop or at least walk. If you've run in longer distance races, you have seen people walking with droopy shoulders, heads down, and legs dragging zombie-like. They have 'hit the wall'. The strange thing is that after a short walk, we usually feel like we can run again. But once we start to run, out bodies immediately revolt, and we have to walk. In races, it is a sad helpless thing to see (and experience). On Saturday mornings, it just looks like some guy out there running for the first time in his life. Graphically, it looks a lot like this:

Those spikes are me walking

I pushed myself, chastised myself, and eventually resigned, happy that I had at least finished my goal distance and the gone up the Tatum beast. As for the Wall, I've been told that its good to hit it once in a while. Maybe its one of those 'know your enemy' things. As Norman and I pulled up to the driveway a little more than 2 hours after starting, I had the feeling that I knew this 'Wall' character a lot better, and I hope he leaves me alone and goes off to bother someone else for a while.

Set Back Week

If Rocky can do it.... I can't

This was a tough week. Just two weeks ago, I had to take time off due to a hip flexor strain. I got back into my routine with a solid 30 mile week, and then was hit by an unforgiving stomach virus Monday evening. I took Tuesday morning off from work, but then went back at it and never took time off to rest, so the dang virus came back Wednesday evening and finally moved on to its next victim sometime around Saturday morning. No running this past week after PR'ing the 13.1 mile distance last Saturday morning on a training run. When I went out this morning, I didn't really know what to expect, but I pulled in a good seven miler and am in good shape to train at my max this week.

Is it mile 10.1 yet?

I really hoped to be at my max for all three of these weeks to get ready for the Pasadena 1/2 Marathon on May 20. I really want to finish this race in under Two hours. There is a monster 3 mile hill on the course from mile 7 to mile 10, and I have not really trained for hills, but I still think I have a pretty decent chance of reaching this goal. I'll be traveling and  running with two friends, Chris and Suzanne. Suzanne recently had abdominal surgery so I should be able to beat her, but I've been practicing elbow shots just in case. Chris is new to running so is just going out to pig out on free stuff in the finishers chute have a good time and run the parts he can.

This was also the week for the drawing for the NYC Marathon, and no dice. I really wanted a chance at this, but it was not meant to be. So now, I have to make plan for the summer and fall, and I'm thinking Core work and base mileage. My December goal is to break 1:45 in the Fiesta Bowl 1/2 Marathon and that is going to require a solid base and mega speedwork. As for the core, I'm going to work in a three day per week routine using kettlebells, planks, crunches, and some other shit I found on the net that helps with hip strength. I plan to establish a 30 minute set that works the more common running muscle groups. My wife and I trade running days, so while she is out breezing through the miles, I will be on the back patio making Google Satellite history.

A couple of exciting bits of running news to share: There are some TMZ-style rumors that Jamoosh may be visiting Phoenix this summer for the SYTO 5K. Has anyone given alert to the local microbreweries?? And Adam, The Boring Runner, just finished the Eugene Marathon in 3:04, a huge PR, and a boston Qualifying time. Great running Adam!

If you have recommendations for core routine, I'd love to hear from you.

Down But Not Out

The following blog post is mostly a self-indulgent rant about my latest hip flexor injury --for that matter, this blog is mostly self-indulgent in general. Read on if you must....

We had the most amazing vacation about 6 weeks ago in Sedona. Stayed for free in a friends house, ate in restaurants, hiked around, and I ran a few too many miles on the local trail system (that is NOT a euphemism for "I went whoring"). I never felt an injury, and my road miles had been at an all time high. When I got back to Phoenix, my left hip bothered me a bit during runs. Not exactly painful but something was going on. annnnnnd......

So, I decided to do the right thing. I increased my running mileage, speed, overall intensity, shoved thoughts of medical professionals out of my T-Rex porno-ridden mind, and carefully crafted a web of lies about the steadily increasing pain. What was likely a mild strain escalated into a medium strain, and finally became a 'hurtin' strain. I have been limping while walking. I've looked on the internet, and its some kind of Hip flexor strain, a bursitis, or possibly a stress fracture. Last Sunday when I ran 12 miles, it seemed to loosen up on the run and got numb. And that had happened on all the runs prior to that, so I thought it might work to run through the pain. And it even stayed mild through the rest of the days when I ran, but the pain really set in the next day and the day after. I finally decided to take a week off from running and stretch and cross train. This has been difficult because I felt like I was making such good progress, but the healing wasn't happening, and I've heard stories about people who ignore medical problems..... AND THEIR PROBLEMS GET WORSE!! It's true.. that I have heard that. I can't verify that problems can get worse. Check with your doctor and then blog it for the rest of us.

Now, for those of us who put in for the NY Marathon lottery system, we have one more week to wait to see if we got lucky. There is something like an 8% chance of being drawn if you live outside of the tri-state area. The qualifying time was ridiculous (3:10 and it gets even tougher next year), and the charity option is for "good" people. Based on that, I will either go for a sub 2:00 PR 1/2 marathon in Pasadena next month, or have a fun run and set my sites on the Central Park finishing line.

One thing is for sure; injuries should not be ignored by most people.