This Week in Runblogging: 3/31 to 4/6 2014

Had a great week last week! I got lots of writing done, met the beginner 5K group I’m co-coaching this Spring, and ran my first road 5K in over a year yesterday. I’d forgotten how good a hard-effort 5K race can make you feel!

I finished second in my age group in the 5K and managed to meet my pre-race goal of going sub-20. Happy with the result considering I’ve only been back to serious training (i.e., working with Coach Caleb) for a few weeks, and I’m aiming for a new 5K PR before the year is done. I wore the Pearl Izumi EM Road N0’s for the race, great shoe! They remind me a lot of the Saucony Grid Type A5. Hope to have a review of them posted this coming week.

Below are the posts that were published on Runblogger from 3/31-4/6:

Nike Free 5.0 2014: A No-Go For Me
April 4, 2014

Beginning Runner Tips: Choosing A Running Shoe
April 3, 2014

Saucony Grid Type A6 Sizing Update
April 2, 2014

Slomo: Do What You Want To
April 2, 2014

Chaco Barefoot Z Preview
April 1, 2014

Running Socks Review: Injinji and DeFeet
April 1, 2014

Altra The One2 (Squared) Review: A Complete Redesign
March 31, 2014

Recommended Articles From Around the Web

1. Last week I had at least a half-dozen people send me a link to the American College of Sports Medicine’s new recommendations on selecting running shoes. I have a lot of thoughts about the document, some positive, some negative, but it’s an interesting read for sure (I may try to tackle it in more detail in the coming weeks). It was entirely coincidental that I posted my own article on choosing a running shoe last week. My article was aimed at beginning runners and was a summary of what I told my 5K Yes I Can! group at our first meeting last Thursday.

2. I first met Larisa Dannis at the 2012 Vermont 100. I was there to crew for my buddy Nate Sanel, and we chatted for a bit with her the night before the race. I saw her again last year at VT100, and she was the female winner. I was impressed on both occasions by her incredibly positive attitude and her approach to racing. Last week my friend Maddy Hribar posted some images of Larisa running in the Eastern States 20 miler (including the image to the left) – she was the top female and ran the 20 miles at a 6:14 pace (read her race report here). Amazing!

What’s even more amazing, and what hits home so strongly for me, is that we were both spurred to start exercising in 2007 as a result of having become overly sedentary office-workers. Larisa’s path to fitness started with hiking in the White Mountains, progressed to running ultras, and now she has a goal of qualifying for the Olympic Trials in the marathon. As a coach for a beginner 5K group I see a lot of people who are exactly where Larisa and I were back in 2007. Whether it’s simply completing a 5K, running a marathon, or aiming for the Olympic Trials, you never know what kind of ability you have in you unless you try. You can read more about Larisa in this interview on Far North or this interview on Level Renner.

3. Last week Steve Speirs reviewed the new 5-lug Newton Distance III. This week he shares his thoughts on the 5-lug Newton Gravity III. Here’s a quick summary: “So far I’ve logged roughly 50 miles in the Gravity III, and I must say I’m very impressed. Naturally, being built on the same platform, the ride is very similar to the Distance III, although, with the extra weight, I don’t quite feel as fluid in my stride. Therefore, in my opinion, the Gravity III is much better suited for slower recovery runs or longer training runs where speed isn’t quite as important.”

4. Confused by the difference between all of the Skechers Performance shoe models? The Running Swede has posted a series of videos that explain the key features of each shoe. The videos feature Skechers Performance VP of technical development Kurt Stockbridge. I’ve worked with Kurt directly on design of several Skechers shoes, great guy and I love his approach to building footwear!

5. Caleb Masland has a good post on not sweating missed workouts and being patient in your training. He recounts his experience of missing almost a full week of training in the lead-up to Boston due to illness. I’m in a similar boat today – sore from the race yesterday, and my back is feeling a bit tweaky (pushed a bit too hard in TKD last week). Might be a case where a rest day is warranted rather than trying to push through another 6-7 miles.

6. Finally, Nate Sanel reviews the Ultimate Direction SJ Ultra Vest 2.0. I have a bad habit of collecting running packs, though mine tend to be more minimalist since I don’t run ultras (in fact, I just ordered a Nathan Minimist 1.5 this morning with Clymb credits). Nate is prepping to run the Tahoe 200, and a good pack is going to be critical. Looks like the SJ Ultra will be among the finalists for race day if it performs well in warmer weather (we haven’t had much of that up here until very recently!)

If you have posts you’d like to share with me, tag them with #runradar on Twitter, or Tweet me at @runblogger. I find most of these posts via following blogs in Feedly – if you have a blog and write about running frequently, feel free to leave your RSS feed link in the comments!