This is going to be a short roundup due to the fact that last week included the 4th of July holiday here in the US. It’s traditionally a vacation week for many families, mine included, and is typically one of the slowest traffic weeks of the year for my blog (and I’m sure many others in the running niche). Spent a great week up in Maine, but running suffered a bit – sometimes you have to prioritize time with family over stressing about fitting runs in. Back to it on Monday!
Shoes I Ran In This Week
New Balance Fresh Foam 980 (10 miles), Salomon Sense Ultra (5 miles)
Been playing with insole swapping in the NB Fresh Foam – fit is improved when I swap in the 3mm Inov-8 insole. Might salvage the shoe and its pointy toebox for me.
Runblogger Posts From Last Week
How Becoming a Runner Changes You: Feedback From My Beginner 5k Group
July 1, 2014 – Members of my Spring beginner 5K group were featured in a local newspaper!
Nike Zoom Pegasus 31 Running Shoe Review
June 30, 2014 – Great looking shoe, softish heel, responsive forefoot. A bit more shoe than I typically prefer, but solid choice if you like a cushy ride.
Running Posts From Around the Web
1. My good friend Nate Sanel has posted a couple of new trail shoe reviews. First, regarding the Altra Olympus, Nate loves the fit and feel, but had some issues with the contour and stiffness of the sole, though that has improved with use. In his second review, Nate took on the recently released New Balance MT110v2. He likes a lot of the updates to the shoe, but the move away from the Minimus last seems to be a deal breaker for him. He writes: “The V2 is no longer built on the minimus last. I questioned that immediately, way before I ever held one in my hand. I mean, the minimus design is what drew so many of us to that shoe (and the others built on the NL-1). And it no longer looks foot shaped, it looks like a 1930’s dress shoe with a super pointy toe box.”
2. Tim Reid of TriedOnline writes an in-depth review of the Garmin Vivofit activity tracker. I’ve been using a Vivofit since March, and my own review is coming this week. Great little gadget!
3. Thomas Neuberger reviews a $190 shoe that claims it can make 8 out of 10 runners run faster. He wasn’t overly impressed. I avoided the shoe entirely out of fear that the slanted forefoot (6mm drop from outside to inside margin at the forefoot) would irritate my posterior tibial tendon (much like the slanted sole of my pair or original New Balance MT110s did).
bought a pair of the Solomon trail shoes and having a terrible time with the lock laces – they will not release to allow me to loosen them to get the shoes on and off. I understand how the fastener works but apparently the ones on my shoes are defective. Of course I can buy new lock laces but I think I will just cut them off and use standard laces or some other brand of lock laces that actually lock and unlock. I like the shoes but just hate having to struggle with the lace system -and bruising my feet trying to squeeze them into lacing that does not move an inch.
Hmm..maybe contact Salomon and see if they will send another pair?