OK, so I got new shoes today, Brooks Beast, size 10.5D. The 11s were too big, while the 11s of the other Brooks shoes I tried were perfect. Always weird when even a single shoe manufacturer has differing shoe sizes just due to the style of shoe.
Anyway, I tried on those and a pair of Asics. They all felt pretty good, with the lighter Asics being best…but just standing still I could feel and it was easy to see they weren't supporting my crazy over pronating feet (left foot in particular - DANG! I should have gotten surgery on both feet!).
So, trying on the shoes, and running around the parking lot about 8 or 9 times, put on about 1.3-1.5 miles. I know because I tracked it with my watch for two laps. I don't recall how many laps exactly, think Beast 1x, Ascension? 1x, one on each foot 2x, Asics 2x, Beasts again 2x…so, yeah, that should be 8..so 4x0.34 = 1.32. Anyway, I checked the speed and it was just over 7min/mi running around those last 2 laps, and I was running about that fast for all of them.
After paying for the shoes, I came back to work and planned on doing about 1.5 miles on the track, to get about 3 miles in…
Well, I started out pretty fast. Felt a touch faster than the laps in the parking lot. After a 1/4 I looked down and the watch said 6:02 pace. Well, that made me go, uh-oh, that's too fast. 2nd 1/4 look down, average pace said 6:04. Kept going, pushing myself. 3rd quarter, average pace was under 6. Last lap, I pushed, but did slow down (by like 2 seconds)…ended up with a 5:56…supposedly.
Problem is that the watch was saying 1/4 mile, just short of an actual lap on the track. I tried pressing the button when I got back to my starting point, but I mis-hit it, so after resting a little I looked down and the watch was still running. Dang it. So, the watch was on smart mode and in that case may have taken some of the distance off. However, that should make the lap look shorter….darn it. Anyway…it said 5:56 a bit earlier, and it was maybe 5 seconds or less to complete the lap. I'll hopefully be able to see by looking at the data when I download it…but still…..if I had been really pushing it (heck I could still stand up when I was done) I could have been under 6 for sure. That's pretty darn good. I won't really consider that I did it, but it's close enough for government work.
That kind of stuff always makes me question the accuracy of this thing, especially with smart recording turned on…and on a tight circle like that, on a cloudy day….sigh. Will try that again next week….see if I can break 6, using the track as the measuring tool.
About how it felt. Prety darn good. Better than while running around the parking lot, and better than my old shoes for sure. Temp was about 64, slight-medium breeze (weather.com data says 16mph, gusting to 21…it felt like that earlier, but not so much when I was on the track. Maybe 5-10? I don't know how to gage that). Cloudy, too. So, cool and nice/good running weather.
That's about it. As always, will try to get the data in here later.
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So, 4.25 miles, every mile faster than the last. Less hilly, but started uphill into the wind, which I pushed the first half mile at 7:07 pace. Then had a way slow quarter, then fell into a rhythm. Great negative split. Everything hurt. Running 3 days in a row on asphalt/sidewalks hurt my shins, and all the hill have made my calves very tight. I'm still trying to catch my Buddy John W. I'll have to check in with him and see how he's doing. But, that last mile being sub-7, a bit downhill, but into the wind…that's just sick! I felt like I was going to fall over and DIE when I finished.
