Inclement weather gear test 1...of many, it seems

Among the so many things for which I am thankful, I got to try out my bad/wet/cold/snowy/rainy running gear yesterday. 

The first real day of cold and wet Kansas winter weather started Thanksgiving morning, at almost exactly the moment we left our house to walk Nugget.  Not 100 yards from home, the soft rain turned cold and fierce as westerlies gusted and chilled us to the bone.  The rest of our walk became a run and Nugget, Eskimo fur and all, willingly complied with an abbreviated walk.

We waited all day for the weather to improve so that we could run outside.  It didn't! 

Instead I drove to Weston for a quick 5K with the hope that the trees would shelter the running path from the rain and more forceful blusters.    I plan on running the Psychowyco in February, so why not try out my cold/wet weather plan starting now?  I figured. 

February weather around here could be anything, so I'd best prepare!

Well, my plan sucks.  My "rain jacket" is apparently only a wind breaker.  My running tights are seemingly water-absorbent, practically sponges!  Not so nice on a cold day.  Luckily I have enough flesh on my thighs that they rarely get cold.  My thermal Under Armor turtleneck overheated me.  The turtleneck part felt like a garrote, and I wished I'd worn instead a shirt with a zippered collar or even just a short sleeve shirt.  Cheapie knit drug-store throwaway gloves?  Dual purpose...if you want the dual purposes of keeping your fingers wet and extra cold.  My hat - fleece beanie (an old PT hat)  kept my hair dry, but I was too hot a mile in and taking it off left my scalp to suffer an ice-mop of hair.  I need something breathable yet water repellent.  So, limited luck yesterday.  I wish I'd worn my running sleeves, a short sleeve shirt, and an actual rain jacket (I don't have one).  The leg sponges at least prevented water from dripping into my shoes, but a more technical/evaporative fabric would be nice. 

If I'd been out longer than a 5K, my feet would've been soaked and frozen, but that's not usually bothersome to me.  On a side note, I do look forward to a new pair of trail shoes.  My old ones are torn and tread-bare and won't hold up much longer.  I want to branch completely away from the Mizuno family and see if I am happier in a Saucony trail shoe, just like I am for my daily runners (the Kinvara 6).  I committed to the Kinvara 6 even more and bought a second pair last week ($79.99 - a great discount!) while in DC.  I did go for a half size larger which I think is a better fit for thicker winter socks.  I am exceptionally pleased so far.

Anyway, thank you Kansas for the upcoming opportunities to try out winter running gear over and over again!

I retuned home from Weston a soggy chilled mess and prepared for our Thanksgiving dinner, planned at a friend's home.  D does not involve himself in the kitchen much so he snuggled up to finish The Man in the High Castle and I made a walnut cranberry pumpkin seed salad, which seems so insufficient, and so to compensate we brought lots of wine.  And a hostess gift of our halibut, sure, it's not customary, but it is darn well received! 

I hate when a dinner party host says to "bring nothing but your appetite!" because then I am left to scramble and demonstrate not only my lack of creativity but also precisely how poor a cook I am.  My friend is tres gourmet and I ogled the Viking appliances as I helped her/got in the way in the kitchen.  This was our first gluten-free Thanksgiving experience and it was awesome!  It doesn't hurt that my friend is an amazing chef who's been dealing with true celiac for years, but I could not tell that any of the items were gluten-free and we ate too much of everything, exactly as one is supposed to do.

Today it's even colder and the overnight freezing rain sealed our cars, steps, porch in a slick glaze.  Nugget slipped down the back staircase as she scurried out for her morning pee-pee, no worse for the tumble, but we don't plan on going many places today just in case the roads stay icy.  Well, we rarely venture out on Black Friday anyway.

I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving and is ready for winter running season with at least a little more luck/preparation than I! :)

I just haven't felt like being here so I've been other places

There's this daily routine I have - I've had it for years - and unfortunately of late it rarely includes appearing on this blog.  I'm fond of the routine, so I'll spare you any false promises to post more frequently.  Aren't we all spread thinly enough as it is?

I surprised myself and found that after nearly a year here in Kansas, I still love my job.  I'm so thankful for it.

We took a week trip up to Alaska in August, full of bike riding, hiking, and fishing of course.

Lost Lake, we found you

  

He smiles because I'm the one wearing the backpack

I snuggled with this sassy innkeeper:

And we caught our limit in halibut:

Heavier than it looks!

Not as heavy as it looks!

 As always, Alaska is a great trip.  A few years ago we wrote a big check in return for a nice piece of paper saying we own a few acres of the Last Frontier, but recently over late-morning weekend coffee talk we dramatize our retirement fears and I wonder if we should sell.  I love Alaska, but I worry about the costs as well as the perceived intellectual exodus from our beloved 49th state.  It pains me to write that, but in a few years, the Army won't be dictating where we live, and I don't want to make anything less than the perfect choice, now that we'll finally have one.  

Kachemak Bay...who would not be happy here?

 During my summer blog sabbatical I ran a few local races here and there, though I failed to make the 10-miler team (again!).  At such a slow pace, I'd be embarrassed if that time had qualified.  There's always next year.  The summer bothered and exhausted me (not just due to the heat) so I have 0 feelings to report about my running performance or lack thereof.  

In other news, I don't wear Mizuno Wave Riders (or Mizunos at all) anymore, and I am blissfully in love with the Saucony Kinvara 6.  I tried them on fully expecting to hate the 4mm drop, but it feels natural and easy.  I love the price, too, a full $20 less than my last pair of Wave Riders (18s). 

To break up the routine, D and I took a 2-day trip to Denver a few weeks ago.  Our loyalty to Southwest Airlines has paid off and we cashed in our stockpiled miles for free tickets and with our impossible 47000 hotel points our trip came to a grand total of $70 for a rental car, food, entertainment.  With keen budgeting like that, we might get to retire after all!  For old times' sake we attended the Dave Mathews Concert at Fiddlers' Green (Is it called that again?  Still?) and I sniffed peevishly in an effort to avoid the expected wafts of cannabinoid fog.  It's not a scent I enjoy and to head off any questions, yes, it's virtually impossible to pop hot on a urine drug screen via passive exposure.  At the expense of revealing my curmudgeonliness, I find Dave Mathews really tedious, especially live....what with the THC and patchouli-soaked fans and endless cacophonous recapitulation...it's no surprise then that my favorite part of the trip was our visit to the Denver Botanic Gardens. 

Before we arrived at the Gardens, we enjoyed the surrounding "moneyed hipster" neighborhood, where we stopped for lunch at Chef Zorba's.  I would eat there again and again!  D let me have the seat facing the window, and I annoyed him no end with my distracting questions, directed both to myself and behind his back: Does everyone here ride bicycles?  I drawled enviously at the passing Denverites, lean, healthy, full of nature, sun, kale, kefir, whatever.  Who are these people walking all these dogs?  I wondered, missing Nugget, cooped up at overnight camp.  Where are all these Vespas going? I asked of the steady stream of men, motoring down the road - hair thinning and bellies bethickened - adorning the aqua-blue scooters, zip zip. 

The DBG Offshoots Café is a treat and we enjoyed after-gyro raspberry lemonade.  We accidentally invaded no fewer than three beautiful wedding receptions, and excitedly floated from garden to greenhouse to pond.  D's favorite part?  The bonsai garden, hidden behind a corner of the Japanese tea garden. Among kare-san-sui paths, the bonsai garden displayed trees and shrubs native to the western prairie yet cultivated and "training" in bonsai pattern.  I never before knew of the tethers and fine wires pulling and tugging the tiny tree limbs, but now I am in awe of the time and orthodontia required for this art of bonsai.  Unlike D's discriminating tastes, I am a sucker for the bounty and ease of the perennial garden.  I left a little sad that we don't have the energy to recreate the intricate abundance of the Botanic Gardens at our home in Kansas, but it's only 600 miles down I-70 so we can return pretty easily on a future vacation.  I am sure we will.

In other news, I finally finished my Rustic X console table (inspired by Ana White).  It proudly holds our keys and odds/ends and TV.  It's a tad uneven, so it fits perfectly in the house:
 

Next up?!  Back to work, to running, and to a cedar-topped kitchen island, unfinished, awaiting a rainy day in my "workshop."  

Here's hoping you are well and wonderful, now and when I check in next!

Mizuno Wave Ascend 7 trail shoes and why I love them

I am normally a devotee of the Mizuno Wave Rider, but I saw these on sale from Running Warehouse, and with an upcoming trail race (Desert Dash 10K) I thought a trail shoe would be a nice addition to my collection.

Fresh out of the box!

I was right-- these trail shoes saved my cankles from certain destruction during the rocky race.

These have a fit true to the rest of the Mizuno family.  The fit, of course, being the reason I buy them.

Sure, they are a little heavier than the Wave Riders, but that's to be expected.

I wore them for the very first time, no break-in, during my 10K and I had no problems with them.  No blisters, no hotspots, and I couldn't even identify any areas where the shoe was causing any irritation to my feet whatsoever.  To me, that's the start of a meaningful shoe relationship! 

And now, with a light dusting of "trail" on 'em

 On my trail run I felt like I had a good stable grip on the trail without the feeling of lugging gravel and mud with me.

These were also sturdy enough that my nail-less index toe felt protected from rocks and roots and gullies, which is not as true for my Wave Rider 16s what with their meshie-mesh construction.

My favorite feature?

The lack of dog-doo-doo crevice in the sole:

No free rides here!

In my Wave Riders, I seem to attract dog poop to hide out in there.  Gravitationally.  Yuck.

That's gravel, not a tooth, I promise!

 It's nice to have a diverse pair of shoes for trail runs.  Yes, the stability and larger base makes a difference.  I was never really a believer until I tried this trail-specific shoe.

Color scheme?  Very much to my liking.  Better, in fact, than the color choices available for the Wave Rider 16.  But that's just me, and I eschew light colors whenever possible.

In other news, I have been sick the past few days. I blame a bad salad I ate (even though it was delicious!).  I am so frustrated at not being able to run, nay, do anything of value other than vomit, but I'll try my legs out today.  

My personal generalized rule for sickness and running?  If it's above the neck, running = ok.  Anywhere below the neck, nah...better to take a day or three off.

Even so, today I'm sticking with a treadmill run, for safety's sake.  Also, it was 36 degrees outside last I checked, so yeah...indoors it is.

On Sunday I plan to watch the San Antonio RNR marathon.  I didn't register, but I'm going to cheer from the sidelines and support a classmate with cerebral palsy who is running the half!  I've never watched a race before and I can't wait to see how it is for the RNR series.  I have mixed feelings about a for-profit race organization but this may give me a glimpse into the hype, all the better to make my own judgment!

Who wears trail shoes and who doesn't?  It's taken me a good 10 years, but I'm sold on the idea, thanks to the Chihuahuan Desert and the Wave Ascend 7!

Pub run pre-cap... AND confessions of a running shoe hoarder

I hate to do this to you...

But after I raved about the Mizuno Wave Rider 16s

I am going to wear an old pair of running shoes to the Pub Run tonight.

Good thing I brought a collection of Wave Rider 15s with me when I came out to San Antonio for the summer! 

My shoe cycle goes like this:ones with high mileage (yellow) are phased into the "for Army training" pile and the newer ones (purple and red) are for longer runs, and the newest (the 16s) are saved a third category, races and race-specific training.  It's just common sense, I don't have a shoe problem!  I promise!

A reflective belt really brings the picture together

I will upset myself if my new shoes get dirty too soon, I'm serious!!

Ridiculous, yes, but this is the real world where running shoes don't show up without $$ and I love to keep them somewhat clean and in good repair as long as I can.

Of course, I'll still run the $#!% out of them rain or shine or meatballs or whatever.

Just without assorted pub gunk stuck all over them.

So the uniform of the evening includes:

I've never even been to Nebraska

A shirt that the most generous friend in the world purchased for us gals since we somehow eked degrees out of the good ol' U of Nebraska! Not sure about the peace and love portions but hey hey it's a good looking shirt!

Hope to see you there!  And if you can't make it, I'll be sure to post some pictures tomorrow.  But it'd be better if you attended...just sayin'.

Happy Friday!  Where are you on the shoe life cycle?  And are you doing a pub run tonight?

Product review: Mizuno Wave Rider 16

In the summer of 2010 I made a big-girl decision and for the first time bought running shoes at a dedicated running store in Warner Robins, Georgia: Run Fit Sports. 

Before that, I bought all my "running" shoes online or at close-out sales, without much thought beyond price and color scheme.  I suffered shredded ankles and horrendous blisters for my naivete.

As evidenced in the header picture, for the past three years the only running shoes I wear are Mizuno Wave Riders (the 13s, 14s, 15s and now 16s), for no other reason than the perfect-for-me fit.  I do my best to buy them on sale or to buy older versions.  

I never thought any new shoe would supplant my love for the Wave Rider 15 until D gave me the brand new Wave Rider 16 for my recent birthday.

So I have a completely non-technical and biased review for you!

I love anything orange, err, apricot?!

I ran 5 miles in them so far and I love the semi-soft smooth ride already.  As compared to the Wave Rider 15, I feel that they are lighter,  constructed of a more flexible sole, and with great arch support but maintaining the same roomy toebox that I love.  The heel seems identical.  Sizing is true to older versions of the Wave Rider.  I feel weightless in these puppies!  

I am "meh" on the colors available, but I am about to buy another pair to have in reserve...I must really love them!  For Wave Rider fans, the 16 will not disappoint you...it pains to me to admit that I enjoy the 16-level ride more than the Wave Rider 15.  

My only concern is the revamped construction of the upper - it's a stretchy mesh fabric now without the buttressing leather framework as in previous Wave Riders.  As I walk I can see my toes pressing through.  If it holds for the next several hundred miles, I'm fine with it and it surely is the reason the Wave Rider 16 is noticeably lighter, even to my uncalibrated legs.

Purchased from Running Warehouse for ~$104.00 (aka more than I've ever spent on a running shoe!).  Love their 2-day free shipping policy.

Other colors include a pink-ish variant and white/purple.  I like the bold men's color options better.

Any other Wave Rider fans??  Who else has transitioned to the 16?