May 2012 – Running in the Rear View Mirror

Running In May

I am making fantastic progress on my 2012 running goals

Summary

• Miles Run: 152.1
• Days Run: 24
• Days Off: 7
• Longest Run: 13.3 5/15/12
• Fastest Run: 8:13 5/27/12 – Home 5K Course
• Best Week:  50.88 week ending 5/27/12

Shoes Run In

• Nike Free 4.0 v2 – Absolutely love them, I ran 50 miles in them the first week I had them with NO problems. They just fit my feet and running style.
• Saucony Kinvara 2 – Have been retired to walking and mowing the lawn.
• New Balance MT110 – Are in the closet until I start running trails again.
• Newton Gravity – Are in the closet, they required too much work (shoe surgery) to make them fit my feet correctly and so that I didn’t keep rubbing my ankle raw. It is too bad because I really like the Newtons.

Races Run

Summary: While I haven’t raced this month, I consider it a great month! On 5/17 I got to talk with the local Newton representative about my form and my shoes. So I know what improvements I have to make with my form.

I found the shoes that work for me better than any have in recent memory and went back to my old standby – Nike. I have more gear and have worn more Nike shoes than any other brand and I keep coming back to them for a reason – they just work for me.

This month in a word: Great

Weight

I ended April at 155 and today 5/31 am at 153 still loosing about two pounds in a month – it doesn’t sound like a lot, but the reality is that it is in that 155 is MY GOAL WEIGHT, so it is a huge deal! I am under my goal weight. I really believe that the number of long runs and mileage that I am putting in is getting the weight down.

With better weather on the horizon, I have a feeling that I will be hitting my goal weight and staying between 150-155 which is where TheWife would like me to stay and I think that is a good weight for me to be at.

43 pounds lost since June 17, 2012

Injuries

No real injuries this month, other than the Newton’s rubbing my right ankle raw and causing the dreaded bloody sock.  The right knee is not complaining very often, but I have to be careful to give it rest and a chance to recuperate after a long or hard run. Just have to keep training smart

Run Blogging

1. Tommie Copper Sleeve Review – First Impressions
2. First Run in Asics Gel Blur 33 – 2/16/12
3. My Transition Plan to Minimalist Running Shoes
4. Tommie Copper – Is Working
5. Wordless Wednesday – 2/1/12
6. Newton Gravity–After 50 Miles
7. Running Log Spreadsheet Template
8. Narrowed the Choices Down to 5 Running Shoes
9. Zensah Compression Socks – Follow-up Review
10. Saucony Kinvara 2 – After 50 Miles

I have made a couple of decisions and we will see how they turn out over the course of the next month. But I should be doing a lot more blogging and getting back to being who I am really am.

Reviews

One of the things that I really like to do is to review new gear. Whether I buy something myself or provided a product to review, I enjoy trying it out and seeing if it works as advertised or not. But more importantly – whether I like it or not and why. Blogging about running related products makes me think differently about what I am using – which is a good thing.

I have done the following product reviews this month:

•  Nike Free 4.0 v2 – After 50 Miles - Personal Purchase
• First Run in Nike 4.0 Free Rides - Personal Purchase
• Zensah Compression Socks – Follow-up Review - Media Sample
• Newton Gravity – Running Shoe Surgery - Personal Purchase

I didn’t have many opportunities to review products this month, but that is okay, I enjoyed just focusing on my running for a change.

The reality is that

May was another great month for running. I hope that I finally got my shoe miseries sorted out and that the Nike Free 4.0 are as great at 300-500 miles as they were in their first 50. There is just something about how I run in them that makes me feel comfortable running in them.

Originally written by Harold Shaw published  at A Veteran Runnah © 2012 – All Rights Reserved. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Harold Shaw  and A Veteran Runnah with appropriate and specific directions or links to the original content.