Shoes, coffee, running, trains and trails...

I was out on the Meewasin Trail today running about 7.5k in what was, essentially, a meagre attempt at a tempo run. As I was running I noticed a strange feeling in my right leg (I have a leg length difference)... well, it wasn't too strange, but it was a pretty clear indication that my right shoe was probably worn own (since it absorbs more impact than my left).  At any rate, this was my final run wearing my trusty Brooks Adrenaline GTS 14--I used them for several runs longer than I ought to have.   My Sauncony Guide 6's are probably going to be retired in the near future as well, which leaves me with a pair of Brooks PureCadence and a pair of Mizuno Waves--neither of which has as much cushion as I'd like.

As you can see from the train in the photo above, I ran on a narrow bike/running path for part of today's run.  A general rule of thumb of safe running is to avoid running on the same surfaces as cars. Although I did run about 400-500 metres through University of Saskatchewan on roadways shared with cars, the traffic was so light that it didn't matter too much.  The wonderful thing about Saskatoon is that you can run for hours without running alongside cars.  Even my bike ride today was half on bike paths.

So I accomplished 7.5k running and 5.2k on my mountain bike (really, I need a road bike if I'm going to be touring around this very flat prairie province).   After I finished my run, I collected my bike at the Sobeys on Preston Avenue, and had an impromptu picnic right where the above photo was taken. My picnic consisted of Chocolate Milk (1 litre, lol--it was on sale at Sobeys for $1.99) and 2.5 servings of Doritos.

Now, onto coffee... and running.  If you have experience drinking coffee right before running, I'd love to hear from you.

New shoes: Brooks Pure Cadence 2

I'll just go ahead and say that although I've only logged five kilometers on my new shoes, they feel terrific. I bought them at Running Room in Saskatoon for c$85 -- that's $100 + $10 (GST/HST) - $25 (Running Room gift card for winning the Transplant Trot 5k).

The shoes have a slanted back foot, which promotes a mid/front foot strike. Thus, during my impromptu running session this evening, I had my fastest training run ever.

The latest from the trail

And so it would seem that I must buy new running shoes. Thanks for my pelvis and hips being properly aligned now, my running gait has changed and my Brooks (in which I've probably logged about 275 to 300 kilometers while running) are now retired since they are molded to my old gait.  My Saucony's are probably finished as well.  It's all good, since I can put my gift certificate to Running Room to good use.

My next pair of shoes will be used primarily for the Manitoba Half Marathon, River Run Classic Half Marathon and training for the Queen City Marathon.  And so I will need to start breaking them in within the next week or so.

So the question now is: how much has my running gait changed?  What will that mean in terms of the type of shoe I now need?