First impression: Spira Stinger XLT's

Float like a bee?

Today's run (treadmill): 25 minutes

Yesterday I posted about two pairs of mystery shoes and last night I got to try on the first pair. They are lightweight running shoes from a company called Spira, based in El Paso, TX. Spira shoes contain something called "Wavespring Technology" where specially designed springs are embedded within the mid-sole to enable better energy return to runners and walkers.

The shoes I received are Spira's performance model, called Stinger XLT. I think they are called Stingers because (with their bright yellow and black highlights) the shoes resemble a bumble bee. I don't judge shoes on the way they look, but people who like their running shoes to be noticeable will not be disappointed.

I took the XLT's out of the box and had two reactions. First was, "That looks like a lot of shoe, I'll bet they're heavy." After picking them up I thought, "How can a shoe containing metal springs be this light?" I put one on my foot and was pleased with the comfortable foot bed. It's a well cushioned shoe and while I usually prefer the other end of the spectrum (Saucony Hattori's), I appreciated the comfortable fit.

I'd asked for size 11's, 1/2 size up from what I usually wear, because lately I've had issues with tight toe-boxes. The XLT's fit me well and the toe-box was fine. A quick run around the house reinforced that, lots of room, but no slippage. I checked the morning's weather and it said rain, so I decided to try my first run on the treadmill.

After two relatively long runs over the weekend, my feet were a little sore and the XLT's provided a nice cushioned base. The Wavesprings do not create a "moon-bounce" effect. In fact, it would not be obvious to someone that this shoe contained any special technology. The XLT's do provide a decent response though, not unlike my Brooks GTS 10's in their early days.

The shoes performed very well on the treadmill. They moved naturally with my foot, felt stable and returned good energy. I couldn't test the predicted 15 sec/mile improvement communicated to me by Andrew B. Krafsur, Spira's founder, but I found it surprisingly easy to maintain a sub 9:00/mile pace once I got going.

I'm planning to try the shoes on the road tomorrow morning. If they perform well I'll use them for at least one of my long runs this weekend. My most popular post is titled "Tubes, zig-zags, bounces, shocks and resistors" which is about gimmicky running shoes that fall short of expectations. So far (and surprisingly), the Stinger XLT's appear to be the real deal.

What's in the box will make me 15 seconds faster

Mysteries a-foot

There's a box waiting for me at home that contains a pair of running shoes. These shoes are different from any others that I own. The manufacturer claims that I'll see a 15 second per mile improvement over my regular trainers. Unless it's raining, I will be testing that theory tomorrow morning. I plan to do a full writeup on Runner's Tech Review once I've had a chance to evaluate them fully.

I'm also waiting for a pair of mystery running shoes that have not yet arrived. I don't know when to expect them. All I know is that one of my favorite shoe companies (Saucony) recently sent me a note saying they had "top secret" news and asked for my size. What could be better than having some brand new performance tech-y shoes waiting at home? How about knowing that a secret pair of running shoes are also coming? Stay tuned, all will be revealed...

Did I really experience fat-to-energy alchemy?

Botero's Man on Horseback

WCB Preserve's Trails

Today's run (treadmill): 6.1 miles

Daylight savings time took away an hour of our morning, so I decided to save a little time and run indoors. My wife was doing her workout on the elliptical machine, so I accompanied her on the treadmill for the last 35 minutes of her session. My plan was to run for an hour or for 5.7 miles, whichever came first.

I started off at a very easy pace, because I'd run long on Saturday and didn't want to push my already tired legs. I moved along feeling great, but after 25 minutes I began to noticeably weaken. I realized that it would be a struggle to complete my full hour and I started to reevaluate when I would stop. After my wife finished her workout, I thought I would continue, but only for another ten minutes.

I'd wished that I'd had a gel to give me a boost at that point, but as it happened, I didn't need it. When I reached 43 minutes, I started feeling stronger. My urgency to stop had completely gone away. It suddenly felt easy, for no reason that I could explain. The only thing I could think of was that my body had depleted my glycogen stores and had started using stored fat as an energy source.

Everything I've read tells me that this transition doesn't happen until you have run for an hour or more. Before you feel good, you're supposed to feel very bad. I hadn't been comfortable for a good amount of time, so perhaps that explanation is plausible. All I knew was that, suddenly, the run became as easy after 45 minutes as it was after 5 minutes.

I decided not to stop and took advantage of my rebound by bumping up the speed and focusing on my form. I reached my goal (originally 5.7 miles so that I would surpass 13 miles this weekend) but kept going until I passed 6 miles. It was a tiring run but, hours later, I still feel energized.

Later in the morning we went to the Nassau County Museum of Art and walked the grounds before we went in. The museum has 39 large sculptures located within its grounds (AKA, the William Cullen Bryant Preserve). There are many trails to follow and we plan to return just to do that.

I'm pleased that I met my goal of covering 13 miles this weekend. That will help me push my base as I train for the LI Half Marathon. Best of all, I get to rest tomorrow. But it all starts again on Tuesday.

Test at Bethpage: Gatorade G Series FIT Perform 02

Today's run (Bethpage State Park): 7.35 miles

Nice bottle, but no thanks

I had a mid morning appointment today and that forced me to get out for my run before 7:00 AM. My plan was to get to Bethpage and run the bike trail, covering at least seven miles. I'd rested on Friday because I wasn't feeling great, and I hoped that would give me a performance boost today.

I brought along a bottle of sport drink with a very long name: Gatorade G Series FIT Perform 02. It's an electrolyte mix that's meant to be consumed during a workout. I was testing this mix to see if it's something I should carry during my half marathon. I've learned that satisfaction with performance supplements, like gels and drinks, varies greatly from person to person.

Almost from the start, I could tell that I wouldn't be burning up the trail today. I had none of the energy I usually expect for these long, early morning runs. I thought it would be a good test of the G Series mix, and a good gauge of my ability to cover 7+ miles when starting with an energy deficit. As I started my Garmin, it chirped and showed "Low Battery." Like my watch, I hoped I had enough power to get through today's run.

Considering my low energy, the first couple of miles went by fairly quickly. The temperature was hovering around 30 degrees, but the winds were strong, especially on the way back. I reached the point where I expected to hear a chirp signaling three miles and when I looked at the Garmin the screen was blank. Later, when I recharged the watch, I saw that the battery had given out after 2.61 miles.

Along the way I sipped from the G2 mix, hoping that it would restore my depleted energy levels. The "melon-pear" flavor tasted neither like melon nor pear. In fact it didn't taste like much of anything. Since I didn't have an easy way of knowing how far I'd run or how much time I'd been running, I decided to turn back at a place I could locate on Gmaps so I could measure total distance later.

There were many runners on the trail this morning, mostly running in pairs or in groups. I would have felt lonely except that they were all running faster than me. I wouldn't have been able to keep up with any of them today. I suspect it was the early hour, when competitive club runners go out for long distances before they start their day.

I wasn't hurting, exactly, but I never felt strong as ran along. I started taking sips of the G2 more frequently as I got closer to the end. The last 1.5 miles of the Bethpage bike trail has the most pronounced hills and I needed a boost, even if it turned out to be more psychological than real. As I approached the final long hill, I decided I'd just pace it fast enough so that I could call it running. At that moment, a group of sleek, fit, compression-clad men and women ran by on my left, chatting away as if this hill was a bump. How humiliating.

After I finished my run, I saw that the G2 mix contained nothing to help my energy stores. The whole 16 oz. bottle contained only 5g of carbs  and 4g of sugar. I'd consumed about half the bottle, so all I got was 110mg of sodium and 30mg of potassium. And it also made me a little queasy. So this mix will not be accompanying me on my half marathon in May.

I accomplished a good part of my weekend distance goal this morning. I need to cover almost 6 miles tomorrow to make my "weekend 13". It's not an unreasonable target, but I hope to feel more energized on Sunday.

Today's guilt will power tomorrow's run

I wasn't feeling well yesterday and thought I may have caught a cold. Thursday's elliptical session wore me out much more than I would have expected. I bounced back last night and planned to do a run for this morning. When I woke up, I felt a little dizzy. After being at this for almost four years, I am able to tell the difference between being "morning tired" and actually feeling weak. I quickly decided to skip today's workout.

The main reason I opted for a rest day is that I hope to do a long run tomorrow at Bethpage. I didn't want to wear myself out on a maintenance run, and I thought some additional rest might be beneficial. I think resting was the right thing to do, but I'll admit to having some guilty feelings about it. I'm planning to use that guilt tomorrow to motivate me through what I hope will be my longest run (so far) this year.