Gear Review: Mizuno Wave Universe 5

The Mizuno Wave Universe 4 was a cool shoe. Light, responsive, flexible, and fast, it was the closest thing to my beloved Adidas adiZero PR that I could find (the PR was an early ultralight that had been discontinued a while ago). It had one big issue that held it back though, and that was the somewhat sloppy upper, which traded the sleek performance-fit of the PR for a roomy forefoot that seemed more in-line with minimalist shoes allowing for toe-splay than racing flats that prioritized speed. Thankfully, Mizuno has finally realized that women like to run fast too, and now offers both men's and women's specific Universes (women generally have proportionately narrower feet, and though the Universe 4 was finally available in small sizes, they were still men's D width instead of women's B width), and the gender-engineered Mizuno Wave Universe 5 is a winner.

Gear Review: Brooks Mach 15 and Mach 15 Spikeless

Early last year, I picked up a nifty little pair of spikeless cross-country flats, the Brooks Mach 13 Spikeless. They were a neat shoe...light, nimble, fun. Sure, they weren't very versatile, but whatever, they were cheap, so it's not like they had to be the only shoes in my closet. So I bought a bunch of them...enough that I completely missed out on the Mach 14 because I was too busy going through a pile of Speed Dragons. By the time I had exhausted my stash, Brooks had moved on to the Mach 14's successor, the Mach 15.

Gear Review: Brooks The Wire 2

It has finally stopped snowing here in Antarctica Central New York, and a hopeful runner can almost be tricked into thinking that spring is finally on the way! And with spring, of course, comes outdoor track season (to be fair, that's actually been underway for a couple weeks, but bear with me here, because it finally feels like outdoor season, not indoor...at least until the next snowfall). And what shoe enthusiast can think of track season without thinking of spikes? Not this shoe geek, no sir, I think I've made my love of spikes well known. This track season, my weapon of choice has been the Brooks The Wire 2.

Seems to be the cool thing to do...my favorite running shoes

Sneaker Report's list of The 100 Best Running Shoes of All Time has recently been making the rounds across the Twitter-verse, and several people have been weighing in with their opinions on the list, as well as their own personal favorites. Definitely some interesting choices on that list...some I'd agree with, and plenty I most certainly would not agree with, but hey, that's part of the fun of making your own list, right? Pete Larson just posted his list, so I figured, what the hey, I'll play.

Gear Review: Brooks Racer ST 5

For some reason, the word "stability" next to a shoe's name sends neutral runners sprinting in the other direction. Runners see a new shoe, ask what type of runner it's meant for, and as soon as they hear the words "stability" or "overpronator," they cast away all thoughts of buying that shoe, terrified that it will overcorrect their stride or force them to run unnaturally. And for good reason (sometimes)...put a neutral runner in the Brooks Beast and you're bound to have problems. But remember, stability in shoes is not black and white, but comes in shades of grey. So what about those so-called "mild stability" shoes, the ones that overlap with more structured neutral shoes? Is there any real reason for neutral runners to stay away, or are we all just brainwashed by myths about foot type and running shoes? Or are there shoes that neutral runners and mild overpronators and possibly even mild supinators can all enjoy? Enter the Brooks Racer ST 5.

Gear Review: Mizuno Wave Universe 4

It's no big secret that I loved the Adidas adiZero PR. The PR was an early attempt at an ultralight flat, taking the sacrifice of cushion and structure in order to save weight to the extreme. At only 3.9oz, the PR was little more than a spike without a spike plate. Coming off of several years of high school and college running, I yearned for the familiar feeling I got from spikes, and the PR was pretty much a spike for the road. I wore that shoe for everything from the 5K to the half-marathon, and if the praise that shoe gets on LetsRun is any indication, I wasn't the only person who loved it. Then, sadly, Adidas discontinued it. Desperate for a replacement, I first tried the ASICS Piranha. The Piranha wasn't bad, I guess...I mean it was still super light and felt ridiculously fast, but for some inexplicable reason, I found myself overpronating noticeably in them, something that never happened in the PR. I eventually gave them away to a friend. Then Mizuno began offering the Mizuno Wave Universe 4 in small sizes (earlier models were only available in men's 8 and larger, I believe). I gave them a try next, and I believe that fans of the adiZero PR may finally have a replacement.

Gear Review: Brooks Green Silence

I put off buying the Brooks Green Silence for a long time. The shoe's main selling point is that it's environmentally friendly. Really? I'm all saving the environment and slowing global warming, but I want shoes that are known for their performance, not for saving the planet (although both would be pretty sweet). However, I had some friends who seemed to like them, and then I heard someone compare them to the PureConnect, only with decent durability. Hm, well that was enough to make me order them. Then I got word that they were being discontinued, along with the Launch, and I put off writing the review for a long time. I mean, who wants to read a review about a shoe that's being discontinued at the end of this year? In fact, I almost didn't write it (hence the pictures of the beat-up shoes below). But then I thought about it and realized that it's a pretty cool shoe, and as far as I'm concerned, people deserve a chance to hear about it and try it before it disappears. So on to the review!

Gear Review: Brooks Mach 13 Spikeless

I miss spikes. So. Much. Don't get me wrong, I love racing flats too, but there is something unmistakably awesome about slipping on a pair of low-slung racers that hug your foot like a glove. Maybe it's nostalgia for NCAA cross-country and track. Or maybe it's the fact that every time I walk into the National Running Center, I'm greeted by a wall of spikes and a pair of Nike Zoom Victory track spikes that stare at me and beg me to bring them home. But seeing as I don't race track anymore, I really can't justify buying a pair of $110 spikes for track workouts...especially when you consider that would mean I'd be doing workouts in spikes that weigh half as much as my racing flats (3.2oz WTF?). Enter the Speed Dragon...aka the Brooks Mach 13 Spikeless!

Gear Review: Mizuno Wave Ronin 4

You know that boy (or girl, substitute if you wish) who keeps trying to get your attention and keeps failing? He asks you out, and you accept to be polite, and then he brings you to a Chinese place, except Chinese food makes you sick. Then a few years later, he tries again, now armed with the knowledge that you like Italian, and he brings you to Fazoli's, which is okay, but not exactly your Italian restaurant of choice. Then the morning of your goal race, there's a knock on the hotel room door, and there he is, holding a bagel, a jar of peanut butter, a Powerbar, an apple, a Sugar-Free Red Bull, and a Powerade Zero. And nevermind that you normally drink a Monster Lo-Carb instead of a Red Bull, because it's so close to perfect that you just melt. (And yes, I eat a lot before races. DON'T JUDGE ME). That's Mizuno for me. The first shoe I was put in was the Alchemy, way back in my senior year of high school, which was just wrong for my biomechanics. The second shoe was the Rider, which wasn't terrible, but not really what I wanted. Well, with the Mizuno Wave Ronin 4, Mizuno has finally won my heart.

Gear Review: La Sportiva Crosslite

When I was still living in Boulder (before grad school took over my life), once a week I would meet the Boulder Trail Runners for a trail tempo run. It was a pretty quick bunch, and there were a few very good regional caliber (and perhaps even national caliber...I'm really not familiar with the Who's Who of American trail running, and the good trail runners smoked me as soon as we got to a technical trail section) runners. One thing I noticed was that the most popular shoe was the La Sportiva Crosslite. At the time, I was wearing the New Balance 790, a lightweight trail racing flat that has since been replaced by the New Balance MR101, but I couldn't help but be at least a little curious about the shoe that all the fast guys and girls were wearing (peer pressure!). When I got the opportunity to try this shoe, I jumped on it! Continuing the trend of giving full reviews to shoes mentioned in this post, here's the La Sportiva Crosslite.

Gear Review: Nike Zoom Streak 3

In the past, I've worn ultra lightweight flats for half-marathons and shorter races. However, when I signed up to do a marathon, I decided that the 3.9oz Adizero PR just wasn't going to cut it. Whatever time I saved from using a lighter shoe would be negated tenfold by foot fatigue. I needed a little bit more shoe underneath me. I briefly considered the Brooks T6, but eventually decided something with a slightly less aggressively curved last might be a better idea. I did a whole bunch of searching and trying on various shoes, and eventually ended up with the Nike Zoom Streak 3 (not to be confused with the Nike Zoom Streak XC 3). The Streak 3 is another shoe that I've mentioned in the past, but felt it was deserving of a full review.

Gear Review: ASICS Piranha SP 3

One of the coolest pairs of flats I've worn was the Adidas Adizero PR. At 3.9oz, they were super lightweight, incredibly low slung and close to the ground, and fit my foot like a glove. Unfortunately, Adidas is constantly revamping its Adizero line, and they were discontinued a few years ago. However, ASICS and Mizuno have since introduced ultralight flats, namely the Piranha and Wave Universe (There may be a few reduced shoes marketed as minimal that would also fall into this category, but I unfortunately have no idea what they are and therefore can't throw any names out for you. Maybe the Somnio Nada? I don't know). The Piranha is currently on its third iteration, the SP 3. When my PRs finally gave up the ghost, I decided it was time to look for another ultra-lightweight to replace them. When I was buying these (which was admittedly quite a while ago), only the Piranha was available in small sizes, so that made the decision as to which flat to buy very easy for me. I mentioned this shoe in the past, but never really gave it a full review. Well, seeing as that "review" was really more of an overview, here's the dirt on the Piranha.

Guest Blog: Gear Review: Saucony Grid Type A4

I asked my friend and college teammate Julie to write up a guest review on the Saucony Grid Type A4 racing flat, which has become her trainer of choice. After college, Julie took her running in a completely different direction than I did, returning to the trail running she had done outside of NCAA running, getting involved with ultradistance races, and experimenting with minimalist shoes, including various flats, the Vibram Five Fingers, and running completely barefoot. While I did a review of the Nike Free a little while ago, my review still came from the perspective of a shod road runner. As far as minimalism goes, Julie is the real deal. So, for all you trail runners, ultrarunners, and minimalist fans, this review is for you.

Gear Review: Brooks T7 Racer

Once in a while, a shoe company gets something right. You wear a shoe and end up falling in love with it, because it's the closest thing to perfection you're going to find without making the Olympic team and having Nike make a one-off custom shoe specially for you. In 2007, I found one of those shoes when I bought the Brooks T5 Racer. At first, they stayed in my closet much of the time, because the store team I was running for at the time was sponsored by Nike, and to be completely honest, it wasn't love at first sight anyway, since coming from wearing spikes in college, I was more into the faster, lower to the ground feel that the Nike Zoom Katana offered. However, when I left that team, I gave the T5 another chance, and God was I ever glad that I did, because it's, hands down, the best flat I've ever worn. When you find a shoe that good, you're always afraid that it's going to get discontinued or get changed. My second favorite racing flat, the Adidas Adizero PR, was discontinued, even though that shoe had a cult following. And though I don't own the A4 or Fastwitch, Saucony just changed those shoes pretty drastically, as I talked about in my last post. Thankfully, the T6 remained mostly unchanged, other than it got a slightly nicer upper that fit my foot even better. In Februrary '11, Brooks released the T7 Racer, and I'm happy to report that the engineers at Brooks must know a good thing when they see it, because, while it looks a lot different from the outside, on the inside, it's still the good ol' T Racer that we've come to know and love.

Gear Review: Racing Flats

Recently, a friend of mine mentioned that a picture of my running shoes looked like a catalog for racing flats. She then followed it up with the "What flat should I get?" question. While the answer to this question varies depending on your biomechanics, your race distance, and your race surface, here's some information to get you started:

Fall from Grace

Every so often, I rock a workout and feel totally indestructible. Of course, this is probably when I'm at my most vulnerable, having broken down my body and counting on it being able to rebuild itself again. And every so often, I push too far and I don't bounce back the way I should. It's never a single workout, but a buildup of miles and workouts, that pushes past the line separating quality training and destruction. And unfortunately, I've gone and done it again. I've been dealing with "I can ignore this and run anyway" issues for around two months now, and the past couple weeks have been really hot and cold. I killed a long cruise interval workout without a problem, and then bombed a tempo and took a couple of days off to try to kick a hip flexor problem and some tendinitis. Came back, pulled off the tough track workout I mentioned in my last post while hardly breaking a sweat, and woke up two days later with tendinitis that had completely spiraled out of control. Unrelated to the first bout of tendinitis, but I'm fairly certain was caused by compensating for my hip flexor. It's really discouraging, to get knocked down every time I have what I feel like is a great workout. I'm not so stupid as to assume that they are completely unrelated, though I think the biggest problem is that I really didn't give myself that much downtime after the marathon. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot about it I can do now, other than ice, NSAIDs, stretch, self-massage, hopefully some ultrasound soon, and downtime until it resolves itself.