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.

Update: School and Training

So I'm sure you've all figured I've given up on blogging by now. Not true! I have a Mizuno Wave Universe review written up...but I have moved back to school and have no idea where my camera is, and no one wants a review with cell phone pictures. So as soon as I find my camera, I'll have a Universe review up. I also have another shoe on order that I'm sure all of you will judge me for, but whatever, JUDGE AWAY! Other than that, I am officially signed up for the Philadelphia Marathon in November, so that means that marathon training is underway, which takes up a significant chunk of time. It does not, however, take up as much time as grad school, which is also underway. Finally, the school doesn't serve dinner on Friday or Saturday or any meals at all on Sunday, so that means I have to cook which also takes up time (to be fair, cooking takes up much less time than school or running). Also, thanks to anyone who voted for me in the Flotrack contest...the submission period is over but Flotrack hasn't posted the finalists yet, so I have no updates for you as to what's going on there.

Flotrack's Saucony Kinvara 3 contest

So Flotrack is having a Kinvara 3 design contest. So if you like playing with Photoshop, get on that! And if you don't like playing with Photoshop, you should vote for my design! (Actually you should go look at all the entries and vote for the one you like rather than just voting for me without looking at the others, but if you do think mine is cool, I'd certainly appreciate you giving mine a Like or a Tweet!)

Women's Olympic 1500

Women's 2012 Olympic 1500m final Source

Oh boy, here we go again. I hate to be the person who rants all the time, but those of you who know me know that I love watching mid-distance just as much as I love watching distance. Can't run MD for crap, but watching it is fun. You don't have as much time to get into it the way you do a distance race, but they have all the tactics and strategy that distance races have, and they can take on different personalities the same was as distance races. A 100m dash is always fast. That's not to say it's any less exciting, but you know it's going to be fast. A mid-distance race, like a distance race, can involve a furious pace from the gun (a la the men's 2012 Olympic 800 that we just saw, courtesy of David Rudisha), or it can start slow and tactical and end with the kind of dead sprint to the finish that every kicker hopes for (a la the women's 2012 Olympic 1500...more on that later). Plus male mid-distance runners are beautiful and female mid-distance runners have the body I wish I had, but I digress. So, needless to say, I was watching the women's 1500. For those of you who missed it, the 1500 opened in a pedestrian (for them) 75 second jog. The race itself didn't start until the bell lap...which is when Morgan Uceny fell. At the end of the race, former doper Asli Çakır Alptekin emerged as the winner. Fail. Fail fail fail.

Support your athletes, guys!

Lolo Jones finished fourth in the 100m hurdles Source

A few days ago, the New York Times published a scathing article on Lolo Jones. Jones was torn apart for being all style, no substance. Then, when she finished fourth in the 100m hurdles finals, the haters jumped on the opportunity to say "I told you so," pointing to her disappointing finish as proof she was overhyped and overrated. It's really shameful to lose to favorite Sally Pearson, who won in an Olympic record time, you know.

But wait. Can we step back for a second? Jones' "failure" meant that she finished fourth at the Olympics. For now, she is fourth in the world. Sure, this is a sport where there is really only one winner, and where the top three get hardware and glory while fourth gets to pee in a cup, but let me repeat that for you. Fourth in the world. Allow me to quote Allie Kieffer here:

GALEN RUPP TAKES SILVER MEDAL!

Galen Rupp (silver) and his training partner Mo Farah of Great Britain (gold) Source

RUPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!

Full results after the jump.