New Shoes

For the last six months, I’ve been huffing about on roads and trails in Merrill Foot Gloves, which are also known as awesome barefoot running shoes. That means that they have absolutely no spring or other hoity toity cushioning for your feet and allow your feet to act as though you strapped gladiator sandals on and started running down the Via Appia. I’ve loved the feeling of myself becoming one with the elements, as well as the feeling that it’s my resolve moving me forward, no footgear spring action.

I have run every casual jog, every race, every everything in these shoes. They’ve been fantastic and have imbued a sense of wonder in me – both for running and for my body’s ability to perform.

Unfortunately, they’re a bit too breathable for inclement weather and they offer no added insulation from the cold. While this works well in the summer and early autumn, rain, puddles, snow and sleet seeping into footwear can quickly become frostbite. When the mercury plunges below 40 degrees, I look for any added insulation from the cold.

My quest for “regular” running shoes began in earnest the week following Thanksgiving, when morning temps routinely hit 35 and below. My tootsies were chilly.

My approach was pretty methodical in my free time. First I asked runners I knew online. No one had much information about why they chose Nike, New Balance, Asics or others, they’d simply used them forever and they liked them.  One experienced runner suggested I visit Westchester Road Runner (WRR) in White Plains to get fitted. That seemed like a great idea, so I googled them and started to read Runners World and other website for suggested shoes and reviews. That was like falling through the rabbit hole.

I’d honestly had never heard of certain shoe companies before, nor did I know whether my feet are pronated, whether I have a high arch, where my foot strikes and so many other questions.

So I carved out some time and drove my butt to WRR to figure it all out, because I needed to figure out the new shoes soon – at least so that the request could go on my Christmas wish list. ;)

The folks at WRR were awesome. Turns out I have white average runner feet. My feet are normal in that they neither pronate (roll out significantly and pushing off with one’s little toes) nor overpronate (roll inward significantly and pushing off with one’s big toes); I use all my toes to push off and my foot is generally squared to the ground when it hits. I also have average arches, with neither a wide nor narrow foot. Finally, I seem to have developed the coveted mid-foot strike, which means that I neither hit the ground initially with my heal nor toes, but my foot pad and just behind. That’s evidently the most efficient and safest stride for one’s body. It doesn’t have me running as quickly as some heel strike friends, but it should lower my injuries over the long run.  

Most running shoes are presently built to target and correct for one or more of the issues listed in the preceding paragraph. Entire companies have built up around one specific aspect of a bad foot or foot fall. It was a little of a letdown for me to realize, sitting in the middle of an amazing footgear emporium that most of them were unnecessary. No wonder the Merrells worked so well for me!

The next step was to strap on some shoes and try them out. Unlike trying on Louboutins, where standing still can be the sole purpose, these shoes are meant to be taken for a spin.

I pretty much spent the next couple of hours jogging up, down and around with different shoes (and different generations of them) on each foot, slowly narrowing down the pack until finally deciding that Nike Vomeros+6 are the shoes for me for now.  They are gender specific in their construction, which rocks. They’re light with responsive cushioning. I love how flexible they are. And, coming from a barefoot running background, I adore the wide toe box. I feel like I’m running barefoot on a cloud.

So they did go on my Christmas list, and Santa was nice enough to deliver them to me. Today was my first spin in them with some friends on some local mountain dirt roads. They were deceptively fabulous. I felt stronger out of the gate, but it lulled me into a place of jabbering for the first mile at a crisp pace while chugging up the side of a mountain. Silly me. The rest of the run was much slower for me, because I’d over extended with the chatting. I’m hoping to be quieter my next time out, allowing myself to assess the shoes more. But if today is any indication, it’s the beginning of an enchanting relationship.

Jacket: SportHill Symmetry II

It’s cold out here. In fact, as I sit at my computer, gazing past my computer screen to the “artic tundra” outside the house, it registers as 24 degrees on the thermometer we’ve stuck outside my office window for exactly this purpose.

Twenty-four frickin degrees.

I was not anticipating this when I first strapped on my Merrell barefoot running gloves and took my first run in many years down the dirt road a few months ago. Way back then, running in eighty degree heat seemed comfortable and a lark. Now, temps are falling in the frozen zone and the road still calls.

Until recently, I’ve been ignoring the falling temperatures. Chilly fifty degree runs called for a ratty sweatshirt over my t-shirt. Of course, me being me, I didn’t want to wear my nicer sweatshirts while running and get them all sweaty. Generally I looked like a female version of Rocky hitting the local roads, pulling the hood on if it began to rain.

Since running is one of my prime times to defrag, I haven’t been generally concerned with appearance or the way in which one’s clothing affects one’s performance. I’d simply throw on something ratty, hit the roads and let my brain wander.

All that changed as the mercury dropped. My feet got cold and wet, my hands got cold, my head got cold and my trunk…well, it was cold too.

Something needed to change if I was going to continue running into the winter. I researched local health clubs for the bare minimum buy-ins. Since I’m not one to generally take exercise classes, or care if I have exercise partners, I only wanted to find someplace where I could wear my ratties and hit the treadmills for ever longer runs. While there are a few good options locally, the local roads still call, which means I actually have to outfit myself to use them.

As I’m not one to take any new endeavor lightly, I began to ask other more experienced runners what they use, what brands they were wearing, and why they liked them. The gathered information led me to purchase a few items, but I have to admit that the stuff is so darn cute it seems too cute for me to wear on the road. I’ve resisted wearing them down by wearing them out. Instead, I’ve been using them around the house and to exergame.

My reading of Runners World cover to cover began to yield other information as well. I am a target marketer’s dream. Being an early forties married mommy female, who has come to running later in life, I’m looking for their pitches to try out new items. Which brings me to SportHill.

I’d seen the SportHill ads in Runners World and ripped them out to research more online. The more I read, the more excited I got. Wow, a company that makes exactly the items I’m looking for! They can save me from frostbite and hypothermia! Fabulous!

Had to try at least one item, but which one first? I settled on the Symmetry II jacket,  as it claims to keep one warm down to 0 degrees, looks awesome, comfortable and has a fleece lined collar. Hmm…So I got it after much hemming and hawing.

It couldn’t have come sooner, as the 35-45 degree weather had kept me exergaming and homebound for a few days straight. The jacket was so cute and comfy inside that I wore it around the house feeling my mood elevate with it on. My daughter loved it too, and begged it off me and then wore it around the house the rest of the day.

The next day, it was 39 degrees out, and I was ready to go go go. I layered one t-shirt with one long sleeved t-shirt, and then put the jacket on over the two. Everything else remained the same. I must admit that when I first started the run, I was a bit frightened. I’m quite sensitive to the cold, and was fearful that I was doing something dangerous to myself.

It was chilly out, don’t get me wrong. But after the first few yards, something amazing began to happen: I warmed up. Not just my muscles in the running, my trunk became nice and toasty. This jacket was making me feel like it was fifty-five or so outside and I relaxed into the run.

The run was in fact so nice and toasty that the next time I ran, I only wore a short sleeved t-shirt under the jacket. The same effect happened. Amazing.

While SportHill is kind of on the expensive side (for me), I look forward to trying out more of their cold weather items and discussing here through the winter.

Have you tried SportHill? If so, what are your thoughts? What should I try next?