For the last year+, I've been on a quest. For what? The perfect running shoe. When I started wearing minimalist shoes, I found that I run too heavy and on too much pavement to run major mileage with little or no cushion. Don't get me wrong, I love my Vibrams and my Pace Gloves, but my feet and calves were not at all enamored of them once I started half marathon training. My trashed feet at the end of last spring's half convinced me I needed to find a new solution. I decided I needed a cushioned, zero drop shoe. Apparently Saucony was listening and designed the Virrata with me in mind. From the Saucony website: The Virrata is our lightest and most flexible training shoe and allows your foot to move naturally. We removed … [Read more...]
What I’m loving right now…
Ok, first and foremost the fact that the election is over. For the first time in MONTHS, my phone isn't ringing constantly. The silence is beautiful. (Seriously, living in a swing state and having both parties think you might vote for them = near constant calls. Some small part of me wanted to vote for the party that called me fewer times. ) No, what I'm really loving these days is the "halfzip". This might possibly be the best invention EVER! From late October until sometime in April, 90% of my runs will involve one of my halfzip tops. I am not a runner who feels the need to wear shorts and short sleeves once the temps drop. I just don't get that hot when I'm running (especially right now when most of my miles are run at an … [Read more...]
Simply Bar Review and Giveaway
Recently I was contacted with the opportunity to try out "The Simply Bar." I had heard about them on various blogs and I happened to be attempting to add extra protein to my diet plus eat more frequently. While I was mostly focused on clean, whole foods, I'd had a few instances where I hit "gnaw my arm off" hungry with no healthy options available to me. The Simply Bars sounded like just what I needed to have available in those instances. According to the company, Each bar contains 16 g protein, paired with 2-4g of fat, under 3 g of sugar, 4 g of fiber, and 160 calories or less. Each bar is based on Non GMO soy crisps along organic brown rice syrup. All the cocoa bars are made with organic cocoa mass (we promise this is easy to … [Read more...]
A trip to Athleta
I've been warned that I will spend a lot of time in the water at Goshen. It's right by a lake + one of the day hikes is to a river. Read: I need a suit that will cover me appropriately AND stay on while hiking, canoeing, swimming, whatever. Thanks to a bit of stockpiling of Gap Rewards points, I was able to solve my problem quite nicely. And the fact that I'm actually going to show you pictures of me in the suits tells you just how awesome these suits are. (Note: I have not actually swum in any yet. I'll be working on that next week.) From left to right, the tops are: the Point Break Shoreside tankini, the Dragonfly Racer Tankini, and the Solid Bra Cup Twistini Tankini. The bottoms are: the Oceanside Short, the Gotta Have It Run … [Read more...]
10 miles in Vibrams and a Sparkly Soul Giveaway
That's right. This... In these... I honestly thought I'd never break double digits in minimalist shoes. Of course, lately I can't seem to run single digits in regular running shoes, so I was beginning to wonder if my days running anything longer than a 10K were over. I'm happy to say they are not. Today I'm a little sore (but who wouldn't be after their first double digit run in almost a year?), my calf is a little tight and cranky, and the balls of my feet are a little roughed up. All in all, I would say it was a successful venture. In other news, Sparkly Soul sent me two headbands to review (and offered two more for my readers!). I've now run in them a couple of times and worn one to yoga once. I even wore one running … [Read more...]
Vinyasa (Jivamukti) Yoga at Mind the Mat
I don't go without my mat and my nuunToday, I took a step outside my comfort zone. Not way, way outside, but just enough outside to challenge myself. A new yoga studio opened in Arlington recently, called Mind the Mat. As part of their opening, all classes this week were free. Who doesn't like free?It was a typical crazy morning and I barely made it on time. Like many places in this area, it doesn't have it's own parking lot, but there was plenty of paid parking on the street. It's a long narrow room and the class was near its maximum size, but the floors were new hard wood(I like that from a clean standpoint LOL) and there were lots of windows letting in natural light.The instructor informed us that she … [Read more...]
Zemgear Ninja minimalist shoe review
I recently got a chance to try out the Zemgear Ninja shoes. I've worn them quite a bit, but haven't exercised in them much since they are only for use indoors and on soft surfaces. I don't exercise indoors much during the summer and one would never call the streets by my house a "soft surface". Aren't they cute? My kids think they are hilarious. I've run on the treadmill once with them and they were great. Very comfy and nice traction. I've also used them when I was lifting weights at my parents' house. I wasn't fond of them on the elliptical, but that was because I always end up with my toes against the front of the step when I use it. In normal shoes, this isn't a problem, but in these I felt … [Read more...]
The foot bone’s connected to the shin bone
Do you remember that song from when you were a kid? I totally remember singing it. I've recently had a lesson in how changing one thing can affect your body most of the way up. I ran 4 miles yesterday in the Mizuno Prophecy shoes. This is not a full review yet, just some thoughts on that run and how I feel today. The shoes are higher than my usual Mizunos (and way higher than my Vibrams LOL), so I felt a bit like I was running on platforms. It wasn't a bad sensation, just different. I also noticed right off that they are more of a stability shoe than I'm used to. They are still on the neutral end, just offer more stability than the Wave Riders do. My left foot does not pronate at all and I didn't notice the stability as … [Read more...]
