To buy or not to buy...

In preparation for the next five months of running, I stocked up on shoes via holabirdsports.com and loaded up on a couple pairs of New Balance 903's, which should get me through September hopefully). I have run New Balance shoes the majority of my "career", and have developed a good feel and trust for these shoes. I raced in the New Balance 901's for my first marathon, and have stuck with that family of shoes (901,902,903) pretty much the last three years. When the NB 904's came out a couple months ago, I had in my mind already bought the shoe, until I read the review on Runners World. I am sorry to say that they had the worst review of the 900 series shoes I have loyally stuck with, and I am really questioning whether to purchase or not. The shoe seems to offer great support and is extremely lightweight, but my doubts lie heavily in the durability of the shoe, and if it is smart to race in them since the consensus is they are a speedwork shoe rather than an everyday trainer. I bought a pair of Brooks Defyance shoes to run with last fall and have enjoyed running in those shoes, but quite frankly they are not light enough for me to race in. Considering trying the Asics Gel-series, or possibly dabbling in Nike shoes again (I ran Nike in NYC Marathon), if the 904 doesn't make the cut. I will be in Chicago this weekend - there is a New Balance store right down the street from Anne's condo which I frequently shop at when I am in town, and will let their reps try to convince me :)

Yesterday, went for an easy run with Crystal, which was designated our "Brooks Defyance Run" as she was trying out her new shoes! Weather was sunny, 70, and a slight breeze, so felt great outside. I had bought a Nike visor this weekend, so was trying that out versus running with a hat. I am 100% sold on the visor and the ventilation it offers is perfect for running outside. We did an out and back 4 mile route with easy effort, and felt good all the way through. Last mile, picked it up at the end a little, but was more testing out the new shoes (got raving reviews from Crystal). Can't remember the splits exactly, but I think 7:56, 7:52, 7:45, 7:33?

So Pat's lovely sister Stacy has recently decided to take up running and signed up for a local 10K, the St. Louis Science Center Run for the Stars 10K/5K, which our little running group of Pat, Crystal, and I have been sucked into as well. I have actually never ran a 10K before (8K's and 5 miles are my closest) and definitely not in the best speed shape like I was earlier this year. My running team leader had put me on a ridiculous 6 week running schedule to prep for the St. Patrick's Day 5 Mile Parade Run in March and as tortuous as it was, it resulted in a massive PR of 30:33 so I know what needs to be done to get back to that shape. However, the 10K is in 3 weeks, and I have already conceded that I don't have the time to prepare for that type of time effort, so have laid out some speedwork over the next few weeks to hopefully prep me enough to race somewhat decent. Tonight, doing mile repeats on the track - not my favorite workout by any means, but will offer a "state of the union address" of what my current speed situation is.