Houston Hype 4 - Shoe Selection

The race is 6.5 days away!!!
I hope to be able to wear the Saucony Kinvaras, which are 6.8 ozs... and orange.

They made me go fast at the Spinx Half this past October. 

The reasons that I may switch to another model are the following:
1. While walking through 3 Disney parks in one day over Christmas break in the Saucony Progrid sans orthopedics, I did something to my right foot, on the outer side of the arch. It caused great pain for 2 weeks.  I need to be careful about going around in something without arch supports.  Yes, I could put arch supports in the Kinvaras, but that would add to its weight.  And just to highlight the importance of weight, for every lb lost, you gain 1-2s of speed/mi (http://completerunning.com/archives/2007/06/08/lose-weight-get-faster/).  If you think about how much more vertical and horizontal oscillation your feet go through vs. your body, the weight effect of whatever is on your feet must be significantly greater.  Kinvaras are neutral shoes, yet I've been able to run comfortably in them in the past, despite my overpronation.  I've gone up to 20 in them, without issues.

2. I did notice, however, that they are getting compressed on the insides, where you'd expect for an over-pronator.  With the dirt getting into any creases, you can really tell!  This is especially true of the left shoe.  When I'm at my parents' house and my dad bikes while I run, he notices that I overpronate with my left, while my right foot falls very straight under my body.  The shoes confirmed that.  You can see more compression on the left shoe.  Ever since I noticed that, I've been trying to avoid putting miles on these shoes, so that I can save up its condition for the race.  I've wanted to buy another pair, but they're out of my size at runningwarehouse.com.  I could get it from another site, but I am partial to runningwarehouse.com.  Just FYI, I tend to only use shoes for 250mi before retiring them.  This is less than the 300-500 that's suggested.  I don't know why.  I'm lighter than most, so if anything, I should be able to go for longer than the average.  Yet, I feel like they lose cushioning by 250. 

So I plan to go in the Kinvaras.  But I will be packing my Brooks Trance 8's as well.

The Trance 8's weigh in at 9.3oz, which is a good bit heavier than the 6.8oz Kinvaras (that's all per shoe).  To that, you have to add the SofSol arch supports I'd need to insert.  Even with the arches, the Trance 8's don't feel like they provide much cushioning.  Ironically, the light Kinvaras provide a very pillowy feeling compared to all of my other shoes. 

Let's see... 1.7oz supports + 9.3oz Trance = 11oz, vs. 6.8oz = 4.2oz/shoe = 8.4oz total. That's a big deal.

Okay, these also happen to be orange, haha.

I normally train in even heavier shoes than the Trance 8's, on top of arch supports.  I think that's actually a good thing.  First, it gives my feet a different kind of surface to land on, which activates different muscles.  And it doesn't seem to do my body any harm, as long as I have the arch supports (on top of the medial posts).  Second, the extra weight during training makes me stronger and makes the lighter shoes feel sooooo fast on race-day.

Here's how the shoes in my rotation weigh in...

Traning Shoes:
Asics Gel Evolution 3 = 11.6 oz + 1.7 oz arch supports = 13.3 oz
Saucony Paramount = 11.0 oz + 1.7 oz arch supports = 12.7 oz
New Balance 1224 = 10.8 oz + 1.7 oz arch supports = 12.5  oz

Speedwork Shoes:
Brooks Trance 8 = 9.3 oz + 1.7 oz arch supports = 11.0 oz
Saucony Kinvara = 6.8 oz

Racing Shoes:
Saucony Fastwitch = 6.0 oz (durable enough for 5ks only)
Saucony Shay XC Spikes = 4.8 oz (only for 5K races on grass)

Kinvaras it is, barring anything terrible-feeling on race-day.