Ironman Augusta 70.3 2016 Race Recap

Ironman Augusta 70.3 2016 Race Recap

September 25 was going to be my day.  The Ironman  Augusta 70.3 triathlon was finally here.  The race I had been training so hard for on one of my favorite courses.  It was four-and-a-half months...

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Letter to the Triathlon Coach

Letter to the Triathlon Coach

I have been an endurance coach for some time now.  Once in a while, I receive an email from a client which chokes me up with pride.  Today, I received one of those letters, so instead of sharing it...

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FD3 Triathlon: Goof Recap

FD3 Triathlon: Goof Recap

The previous post was a review of the FD3 Triathlon Series as if it was a product.  Below you will find a more detailed account of my personal experiences during the race.  Let me know in the...

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NYC Marathon: Goof Recap

NYC Marathon: Goof Recap

If you didn’t have an opportunity to read the epic writing in the previous post, I discussed the reason “why” I ran the NYC Marathon, then I highly recommend that you do.  Not just because the writing was fantastic, but it is my hope that the recap will be more emotionally moving.

Delta carried us to New York City and back with no issues.  I was upgraded to the business class on my departing flight, and returned to Tampa in economy class.  Even with my average size, I felt extremely cramped in economy.  Scott and his six-foot-one-inch frame looked extremely uncomfortable.  It is obvious, that Delta increased their upgraded business class at the expense of the comfort of the economy class passengers.  My suggestion to anyone flying Delta to the NYC Marathon, just include the cost of the upgrade if the flight it over 3 hours.

The plans were made well in advance for room and board.  After each of us declared our opinions for a hotel of choice, one of our teammates found a condo in Chelsea that would accommodate all of us comfortably and provide a full kitchen to save a little money on meals.

Per an email from VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owner) we were to pick up the keys at a local pizza restaurant located next door to the building housing the condo.

Team Tampa PKD arrived around 4 pm and the employees working that afternoon had absolutely no idea what we were talking about.  Of course, we called the management company and were basically told they did not receive the contract.  When we had the contract in hand we called the agency back but no one would answer our calls.

Here we were, in New York City, on marathon weekend, not to mention the third and fourth game of the World Series, homeless.

Teammate Kevin O’Brien to the rescue.  Kevin works for a landscape development company and happens to travel quite a bit, which was lucky for us.  With his Hilton Honors status we were able to procure two rooms at the Hilton Garden Inn located in Tribeca.  Thank you Kevin.

The rooms were updated, immaculate and comfortable.  Another, nice little value add of the Hilton Honors was the choice of extra points or free breakfast.  Kevin being the generous person he is, opted for the free breakfast for us which again helped save a little bit of money.  Again, Thank you Kevin.

With all of us now settled, we headed to the Javits Center to pick up our NYC Marathon packets.  The bibs numbered up to 72,999.  It still amazes me how easy it is to retrieve a bib, swag and t-shirt at the expo.  It runs like a well oiled machine.

NYC Marathon The Javits Center

The Javits Center

There is a booth for every few thousand bib numbers.  The athlete walks up to the booth that includes their bib number, shows ID and their registration card.  Then they receive their NYC Marathon bib and other instructions, verify their info and then walk towards the t-shirt area where on the way, they pick up a plastic swag bag that also serves as the gear bag for the race.  The official NYC Marathon t-shirt area is well-marked with a line for the different sizes and within a few minutes of walking into the expo, the athlete has bib, swag and t-shirt.

NYC Marathon The Expo

That isn’t the most exciting part of the  NYC Marathon expo.  There are vendors from all over the country whom give runners have the opportunity to try and buy the latest gear and gadgets.

One aspect of the expo I really enjoy, is the aura and feeling of the environment.  There is an excitement in the air of the larger expos that increases my heart rate a little and excites me to race.  It is probably one of my most favorite parts of any race weekend.

NYC Marathon Team Tampa PKD minus Karen

The following day we made another visit to the expo simply to walk around and make some purchases.  I found a couple of vendors that I had met at other races  and made some new contacts for product reviews.  Stay tuned.

I have loved New York City since the first moment I stepped into Manhattan years ago.  I have a lot of friends here, and I just really enjoy the pace and excitement of the city.

NYC Marathon NYC Times Square

There is always one place, that is mandatory to visit, at least once, every time I am in town.  John’s Pizza.  I couldn’t believe my ears, when Rich and Kevin decided not to partake.  It was their loss, so Scott and I headed over to John’s for lunch.  Carb loading, baby, I just love it.

I could write a full post on John’s, so I wont go into the heavenly scrumptiousness of their pizza here, but trust this self-proclaimed, pizza connoisseur, when I say the explosion of flavors that emanate from each bite, redefines the word delicious.

NYC Marathon Brad & Scott at John'sNYC Marathon Brad digging inNYC Marathon The Pie

Saturday night, we were scheduled to have dinner with the PKD Foundation and the other runners from different areas at Carmine’s.  Scott, Kevin, Karen and I were all pretty familiar with the city and had even known of Carmine’s as it is pretty well-known.

That night we entered the subway and got off at 42nd street in order to head over to 44th where Carmine’s was located, as we started up the stairs from the station, Scott mentions the address which made Kevin and I do a double take.  2400 W Broadway, which was Broadway and 90th street.  At the moment we were on 44th st which means we were 46 blocks away.  That was a few miles from where we were at that point.

Of course like men we decided that maybe the address was wrong and went up anyway.  As it turns out, it was correct.  There was a newer Carmine’s uptown and we were in the wrong place and already fashionably late.

It ended up working out for us again.  We caught the subway up to 86th and when we arrived, food was just being served.  How long could this luck hold, right?

The dinner was fantastic and we met a bunch of really amazing people who were just as passionate about running for PKD as we were.

NYC Marathon PKD Runners NYC Marathon Carmines Table

Like good little runners we went back to the hotel and retired for the night in anticipation for the NYC Marathon the next morning.

NYC Marathon The Night Before clothes layout

As I mentioned both in the last post and in my NYC Marathon recap from last year; the logistics for this race are not the most convenient.  It involves a ferry to Staten Island then a bus to security, a decent walk to the assigned village and finally another walk to the specific corral.

An announcement came out from the NYC Marathon staff, about two months prior to sign up for transportation to the start and of course we all missed and ended up getting assigned the 5:45am ferry to Staten Island.  Since three of us had already experienced the ferry and knew that there was no accountability, we decided to just take the 7am ferry instead, not only giving us a little more time in the morning, but also keeping us out of the chilly temps for a couple of hours.

The lesson I learned here was there are two choices, either go by the scheduled time and arrive with a lot of time to spare, sit around have some coffee and bagels while waiting for the start, or go a little later and hope to make it to the corral at the time of your scheduled start.

We took the latter ferry and ended up having to wait for two ferries to get over to the island and then when finally getting on the bus, the traffic was so heavy we ended up having to rush to the corrals in order to make the 9:40 start.  It was probably perfect for the rest of the team that had later starts, but for Rich and I it was a little tight.  Personally, I do prefer the latter.

NYC Marathon Statue of Liberty from Ferry

I found my green village, dropped off my gear bag with my long sleeve shirt and pants, and headed to the corral just prior to the 9am cut-off to enter the corral.  Now I had about half-an-hour to stretch and use the portlet one last time.

I was talking to a woman from Basel, England when I heard my name being called.  Ryan Wallace, was a Facebook friend and runner I met at last year’s race.  A really fun guy to hang with, so after chatting for a bit we found we were looking at accomplishing the goal of 3:50 or better.  Score!  Someone to run with.

NYC Marathon Start Corral

In the Start Corral

They opened up the corral to head closer to the start line around 9:30am, and just after the final note to one of the most beautiful renditions of our national anthem I have ever heard, sung by opera singer (and runner) Susanna Phillips Huntington, and announcements by the executive director, the gun went off and we were running.

The NYC Marathon is the largest marathon in the world.  Largest meaning the most athletes run the course of any marathon in the world..  This year there were over 50,000 finishers.  It boasts spectacular views, fantastic support from the spectators, and a challenging course.  The route takes the runners through all five major boroughs of the city, starting in Staten Island, crossing the Verrazano Bridge to Brooklyn, heading north into Queens crossing the 59th St bridge, then into Manhattan crossing the Queensboro Bridge, north into the Bronx over the Willis Ave Bridge, turning south back into Manhattan over the Madison Avenue bridge and then finally the incline to the finish line in the heart of Central Park.

The experience this year was better than last, as the temperatures were much better as we started around 55 degrees Fahrenheit  and just a little breeze versus the 30 degree temps and 33 mph winds from 2014.

Ryan, his friend, and I started the NYC Marathon conservative for the first couple of miles, but as we rounded the first 5k I noticed we started to increase our pace.  I only was witness to it due to calculating my 5k under 27 minutes, which being under a 9 minute mile that soon, concerned me a little, but I was feeling really strong.

The spectators in the NYC Marathon are everywhere and they clap, yell and scream not only for their family and friends, but for any one they seem to be inspired by.  Statistics pretty much show, that even know there were over 50,000 athletes running this race, and hundreds of thousands of finishers in marathons all over the world, less than 1% of the population has finished a marathon.  In other words there were a lot of people to be inspired by during this race and the spectators expressed that.

NYC Marathon brad behind ryan

The Goof peeking out behind Ryan

Ryan and I ran together up to about mile nine, constantly telling each other to slow down, yet neither of us could hold a slower pace for very long.  About that point, a pressure emanating from my bladder was increasing to a point where I was just not comfortable any longer, so I speeded up to the mile 10 aid station to relieve myself.  My thinking was speed up, use the facilitates and then speed back up just enough to catch Ryan again.

Unfortunately, we didn’t cross paths again during the race.  I was out there on my own, all by myself.  It was just me and 50,000 of my closest friends.

There was plenty to see as I continued on my NYC Marathon journey.  Achilles International volunteers were out in droves this year with guides helping blind and other challenged runners through the race.  Guides would run in a formation with one tethered to the blind runner and then three-to-four others running on each side of them constantly helping to clear a path through the crowd.   It was so motivating, that I knew somewhere down the line in my own journey I would have to help like that in some way in the future.

As I crossed the 13.1 mile marker of this NYC Marathon, and saw the clock I realized that I had been running for an hour and fifty minutes.  That for me was fast, but I was still feeling really strong.  The sights of the area’s architecture, parks, people and the smells of the local restaurants were consistently keeping my mind occupied as I just let my legs decide what they were going to do.

I was concerned though.  I know enough about myself, that keeping this pace would have it’s consequences toward the final miles.

My favorite bridge on NYC Marathon course is the Queensboro bridge.  It feels like it never ends, but the view of Manhattan and the Hudson is spectacular.  Not to mention, the completion of the bridge is a u-turn with a horde of spectators that it feels like a roar of excitement is exuded from them.  I felt a boost of energy when I crossed mile 16.

I was actually a little impressed with myself as I hadn’t really slowed as of yet.  It is usually around this mile marker that begins the stiffness of the previous miles.

The next checkpoint for me is usually mile 18, but that too came and went without any real pain.  My inner dialogue started having delusions of grandeur of possibly finishing the race around the 3:40 mark which be a huge PR for me.

As I crossed the Willis avenue bridge, I felt the start of a twinge in my left leg and a smile crept across my face and out loud I said to myself,”There it is.”

The NYC Marathon mile 20 clock showed I was two hours and fifty-two minutes into the race, which was already better than last year.  My thinking at that point was that I could pretty much slow to a ten minute mile at this point and still cross under four hours, but that didn’t happen.

Mile 21 came at just three hours which was a first in a while for me.  I am usually only at 20 by three hours and here I was a full mile closer to the finish.  My period of optimism was cut short by a stiffness in my right leg that quickly became painful.

NYC Marathon Starting to hurt

I walked though the next NYC Marathon aid station and grabbed a banana from the hand of a volunteer thinking just get some more glycogen to my legs so I finish this last five miles.

What little stride I had became periods of walking between miles 22 and 23 as the pain started to sear and engulf the rest of my leg.  It was getting harder and harder to bend my right knee as the stiffness was setting in.

Central Park came and the crowds were getting louder and more dense.  I did not want to walk through the park with all these people.  I wanted to run in strong, but the pain was getting more and more intense.  I actually yelled at myself, “C’mon legs.  WTF are you doing!!!”

NYC Marathon Almost There

My mind drifted to Erika at that moment.  As I was trying to run stiff-legged and just suffer through this intense pain, I thought that this frustration and uncomfortable feeling must be what Erika feels all the time.  The disappointment at feeling run down, the pain that comes with these huge cysts on her Kidneys and the eternal uncomfortable feeling that keeps her from sleep and just enjoying life, must be one hundred times worse that what I was feeling.

If Erika had to continually go through this pain, then I could at least endure it until I reach the finish line.

I didn’t stop running, no matter how much it hurt.  I thought about Erika and the last couple of years of misery she must have been going through, and how Jennifer would also have to also have a painful times ahead through her recovery from donating a kidney.  It kept me going as I really felt like I was going through it for them.

I am not a totally idiot, I know that running the NYC Marathon of which I enjoy doing, really would do nothing for either of them.  It was the fundraising and support where we as a team were doing the most good.  Maybe it was for me.  Maybe because I was not able to donate my kidney, that I the pain I was feeling now was so that I could empathize with both of them.

NYC Marathon The Finish

The NYC Marathon finish line was just as glorious as the other marathons I have completed.  I was extremely happy to cross in 3:56 and at least beat my time from last year by about 10 minutes.

My official NYC Marathon finisher was medal handed to me, I was congratulated by a volunteer and ushered through to take continue the long mile walk to retrieve my gear bag.  I was engulfed on all four sides with athletes as we all did the marathon shuffle through the park.  There was a sense of peace and a little giddiness that filled the air.

NYC Marathon Medal FInish

We all did something extraordinary today.  Whatever the reason “why”, we were bound at that moment by the accomplishment and conclusion of a journey that started with the decision to embark, the hours of training and the final step across the NYC Marathon Finish LIne.

NYC Marathon Stepping Across the finish

Once dressed in dry clothes, I found Rich and we headed out to The Keg Room which was where Team Tampa PKD would gather back together.  As Rich and I were in the first wave, where he PR’d at an incredible time of 3:27, we arrived first.  Kevin, whom was actually in the last wave to take off, showed up next followed closely by Karen and finally Scott.  Everyone finished and accomplished what they set out to do, but I was most proud of Scott.

NYC Marathon Keg Room

Scott had micro tears in his gastrocnemius muscle (Calf) and had been trying to rehab it for the last couple of weeks.  I really didn’t think he would finish the NYC Marathon and we all told him it would have been ok if he didn’t .  He did though and under 5 hours with walking.  He also said that he felt like he didn’t feel like he did anymore damage.

NYC Marathon

Scott Bragan

I am proud of the whole team.  Team Tampa PKD was able to raise over 20,000 for PKD, finish the NYC Marathon and, most importantly, find a kidney donor for Erika.

NYC Marathon

Team Tampa PKD – (L to R) Scott Bragan, Rich O’Dea, Karen Dempsey, Brad Minus, & Kevin O’Brien

 

What kind of challenge are you partaking in or plan to journey towards?

Carpe Vitam!

Goof Review: Altra Torin 1.5

Goof Review: Altra Torin 1.5

The quest for the best running shoe can be daunting, but the search for the best zero drop running shoes can be downright frustrating.  The majority of all the Altra Zero Drop reviews I personally have read, the consensus is pretty positive, and in this instance, it will be no different, because in my opinion, it has resolved my issue of finding the best zero drop shoe on the market.  The Altra Torin 1.5.

What is Zero Drop? /></a></h3><p>To define zero drop is to first define heel drop, which is the difference between the height of your heel off the ground minus the height of the ball of your foot.  For instance, most of the traditional running shoes out there have a 12-millimeter drop.</p><p>The heel is raised 12 millimeters above the ball of the foot.  This causes more emphasis on the heel when running because that is where most of the cushioning is.  A more minimalistic shoe will have a drop that is much lower.</p><p>For instance, the Brooks Pure Flow has a 4 mm drop.  This shoe is great for starting the transition to a more minimal shoe giving all the benefits of a minimal shoe without causing the injury of the drastic change from traditional to minimalistic.</p><p>The Altra Torin 1.5 is a complete zero drop where the ball and the foot and the heel are equal keeping the foot more natural like walking barefoot.  While it has the zero drop of a minimalistic running shoe, it does provide the protection of a good amount of cushioning in the sole.  This is one of the reasons I truly enjoy running in this shoe.</p><h3><span style=Upper

The upper is durable but is thick throughout.  I personally like this, because I feel the security of the shoe without having to pull the laces tight.  In my opinion, the laces should never be tight.  Once the laces are tied they should really never have to be untied unless you are using a runners lace.  The laces should be tight enough to secure the heel but no more.  This allows the runner to support themselves rather than the shoe supporting the runner.

The Altra 1.5 has the same wide toe box that is consistent with the whole line of zero drop running shoes.  I love the wide toe box because it allows me to have splay my toes and grab the road with more surface area.  My feet do not feel crowded in this shoe.

Altra changed the laces in the 1.5 from the original model.  They are now flat vs the round nylon laces and they reduced the number of holes on each side from 7 to 6.   It provides more space between the touch of the laces to the foot and security in the sinch of the laces.

The shoe also seemed to have less seems and the addition of a strap that cinches the tongue to the upper.  It helps the security of the foot in the shoe.

Outsole

The outsole has not changed from the original Torin, but that is something I personally liked.  There is enough cushion in the sole for protection without losing the feel for the road or trail underneath.

The ride of this shoe is extremely comfortable.  Of course, this is why I enjoy the Altra line in the first place.  The ride is smooth with great responsiveness on the road.

The interesting part of the shoe is the weight.  When upgrading a shoe from an original version, the thought would be that the weight could be dropped, but in the new Torin 1.5 has an extra ounce added.  The shoes weigh 10.5 ounces versus the original Torins at 9.5 ounces.

The flexibility has not changed either.  The Altra Torin or the Torin 1.5 are not the most flexible of shoes, but they do have enough flexibility to give a good lever and lift from the ground.  I am chalking the lack of flexibility to the design of the shoe being for the road and not the trail.  Trail shoes should have a little more flexibility for the technical terrain.

Appearance

I do like the color of these versus the originals.  The blue and orange weren’t bad, but they went a little more conservative with the grey, yellow and black.  This is obviously a personal choice on the runner, but I thought I would put my two sense in.

The cost is a little more expensive at $120 dollars, but the shoes seem to last over 400 miles which most shoes will only last 250 to 300 before losing the cushion and ride comfort.

My Impressions:

Quality – 4/5
Upper-4/5
Outsole – 4/5
Flexibility – 3/5
Comfort – 4/5
Appearance – 4/5
Cost – 3/5

Have you tried the Altra Torin or the Altra Torin 1.5?  Have you run in any of the Altra lines of shoes?  What do you think?  Please let me know in the comments below.

Catching up with the Goof #3

Catching up with the Goof #3

As stated in web-ease “O-M-G!” I have so much information to share It is hard to think about anything else.  Unfortunately, I started on a new contract a couple of months ago and now that I am fully immersed in it, my days are becoming hectic.  Not only that but I have my own training, coaching clients and getting ready for the CPT test this month, so needless to say hectic is the only word to describe my activities right now.

Have you noticed the new change to IronGoof.com?  I have moved away from a complete blog site to a more of a Coaching  Site.  I hope you like the new looks.  Please feel free to explore and send some feedback on the changes.  It will continue to be a work in progress, so any and all honest comments on the site are very welcome and encouraged.

Coming up over the next weekend or so I am going to be sharing news about past events and the latest going’s on.

Boulder signI just returned back from Boulder, Colorado where I spent five amazing days working some of the top running coaches on form and performance.  The Newton Running Lab hosted certification training for RRCA, Newton and Lydiard.  The content included proper running form with drills, strength exercises, injury prevention, injury management and transition plans.  While I was intrigued with the Newton Coaching formula, I was excited that a portion of it mimicked my own.  The only part that my personal coaching methodology added was the intricacies of making the running form personal to each person.  Newton believes proper running mechanics are the same for everyone, and with the hundreds of hours I spent learning my own body I know this isn’t true, but it is a good place to start.

The Lydiard Certification training was the best part.  Arthur Lydiard was a New Zealand running coach that coached many Olympians to medals including gold in the 1500 meters and beyond.  He later mentored other coaches to a point where he is actually considered “The Coach of Coaches of Champions.”  Obviously, this resonated with me because Arthur himself was not a competitor, but he coached more champion runners than any other coach to this day.  As I really do not compete with anyone other than myself for PRs, this validated my feelings on coaching and my passion for it.  As this is a coaching method, not a form method, it also validated a lot of what I already incorporate, but I also enhanced my knowledge greatly.

It was taught by Lorraine Moller who herself was a three time Olympian to include racing in the first LM Collageever Olympic Women’s Marathon in 1984 where she took 5th.  She did won bronze in 1992 at the Barcelona games in the Women’s Marathon.  Her credits also include winning Grandma’s Marathon three times, the Boston Marathon, the Osaka Ladies Marathon twice, the Hokkaido Marathon twice, and second in the Commonwealth Games.  She was coached by John Davies who was mentored by Arthur Lydiard.  Lorraine herself was followed by Arthur and would consistently give her pep talks before competition.  She is an amazing speaker and completely passionate about running and the Lydiard Coaching method as well as the founder and president of the Lydiard Foundation.  I was extremely lucky to have someone as accomplished as she is as an instructor for the class.

 

The class was kept fairly small in order to provide us with a lot of individual instruction.  We went through analysis of our own form using video which was really interesting.  I know that my form isn’t perfect, but my mechanics are good.  I found that I actually do not lift my knees as much as I should, and when I applied it later the form became even easier.  I learned a lot and I hope to attend the level 3 class later in the year.

Boulder as a city was awesome!!!  The scenery was amazing as it was surrounded by mountains and the culture really resonated with me.  Boulder’s environment seems to revolve around two things, athletics and the arts.  Which are my two passions, so this city really got under my skin. Everywhere you go, everyone is traveling on bicycles and avid cyclists and triathletes are training.  Pearl Street is filled with small businesses, to include, coffee shops, restaurants and bars, and none of them are chains.  You cannot find a McDonald’s or Wal-Mart anywhere the residents won’t allow it which is great.  The quad-like feeling of this outdoor “mall” for lack of a better term, is filled with musicians playing and practicing, photographers, writers, and artists.  It gives the feel of a old small town but with the University of Colorado in the midst, it also brings in a younger element that increases the energy of the area.  The weather started the day in the high 50s and increased to the mid 80s and then ended in the high 60s.  There is almost no humidity, so the air smells fresh and clean.  Since most people utilize people-powered transportation it feels as though exhaust fumes do not even exist.  I just fell in-love with Boulder and Colorado.  I am not quite sure I ever want to live in a place with winter months, but if I did, I definitely would consider Colorado and Boulder._MG_2225.CR2

My plan is to sit and complete the few posts I have started this weekend to bring you the following:

  • Race recaps for: Tampa Bay Corporate 5k, Escape from Ft. DeSoto, Saint Anthony’s Triathlon, the Police Appreciation Run and Miles for Moffitt.
  • I have a guest blog post, and a corroboration post that will both prove very interesting.
  • Product reviews on: The Newton Terra Momentum running shoes, the Mizuno Evo running shoes, the Nike Free 5.0 running shoes, Entrade-S -R pre and post workout supplements, Chia Power Gels, and Champ-Sys Tri kits.
  • Tribute post for Lorraine Moller
  • New campaign of entries called the IronGoof-Lydiard Experiment..more to come on that.

That should keep me busy for a while.  Have an amazing week!  Live with Passion.

Carpe Viam!

Goof Review: Hoka Biondi S2 Running Shoes

Goof Review: Hoka Biondi S2 Running Shoes

Hoka One One Biondi S2

Have you ever even heard of these shoes before?  I didn’t before I met Chet “The Jet” whom was a double Ironman athlete I hosted in my home a few weeks ago.  Chet is from Hawaii and he nonchalantly mentioned these shoes as he was telling the tale of his son whom was running across the country.  He was even went on to mention that he sent a pair to a point in Alabama where he knew he son could pick them up, and the response, nothing but sure gratitude for the gift.  That was the point I had to give them a try.

Hoka One One is not well known here on the east coast, but in the community of ultra runners they have been known since their inception in 2010.  Obviously this is a relatively young company which falls under the Deckers Outdoor Corporation umbrella whom also houses brands like UGG, and Teva.  With the increased popularity of Ultra and Marathon running, I believe these will take off to even higher levels in the very near future.  Why?  Well let me tell you.

When I looked at these shoes for the first time, I reacted negatively.  The huge sole, was a Bondi_Speed_Red2problem for me, due to my belief in a more of a minimal running form, but I for the readers and for my clients I wanted to give them a try, especially after the rave reviews from Chet and his son.  I decided to take them out first for a three-mile run, and then give them a full test drive at the Sarasota Half-Marathon this past Sunday.  I was completely overwhelmed at how comfortable and responsive these shoes are.  At first glance they look really heavy  don’t they?  They weigh in at slightly under 10 ounces(9.8), which is the exact weight of my Brooks Pure Flow 2s that I love so much.  My Brooks Pure Cadence 2s, I was just sent are actually almost 0.4 ounces heavier.  (Just a disclaimer, I weighed these myself, I did not take these stats from the website.)

What also surprised me was the structure looks like a normal running shoe, like any Asics Nimbus, or Brooks Ghost which has a 12mm heel drop.  They say looks can be deceiving, and with these shoes they are.  They also have the same heel drop as the Brooks Pure Project line as well.  The flexibility in the forefoot is probably the only disadvantage of this shoe versus my own running shoes and even that is minimal, and I believe probably after running in them for a little longer even that would become pliable enough to create more flexion.

Capture1bThe sole not only provides superior cushioning upon impact, it also is slightly wider which increased the stability as well.  It seriously was like running on a cloud.  I always preach good running form, and if you have naturally good form, impact is not usually an issue due to a proper lean, raised knee, and high cadence.  I found myself not having to think about my posture and position, because the rocker-ed sole of the shoe did not inhibit, but encouraged a good strike and lean.  Just for the fact a few of my clients are still trying to get into the habit of good form, I decided to jump rope, and do some box jumps in order simulate the impact.  I barely felt anything, and I had full control of my feet.  i really thought I would end up kicking the rope especially doing double-unders, but I had complete control and I barely felt the impact doing the box jumps.  I could totally understand why these shoes are so popular with the marathoners and ultra-runners on the other coast.  The more people start wearing them here, I believe they will gain popularity pretty quickly.

The retail price of the Hoka One One Biondi S2s are $170.00 which seems even high for a running shoe, but like the Newtons, they have a much higher mileage output.  In my research I have found these shoes have been averaging over 700 miles without any degradation of the sole or cushioning.  An ultra runner friend of mine said he had 3 pair of these he was switching out, and his current count is at 3048 miles and he has no intention of getting new ones yet.  Most running shoes will get up to 350 miles, and my favorite Pure Project line rates there own shoes at 250 miles and cost around $100 retail.

They do take some getting used to.  They do feel bigger, but not heavier.  I do like that I was 5’11’ with them on, instead of 5’8″ and change.  Personally, I do not think I would use them for a half marathon or below.  I like the feel of the road a little too much, but you better believe I will be running the Chicago Marathon in them.

Capture2

I give the Hoka One One Biondi Speed 2s, 4 out 5 Goofs.

Hoka One One has several other versions of shoes, for different fits, and surfaces.  More information can be found on their web site.

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