Blasphemy?

by Lani

Will you all burn me at the stake if I confess to you that I'm not a fan of Asics? Not that I have anything against the company, mind you. I think the phrase their company name came from--"Anima Sana in Corpore Sano" (sound mind, sound body)--is way cool. Reid tells me Asics are, by far, the most popular brand of running shoe. He swears by the Asics GEL-Cumulus. I wish I could like Asics. "Real" runners wear Asics, right? We even bought me a pair of Asics (different model than Reid's) several months ago, but they weren't in my possession for long. After a few days of deliberation, I finally accepted that I just didn't like the feel of them and went back to my old shoes.

Yesterday, we hit Sports Authority with a coupon 'cause I decided it really was time to retire the Sauconys I'd been wearing for far too long (plus we decided they could be my anniversary present from Reid...7 years!). I thought I'd go ahead and give Reid's beloved GEL-Cumulus a chance (even though they were pricey). I tried a few different brands, but, when push came to shove, my feet just preferred Sauconys. Even the lowest model Saucony felt more comfortable to me than the GEL-Cumulus. In the end, I came away with a pair of clearance Saucony Hurricanes for about $40 (originally $125). Love a good deal! Here they are next to their retired cousins...I took them out for their virgin run this morning. Verdict... I'm definitely a Saucony girl. And I'm okay with that.

How about you? Take our poll and show us who's boss. :-)

Toenails, revisited

I want to thank everyone for participating in my Toenails Poll and leaving comments over the last several weeks. I can no longer say that I only know of a few instances of toenails falling off. Of the 24 votes on the poll, nine people said that they have lost toenails, 3 said they have had toes turn black but remain intact, and 12 people said that it had never happened to them before. This doesn't count the few comments that were made without voting on the poll. So, I guess it happens about as often as it doesn't. I did a little internet search in hopes of finding more scientific results as to the frequency of occurrence in the general population, but couldn't find anything. However, all the sites I looked at suggested that the cause is improper-fitting shoes. They recommend shoes that are a half-size too big as a means of prevention. The Running Doc at Runner's World also recommends keeping your nails clipped, and wearing synthetic, moisture-wicking socks. Maybe I can attribute my healthy, normal-looking toenails to already following these recommendations, but I'm sure there are many of you who also do and still get blackened toenails. At least it's not an injury that will sideline you longer than a day or two.

A Running Couple

In a previous post, I mentioned that my wife has started running. She was using a pair of pretty old shoes, so, being the running enthusiast that I am, I encouraged her to get some newer shoes. So, yesterday, we took advantage of a President's Day sale and got her a pair of Asics GT-2120's for a great price. She'll be taking them out for the first time tomorrow morning. I'm excited for her. I love the feel of running in a new pair of shoes.

While we were at the running shoe store, I naturally had to look in the men's section because, you know, my current shoes are getting up there in miles, and I've got a big race coming up in a couple months, as well as my birthday next month, and since they were on sale, I picked up a new pair as well. I got the Asics Gel-Cumulus 9's. These are the exact same shoes I am currently running in, although you wouldn't be able to tell because the old ones are so dirty.

We are both excited to hit the road in our new kicks.

Getting Ready for Christmas

My wife and I have been having tons of fun making cute Christmas ornaments for friends and family out of Sculpey oven-bake clay and other things. We have made Christmas trees, a snowman, colored lights, etc., but tonight I had run out of creative ideas. As I was sitting and staring at the clay, I envisioned my running shoes. I thought, "Wouldn't be be cool to have a running shoe ornament?" Of course it would! So I made this, modeled after my older, Boston-qualifying Asics.
You might not be able to see all the detail, but it's pretty sweet! I even put shoelaces on.

Back in 2003, we started a tradition of purchasing or making ornaments for each other. The year I ran my first marathon, my wife got me a ball ornament with "26.2" painted on it. Last year she made an ornament with a picture of me running the St. George Marathon when I qualified for Boston. This year, my she made me a cool ornament with my new hero on it, Steve Prefontaine.It is really just one of those picture keychains with Pre and a card with a quote inserted. Like I said, we've been having a lot of fun and getting pretty creative this holiday season.