Non Scientific Newtons test

As you may or may not know, I've been running in Newton's for about 5 years now. I've tried almost every yer to get out of them but can never find a shoe that made my legs feel as well as after long runs over 14 miles as the Newtons did. Since I've been running on the AlterG treadmill in PT I've had to monitor my pain threshold. If I reach a certain point of body weight, the pain breaks that threshold and I have to decrease my body weight. Currently I am running at 67% of my body weight. Ironically, that's not in Newtons, it's in Brooks Pureflow.

My PT and his assistant both run for the Hanson Brooks team. They are old school and very talented runners. Well they made fun of me and called me a trigeek for the Newtons. While I defended my shoes, I also wanted to test something out since now I have this pain threshold from the MFX surgery. So Monday after to PT I went to the local Hanson's Running shop and picked up a pair of the Brooks Pureflow. I had been wanton to try the Pure line for sometime. I a forefoot runner, not to be confused with a snob minimalist runner. I believe in shoes and in technology. I tried on the Cadence and the Flow. The Cadence had a little posting that ran on thee dial side of the show and more towards the back and the forefoot was very flat feeling. The Pureflow had no posting in the back but the lateral side of the Forefoot seems a little beefed up. This is good for me because if you look at the wear pattern of my shoes that's where I wear them down the most. Almost like I am running on my pinky toe. So I went with the Flows.

Last night was the first night I got a chance to try them out. They felt great on the treadmill. I was even able to go 2% higher than the last time I ran in Newtons. Now some of that might just be me getting stronger but it still was only 2 days apart so it can be that much. Overall I am very pleased with the shoes and glad to not be made fun of. Keep in mind this is only 4 miles on a treadmill do there are a lot of factors that differ outside but I still found it interesting.

Now the Newtons have also always been faster than normal shoes too. That test will have to wait a few months to complete but for now I am running happy in the Flows.

4 week Surgery Update

So here we are, 4 weeks from my Microfracture knee surgery.  Things are moving along quite well.   Much better than anyone anticipated.  I was trying to not get my hopes up, but having had 3 knee surgeries prior, I knew my body would heel faster than most.  This will take longer than usual but I think I'll beat expectations.  When I had my ACL done in 2005, I shocked my PT at how fast the swelling was gone and how strong my leg was the first week after surgery.  I can remember people walking in to PT after me that had surgery 6-8 weeks prior for the same thing and still could barely walk and their knee was swelled up like a balloon.  I follow a pretty rigorous protocol even though you may not expect that. I've learned a lot about how to reduce swelling and get my ROM back.  After the MFX I started scouring the internet for as much information as I could.  I already had a great doctor and knew who I was hiring to be my PT.  The big bonus with my PT, was that he had just gone through the same surgery 2 years ago and came back to run the Olympic Marathon trials in Houston.  I also talked with other athletes, like Marc Rubin and discussed the recovery process.  Anytime I am about to attempt something knew, I scour for information and try to assemble the best team of support I can find.  This is no different.


At this point I am finally off crutches!  On Friday my PT said just use them through the weekend.  I seem to be walking just fine and my knee is always feeling better.  If you follow me on Twitter or we're friends on Facebook then you probably saw this video.  That's me RUNNING on an Alter-G treadmill.  This was the first time I actually ran.  It felt amazing.  Friday I ran again.  This time at 6mph and 55% of my body weight.  Just need to lose that other 45% and I can run now!  I am very pleased with my progress and so is my OS and PT.  My PT gave me a very doom and gloom speech at our first visit.  He says now he is slowly retracting that statement and that I am making a great recovery.  The doc on the other hand felt more confident and told me I'd be running by June. That's looking pretty possible at this point. My focus is still endurance mountain biking this summer.  I need a break from Triathlon and Ironman especially.  The long boring training hours were really starting to get to me and for a while I was sort of seeing this an out.  But honestly, at this point, I do miss it.  I've been watching people gear up for their IM's this year and I am really wishing I could do one.  I still don't like the training, especially the long slow runs, but there is nothing like racing an Ironman.  I don't think I'll make the starting line for Louisville but who knows, I am also signed up for Rev3 Cedar Point because I transferred it from last year (are you listening Ironman?) due to my knee bothering me.  That probably won't happen either but things have been going well so who knows.  If I do get to do triathlons this year, I am looking at the Xterra race series.  There's an Xterra in Indian that I put on my schedule for July 21st.  That is looking very possible and I am pretty much planning on that one.  That will get me qualified to race in Ogden, UT which would be great.

Powerbar Team Elite

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you might have already heard. I am going to be on the Powerbar Team Elite for 2012 and 2013. I am very excited about this opportunity. 2012 is turning out to be a great year despite the injury. The future is looking up and keeping a positive focus is going to make this year even better! Stay tuned.