Gradients

A relatively slow blip day today, I was out and about for work, but inspiration didn't hit!

Instead I thought I'd show you my new running shoes. The top one is a Brooks Vapour 10 - these have been my running shoes since January and I have to say they've performed admirably. They've seen me through over 400 miles of training and one marathon already this year. As such they now need replacing (so excuse the knackered look of them).

The bottom pair are Saucony Mirage 2's. They are special transitional minimalist shoes. They will help me improve my running form by encouraging a fore/mid foot strike rather than a heel strike.

The big difference between the two shoes is the toe to heel offset. In a normal shoe (the Brooks) the difference between the toe and the heel is around 12mm. In the transition shoe (the Saucony) the difference is 4mm. You can clearly see the difference in soles in the photo. In a true minimalist shoe, there is a zero drop. I'm not ready for a zero drop - I am very flat footed and I over-pronate, so I have to strengthen my calf and feet muscles and try and improve my form before I can go with no support. Otherwise I could do some real damage.

The transition is a gradual process, meaning that I shouldn't switch straight to the Saucony shoes - I can use them for my short runs, but a long run would be challenging for a while. So I've also bought a new pair of the Brooks for my long runs; I'm just waiting for them to be delivered now. Who said this running lark was cheap?

Ok here ends the lesson! Well done for reading this far - I'm such a running geek!