The Hoka One One Conquest - Meh

Naperville Running Company Basement before the Run - Everyone in Conquests

Last night, the Naperville Running Company (“NRC”) hosted a fun run featuring Hoka One One’s newest shoe, the Conquest.  NRC hosts a fun run every 2 to 3 weeks and they are a great opportunity to try out new equipment, get together with new and old friends, run the lovely Naperville Riverwalk and get an after run treat.    Last night’s run was particularly nice as the weather had warmed up (the prior week’s run had been in the low single digits) and a good number of Bolingbrook Fun Run Club members came out to enjoy the evening.  The path was a little icy but I don’t think we had any mishaps and every one came back in with a smile on their face.

My soft Mafate 3s

On to the Conquest.  First, let me say that I’m a Hoka One One owner.  I have a pair of Mafate 3 trail shoes and love them.   They are touted as the softest feel in the Hoka line and I believe it.  They’re like running on pillows.  Although the size 8.5 Mafate 3’s that I own are a bit too large and wide for my feet (buyer error), with multiple socks, I can run in them comfortably.  I find that I have very little post run muscle or joint discomfort, even after running on sidewalks.  So, I was hoping and expecting to love the Conquest.

Women's Conguest

The women’s Conquest is a nice looking shoe.   It comes in two color combinations, one more of a berry color with a predominantly white sole and one a multi pink version with a predominantly yellow sole.  The men’s version shown last night was almost a solid yellow with black trim – I didn’t particularly care for it, but it was ok.   Knowing that the size 8.5 Mafate’s is too large, I tried on a size 8 and I must say it was a much better fit than the Mafate.  It still has a large toe box but the overall fit of the shoe was narrower than the Mafate.  For me, this was a real plus.   After putting these on, I was raring to go!

But that’s where my love of the Conquest stopped.  The Conquest, by design, has less foam and more rubber (it still has a VERY thick sole) for a stiffer ride.  Perhaps it is my ultra high arches and my need for a neutral shoe, but almost immediately I started to feel twinges in my knee.  I haven’t felt this kind of thing since I dumped my Asics back in 2012.  As the small group I was running with went along I heard complaints about arch pain, burning in the balls of the feet and general dislike.  At least for my group of slower runners, there wasn’t a great love of the Conquest.

The Hoka Rep and her shoes

Having said that, the faster runners seemed relatively pleased with the Conquest.  Although I did hear one purchased on April 1, 2013 by Deckers Outdoor, the parent company for UGG, Teva and other footwear brands, is trying to find a Hoka model that broadens out their market.  The Conquest might just do that. There are many runners who don’t want the extra soft cushioning.  I will, however, stick to their models with more foam and less rubber like the Mafate 3, and the Bondi.  $170 is a lot to spend on shoes that aren’t perfect.

comment, that the shoes were ok but no need to spend that kind of money for an ok shoe.  My guess is that Hoka One One,

After last night’s run, we were treated with pizza, hot chocolate and HUGE marshmallows.  Hoka One One also handed out free t-shirts and hats.   I love having the Runners World #1 Running Store in my hometown.  Naperville Running Company, you rock!

Have any of you tried the Conquest?   What did you think?

The Back of The Pack Rocks

I’m a middle to back of the packer, depending on that day’s pack.  I will never be fast and I suspect, since I’m squarely in middle age, that this is about as fast as I’m ever going to be.    I had my PRs in my first 5K (34:03), 10K (1:13), and Half Marathon (2:36 –first in my age group) and have come in slower in every race after those PRs.  I’m hoping that won’t be true of my marathon (5:51) but that won’t be determined until later this year.   I am intimidated when women my age manage an 8:00 pace and can finish a half marathon in 1:45.  But on the other hand, I’m out there and working hard for TWO hours and 45 minutes (my half PR was 2:34 but haven’t seen that since.)   We pay the same for our events and get twice as much value! Just kidding.

For us middle and back of the packers, it takes a lot of stamina, mental grit and training to stay out there for 5:30, 6:30 or longer for a marathon.   Each of my marathon training runs over 15 miles was a more than 3 hour endeavor.  Even getting on the road at 5 AM, I often didn’t get back to the house until nearly 9 AM.  On a hot morning, that’s a long time and a lot of water.  While a fast runner needs to take 2 GUs to get through a marathon, we slower people need to take 5 or 6.  Have you ever taken 5 GUs in one morning, as good as some of them taste, 5 is disgusting, even worse when mixed with a little Gatorade.  Yuck, my stomach is turning just thinking about it. 

When one of our family members comes out to support us on a hot or cold day for anything longer than a 10K, it’s a major commitment.   It you finish a marathon in under four hours,  you have no idea if your family would even come out if they had to spend 7 hours on the course!!!!!  

But there’s a camaraderie in the back that I don’t think is experienced in the front.  The back is where the real stories are found. The back of the pack rocks.  This is where people who have overcome obstacles to run can be found.  This is where people who have never been athletes but are trying something for the first time. Maybe we aren’t big time athletes, but we are athletes nonetheless.    People in the back take care of each other, if someone goes down, we stop to help.  We know we’re not going to win anything so what does it matter if we do not PR.  Although it might have been fun to be a fast, young runner, I’m satisfied being in the back and enjoying those around me.  

Latest List of Things I've Learned

Running continues to teach me new things. 

1. Never compare yourself to another runner.  Nothing good comes from it.
2. Finishing, even finishing last, is better than not starting at all.
3. When your toenails fall off, the nail bed is hard --- not like a new nail, but not soft like skin
4. Missing toenails aren’t that gross
5. A good pedicure can make it look like you’ve still got toenails J
6. My “no bumper sticker” rule is now a “running bumper stickers are ok” rule
7. One sticker for each distance accomplished is more than enough
8. Marathons are really hard
9. Runners love the signs people hold up on marathon routes
10. Little kids think even us back of the packers are big time athletes – high five every one of those little hands
11. After every race, stick around as long as you can and cheer in the runners after you.  They will appreciate it.
12. Just run, don’t worry about how fast or how far --- except when you are training
13. It is really easy to eat more than you burn and gain weight
14. Once you start running, running clothes take over the laundry
15. Tracking progress is fun
16. Old  iPod Nanos are the best because they’re small
17. Gatorade and GUs together are disgusting but necessary
    
18. Nice medals are a great motivator
19. I prefer getting cotton t-shirts and hoodies for races.  Fun to wear afterwards
20. You can never wear too many lights in the dark
21. You can never get too many free things at an expo

Sigh, Runner Fashion

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the Brooks Pure Flow fashion show at The Runner’s Sole in LaGrange, IL.  The event was hosted by the Western Cook Run Club and I want to thank Dan for inviting the Bolingbrook Fun Run Club to attend.    LaGrange was a little further from Naperville than I remembered but the event was worth the drive.  

For the event, the store had closed for the evening.  As I entered the warm, cozy space I was met with a big hello, given directions to where I could hang my coat, and pointed towards the food and drink.  I immediately felt welcome.   Have I told you that I love runners and the running community?  Before I went to this, I ran 5 miles at the gym and was feeling quite hungry.  So, after hanging up my coat, I grabbed some food and a glass of wine and went to stand at one of the tables dotting the room.  Immediately, a woman asked to join me and we immediately started talking about when we started running, races we had recently done, where we live, etc.   Shortly after that, Michelle and Ali from BFRC joined us, the room filled up, the music was booming and the party was underway.  

Shortly before 8PM the Brooks Pure Flow fashion show got underway.  I don’t know if the models were from the Western Cook Run Club, store employees or others but they all looked really good in the clothing.  The Pure Flow line seemed very functional and I was particularly struck by one pair of shorts that had something like five pockets. That’s my biggest complaint about running shorts, few or no pockets.  Nice to see Brooks including so many.  The colors in this line are pretty subtle with an occasional bright pink thrown in.  This is not a get in your face collection of clothing.   

But I do need to sigh at this point and note that I don’t know how this clothing would fit and look on more

normal sized runners.  OK, I know it is a fashion show and the models were likely chosen to most enhance the clothing line.   Yet, one of the models was so slender that she didn’t look like she had the muscle to run.  She was very pretty and the outfits looked great on her but I don’t think a size 6, 8, 10, 12 ….. would look as good.  Another one of the models had more muscle tone and looked fabulous in the shorts, but even she was so far off the woman that I know that again, I question how the clothing would work for the normal woman.   Don’t get me wrong, I understand this was a fashion show but one of these days I would like to go to a show and see average size woman wearing good looking clothing.  Even in the running community, super skinny isn’t the norm or the average.   As I looked around the room last night, sure there were a few people that had body builds like the models but the vast majority of the people looked more like me.

I will continue to buy my Brooks shoes, I absolutely love them, but I don’t think you will be seeing me in the Pure Flow line.  It was fun, though, to get out with the running community for last night’s event.  

Social Media Frenzy

Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?!  When I started college people were still using punch cards to program mainframe computers.  Luckily, that quickly went to the wayside and we would all congregate in a large classroom and use dumb terminals to communicate with the mainframe.  It wasn’t until about 1985 when I got a personal computer both at work and at home.  I was on the forefront!  Seriously, I was on the forefront.   But the years have passed and technology continues to march on and so have I.  Having said that, I had kind of a disorganized approach to my blog, Facebook and Twitter.  Time to fix all of that.   I’ve established a Facebook page to promote and complement this blog.  You can get there at www.facebook.com/icallitrunning   Please tell your friends!  I will also be setting up a Twitter account for I Call It Running to get all my running social media under the same umbrella.  

If I can learn to run, I can do this. J

Choosey Runners Choose ........

This winter has been a doozy!  When it isn’t snowing it is cold or sometimes both.   It's 10 degrees and sunny out there as I write this. Trying to stick to a marathon training schedule has been mentally and physically challenging.   There are days when it has just not been appealing to run indoors or out of doors.  There have been days where I have run outside in deep snow and it has been like running in sand.  In other words, it is HARD.  Then there have been other days where it is so cold that everything is icy. Translate that to slippery.  Then there are the treadmill days.  Unlike other people, I don’t really mind running on the treadmill but I do find that it bothers my knees a bit and there’s all the fuss and bother of getting myself to the gym just to run. 

Small Husky

Having said all of that, I have learned a few things about winter running; the physical and mental mechanics of the whole thing.  The first thing is to figure out what to wear on the cold days.  Unless you’re a husky (notice the “a” in that statement) you need to figure out what to wear.   If I’m not too hot or too cold, the run is guaranteed to be good.  There are a lot of charts on the internet which are great guides for not being over dressed.    They’re a good start.  I’ve taken it a step further to develop my own charts.  Along with distance, time, shoes worn, etc., I track what temperature it is when I run and what I wear.  Then I comment on how I felt during the run.  This is what I’ve determined works for me.

Outside Temperature	Running Clothes
30 Degrees F	Regular full length running tights, 2 long sleeve running shirts, baseball cap, socks, and regular shoes.  If it is windy, a light windbreaker over the whole thing.  Gloves for awhile.
20 Degrees F	Regular full length running tights, 1 long sleeve running shirt, a fleece vest, a fleece headband, socks and regular running shoes. Gloves for the whole run.
10 Degrees F	Two pairs of tights (one lightly insulated), 2 long sleeve running shirts, a fleece vest, light running jacket, fleece headband, hiking socks and trail shoes (these tend to not let as much wind through) Gloves for the whole run.
0 Degrees F	Two pairs of tights (one lightly insulated), 2 long sleeve running shirts, a fleece vest, light running jacket, a full fleece hat, hiking socks and trail shoes (these tend to not let as much wind through) Gloves for the whole run.
Below 0	Run on the treadmill.  Too hard to keep my rump warm!!  Short, t-shirt, socks and running shoes.

Whenever I see people running in much more than what I’ve listed above, I wonder how sweaty they’re getting.  Sweat is the enemy if there’s a breeze or you stop for any reason.   I can go from toasty warm to absolute misery in a matter of minutes.  Tracking what I wear has really saved me as the seasons change and I need to adjust my wardrobe.  I just look back for a similar day during the previous year and read my notes.  If you find the internet charts a little off for you, you might want to start tracking too.

One of the best things I learned about this winter is screw shoes.  The name makes me laugh and brings to mind 5” red patent leather pumps but the shoes themselves….sweet!   There are directions for making these things all over the internet.  I was really hesitant to try them.  How could they work?  But after missing the Chicago Polar Dash because I feared the ice, I made a pair.  This involves taking a pair of retired running shoes and screwing ½” hex headed sheet metal screws into the bottom.    That’s it.    Now, if it is packed snow or a bit icy, I’m ready to go.  They don’t do much on solid ice but then again, I’m not sure anything does.  Screw shoes are cheap and

Screw Shoes!

easily replenished.  I bought a box of 100 screws at my local Ace Hardware store for $4.  I used about 30 screws and have not had to replace one in about 100 miles of running.  The only thing you have got to remember is DO NOT wear these on good hardwood floors and be careful, they’re slippery on tile and linoleum.

Who knew you can run outdoors all winter even when it is ice and snowy?  I sure didn’t.  It’s all a matter of choosing the proper equipment for the weather.  Go out and have a ball.

The Geneva Super Shuffle 5K – Race Recap

Big game (I’m not supposed to say Superbowl) Sunday dawned bright and cold.  The day before we had a big snowfall which just added on to the snow already on the ground and now the temperatures were in the single digits.  But the sun was out and my friends from the Bolingbrook Fun Runners Club (“BFRC”) would be joining me at the starting line.  A perfect day for a 5K.

Midwest races almost always start at 7:30 or 8:00 AM.  Once in awhile one will start as late as 9:00 AM.  The 10:00 AM start to this event is almost unheard of but really welcome on a cold, February Sunday.  As an aside, I’ve noted that east coast races often have much later starts.  For instance, the Boston Marathon, which is run on April 21^st this year, starts elite men and wave one at 10:00 AM while the Chicago Marathon, run in October, starts elite runners at 7:30 AM and the field at 8:00 AM.  I’ve often heard this is because people don’t have to be bussed to the start of the Chicago Marathon but that’s not the whole story.  Even little neighborhood 5K’s on the east coast start really late.  As an example, the Great 5K Kilt Race in Albany, NY starts at 11:00 AM on March 15^th, 2014 while the Naperville St. Paddy’s Day 5K, run on the same day, starts at 8:00 AM.  That’s THREE hours earlier.   I think I generally like the Midwest system better as I am a morning person but once in awhile, it is nice to sleep in and have a leisurely start.  But I digress.

The drive to Geneva from Naperville is about half an hour.  On an early Sunday morning, I cruised up to Geneva barely hitting any stop lights and encountering very little traffic.  When I pulled into the parking lot at the Geneva South Middle School, parking was wide open and free.  Although there was early packet pick-up, I chose day of the race packet pick-up and it went without a hitch.  I was met by a table of enthusiastic volunteers, given my bib and sent to the gym for my goodie bag and hoodie.   One of the nice things about this run is the hoodie.  Who needs another running shirt?  The nice hoodie can be worn after a run or just “around” after the event.  Geneva gets points for the hoodie!  The rest of the goodie bag was mostly coupons for local Geneva things and a park district water bottle.

As race time drew close, the BFRCers gathered out in front of the school for our traditional group picture.  Before each event we take a picture and post it to our Facebook site.  This lets all the other members know that they too could have been a part of it if they had dragged themselves out of bed.  Seriously, I think we all like to see the races and who turns out.  It’s motivating to know that others are getting out there on these cold mornings.   After  the pictures were taken, we wandered over to the start line for the event.   We all started at about the same point and then quickly drifted apart as we established our own paces.  Although we rarely actually run together at these events, it is nice to have the group there at the beginning and at the end.  There’s no need for our families to suffer through these events, we BFRCers have each other.

The actual run was pretty non descript.   The temperature at the gun was about 11 degrees Fahrenheit with light winds.  The course circled the edge of a park district property with little to distinguish it.  The trail was plowed but icy and it was important to take care, particularly around the corners.  I wore my screw shoes and still slid in a number of spots.    About two thirds of the way through we encountered a couple hills that seemed particularly hard given the cold weather (at this point my rump was kind of icy.)  After the last hill, we circled a hockey rink and there was the finish line.  I think the course was a little short because all of our Garmins, Nike’s and other devices all read 3.0 miles or less.   

I applaud the Geneva park district for having water available at every mile.  Winter air is very dry and for us slower people, having a sip every 12 minutes or so is really a nice amenity.   More kudos to the Geneva park district.   Another nice thing about this race is that it ends with a medal.  It’s not a fancy medal but it’s a medal. 

One thing I noticed was that on a cold winter morning, it seems mostly the faster people are out.  I usually end up in the dead center of my age group, 22 out of 45, 13 out of 26, that kind of thing.  But, here I was 16^th out of 17 with an 11:47 min pace, just squeeked out of being last.  Overall, I was 423 out of 522, also a little closer to the back of the pack for me.    But as one of the BFRCers said, “If the faster people are coming out for these runs, by definition you are one of the faster people.”  Gotta love the BFRCers!!!

After the run, the Park District had a pre game party at their recreation center.  Each of the runners was given a coupon for a free drink, beer or pop, and other food was available for a small charge.   Popcorn was also available at no additional charge.  There were games for the kids and other things going on. If I was local to Geneva, I suspect this would have been more fun as I would have known more people there.  Having said that, however, we BFRCers hung together through the raffle and of course Michele, who wins all sorts of things, won a golf umbrella.   I think we all left happy with a run behind us, nice new hoodies, finishers medals and samples of Muscle Milk.

Running into 2014

I’ve been so bad about blogging… didn’t even do an end of year recap of 2013.  I’m no longer going to promise to write more frequently.  I just haven’t been able to keep that promise and not keeping it creates unneeded pressure.  Instead, I will just try to write more frequently. 

In order to get into the mood and right one wrong, here is a very recap of 2013.  I did it!  I ran a marathon.  I ran THE CHICAGO MARATHON.  People can rave about New York and Boston but Chicago is the one to write home about.  First, it starts and ends in the same place, no getting bussed to some place to wait for hours or having to have your gear moved; it’s all right there.  Second, 26.2 miles of Chicago, on foot with no traffic in the fall, is just an amazingly beautiful run.  Third, the support of the crowd is unparalleled.  There wasn’t anywhere on the course without fan support.  Adults, kids, dogs, it was all there.  And finally, it’s now my hometown.  Chicago is beautiful, friendly and best of all J FLAT.  

 

Having said that, I’m glad I ran it last year.  The price for 2014 has gone up another $10 to $185.  That’s ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT FIVE DOLLARS to run a marathon.  That’s outrageous.  Although I loved doing it, the cheap t-shirt they hand out amazes me.  I’m sure when you’re ordering 45,000 tshirts from a vendor you can get a good price.  Yet, Chicago continues to hand out a cheap t-shirt for a significant event.  I’ve gotten much nicer shirts for little local 5K’s in Podunk towns.   I’m truly glad I can say I’ve run Chicago but that will likely be my one and only time.  I’ll be running in other cities and towns from here on.  I will, however, go and cheer every year that I can.  Having run it, I know how important the crowd is and I want to be part of it.  It will be an annual even for me and my husband.

On my way to the marathon, I ran 10 half marathons last year including the Oregon Wine Country Half Marathon in Carlton, OR, the Naperville Half Marathon in my hometown,  and a handful of virtual halves.  If you’re training for a marathon, signing up for virtual runs and getting the medals is a real motivator.   Why not get medals for your training runs?  Plus, if you sign up wisely, the registration money goes to some good causes and I’m sure you can find one or two for charities you already support.   Between the marathon and halves, I now have a hangar full of medals.   They make me feel like a winner.  As my friend Crystal might say, “Heck yeah!  I am a winner”.

Total mileage for 2013, 818 miles.  A full year with no injuries.

We are already well into 2014 and this year’s race calendar is set, one 5K is completed and 75 miles are in the books.  

Happy New Year!