Tag: vibram

Janathon Day 16: New Balance Minimus Zero

2 comments

Yesterday I said that I was going to go for a trail run in my new New Balance Minimus Zero (there’s a couple of photos of them on yesterday’s blog. They’re pretty, go and look at them). I also said that I’d changed my mind because the snow and the rain would have made the field a bit yuk.

I still didn’t go to a field today (which is probably just as well as, according to the website that I’ve just looked at, they’re for pavement running, although the man who sent them to me said they were trail shoes), but I did go for a run in them. Only a short run though, as – as the name implies – they’re minimal shoes and New Balance advise that you build up wearing them. That’s my excuse for only doing a short run, anyway.

These shoes, as well as looking good, are comfy. Despite the bobbly Vibram soles (if you didn’t bother looking at the photos like I just told you to, go and look now as there’s also a photo of the blue and black bobbly sole), these didn’t feel ‘barefoot’ but they did encourage me to strike mid-sole and I felt like I was gliding along at high speed, even if my stats say otherwise.

Stats
Pairs of new running shoes: 1
Run: .72 of a mile

Janathon Day 15 and an incentive for you to carry on

4 comments

Last night’s plan for today:

Get up at 7am, go for a short run in a field at 8ish to try out these New Balance Minimus Zero trail shoes

new-balance-minimus-zero

with their snazzy (do we still say ‘snazzy’ or do I sound like an 80s throwback?) Vibram soles

new-balance-minimus-zero-sole

but when I got up I remembered that it snowed and rained all day yesterday and the field would be a bit yuk.

So, Plan B, then:

Get up at 7, go for a road run at about 8.

What happened in reality:

I got up at 7, looked at my university timetable for tomorrow and decided that tomorrow would be better for a run and the gym would be better for today and so I would go to the gym at 9am when it opened.

At 8:30 I fancied some hot chocolate, so I made myself some then decided to do a Janathon mailout as it was the halfway mark. I sent out the Janathon newsletter then stared at the Mail Chimp stats showing me how many people had opened it/clicked a link in it/complained about it, etc. for about an hour then decided it was too late to go to the gym and so I went downstairs to the conservatory and did 20 minutes on the rowing machine. Pathetic, I know.

I haven’t forgotten it says ‘incentive’ in the title.

I mentioned a Janathon incentive. I have waved my Sooty wand (not to be confused with a fairy wand according to Travelling Hopefully but ‘pah’ to her) and magicked* up a pair of running shoes courtesy of SportsShoes.com worth up to £90 to be given away to one lucky Janathon participant who has been hardcore enough to exercise and blog every day.

Oh, what’s that? You’ve been a bit of a slacker? Never mind, I’ve also got some Deep Heat goodies (a tube of Deep Heat, a tube of Deep Freeze and a tube of Deep Relief) that I’ll give away in a draw open to all Janathon participants (although, if you’ve been slacking, you probably don’t need any muscle rub type stuff, do you?)

For more information, visit the competition page on the Janathon website (don’t enter the competitions yet though).

Stats
New pairs of almost barefoot running shoes: 1
Runs in fields done: 0
Road runs done: 0
Gyms gone to: 0
Rowing machine: 20 minutes
Sooty wands: 1
Fairy wands: 0

*asked their PR if I could have some.