Saucony Kinvara Durability

There are dozens (probably more like hundreds) of reviews for the Saucony Kinvara on the web. Runblogger does very in-depth reviews, so if you are interested, that is a good place to look for their original Kinvara review and updated Kinvara 2 comparison.

I wear the Kinvara for most easy runs and long runs. I usually like something a little stiffer when I am racing or doing harder workouts, so it doesn't fit the bill on those days. But for the vast majority of my running, the Kinvara 2 has been my favorite shoe (ever). Its light, flexible, comfortable, and encourages good running form. I tried to think of some constructive criticism, but honestly I have nothing but excellent things to say about this shoe. That's my quick review!

Andrea would like to add that she wishes there was a little bit more room in the toe box. She had to go up a half-size from what she typically wears (she had the same issue w/ the Fastwitch).

The main reason I wrote this post was to focus on durability. While running yesterday, our group was talking about an interview with Cam Levins where he said that he goes through shoes every three weeks while running 150-160 miles per week. I don't run quite that much mileage, but I'm not far off either - and I definitely don't break out a new pair of shoes every three weeks!

I took some photos last night of my blue Kinvaras. Right now this pair has 720 miles on them. I think they'll easily get to 1000, and maybe even 1500 miles. Since I usually don't wear them on consecutive days (I like to rotate between 2-3 pairs of shoes), that probably helps with their longevity.

One small tear in the upper, near the logo, after 700+ miles isn't too bad.
The bottom of the upper fabric is starting to pull away a tiny bit as well.
That area is probably the "weak link" on the shoe.

Close up of the tear. This was consistent on both shoes (left and right)

Medial side still looking good

Forefoot is worn down, as expected after 700 miles.
This isn't a big deal when running on dry surfaces, but now
its slippery on snow and ice.

Rearfoot still looking OK since it touches the ground a lot less

When I first got this pair, they weighed in at 8.42 ounces...

...now they are down to 8.28 ounces! 

I think the durability of the Kinvara is pretty remarkable for such a lightweight, minimalist-inspired shoe. The only reason you'd want to swap them out earlier than 700 miles is because they come in so many awesome colors!

[2/22/12 Update - this pair is at 1100 miles and still going strong!]

Saucony ViZiPRO

Some of the products in the men's ViZiPRO lineup

I've been an early-morning runner ever since I became a runner. This quality was definitely instilled by my parents, who were always up exercising before work. During the "dark" months we always had some of those dorky-but-effective safety vests by the door; whoever was headed out for a run would throw one on. My Dad was also really big on wearing blaze orange while out running - another trait he passed on to me. Bright orange has become one of my favorite colors to wear, and with Andrea being a Tennessee Volunteer, that also scores me some boyfriend points!

Its really no surprise that I am a HUGE fan of the Saucony ViZiPRO product line. I do 95% of my running in the dark in the winter, I never run indoors on a treadmill, I'm paranoid about being seen by cars, and I love wearing bright orange. Its a no-brainer!

Saucony combined a really cool color scheme with the best running attire and outerwear I've ever worn. My standard morning/evening running attire this time of year consists of a ViZiPRO headband/beanie, an older version of the EPIC jacket, and the Ulti-Mitt mittens. I combine that with 2 of the USB lights that I previously reviewed (I like to wear one on the glove and one on my jacket's chest pocket), and I look like a blinking, flashing traffic cone when I'm out on the roads. It may look ridiculous - but it's also a ridiculously effective combination.

For someone like me who has chronically cold hands, the Ulti-Mitt has been a nice addition for cold but not absolutely bone-chilling freezing mornings. The "pullover mitten" provides enough warmth so I don't have to resort to ski mittens unless its really cold outside. I can wear them when its in the 20s and Andrea usually wears them when it's warmer than 30 degrees. The Ulti-Mitt comes with a USB light that attaches to it, and its location helps for visibility to cars as well as being able to see what's in front of you.

The EPIC jacket does the job in every condition I've encountered. When its cool out, I'll just wear a t-shirt underneath. As the thermometer plunges I'll add layers underneath, but the jacket itself is a perfect breathable shell. While not 100% waterproof, I still wear it during periods of lighter rain, and I wear it when its snowing with no complaints at all. Its actually a relatively thin jacket that moves well with your upper body. An added bonus is that the sleeves are long enough to pull over the bottom of your gloves.

The last product I want to specifically mention is the Omni LX tight. I'm not always the biggest fan of running tights, because they never seem to fit just right. And often times I find that I get colder wearing tight-tights than when I wear running pants. But these ones are obviously made to a higher standard that what I've worn in the past. The Omni LX tights are made of a slightly thicker Drylete material, which keeps me from freezing even when its cold and windy. They are also articulated well - no pulling or seams - they don't restrict natural movement at all. Finally, the bottom part (around the ankle) is actually made long enough and with a zipper that stays shut, thus preventing your ankle area from being exposed to the cold air (which I hate!). I've been alternating these tights with the Drylete XPT and Boston pants.

We are fortunate to live in an era of excellent winter running gear, and if you have it, there really aren't any good excuses you can make to not get outside and run in the winter. As someone who runs twice a day all winter, investing in good outerwear is worth every single penny, in my opinion.

I'd say that the products would make great Christmas presents as well. If you know someone who is a runner, they'll find some bright, reflective clothing very useful. And if you're trying to drop a hint to someone that they need to start pounding the pavement a little more without coming off as a jerk, this is the best way to give them the gift of no more excuses! :-)

This graphic from Saucony's website shows that ViZiPRO orange is scientifically proven to be the BEST COLOR EVER!

Women's ViZiPRO Pink lineup - yeah, Andrea has all of this stuff and more!

I even have a pair of these ViZiPRO Kinvaras

Book Review - Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights?

We were first introduced to Alex Hutchinson through his website Sweat Science. Alex is a physicist that regularly posts articles about "Fitness myths, training truths, and other surprising discoveries from the science of exercise". He is extremely knowledgeable in this field and a great writer. My favorite thing about him is that he seems very unbiased towards the subjects he talks about. He takes up-to-date and sometimes controversial topics, analyzes the research in detail, then puts it all into terms that the common folks can understand. He notes the strengths and weaknesses in the scientific research on the subjects of interest - and not only points out what we do know, but also makes it clear that there are lots of things we still don't know! On his blog there is lots of discussion in comments of his articles, and he regularly responds to commenters. Jake and I both come from very scientific backgrounds and are interested in the exercise science field, so Hutchinson's articles are right up our ally.

Alex recently came out with a book called Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights?. Jake picked this one up a couple months ago, and we both really enjoyed reading it. It's amazing how many myths are floating around in the exercise field that don't have any scientific background at all! He addresses topics such as

"To lose weight, is it better to eat less or exercise more?"
"Should I exercise when I'm sick?"
"Could stretching before exercise make me slower and weaker?"

Here is the entire list of topics covered in the book. Altogether, there are 111 questions/topics addressed.

He covers so many topics that everyday exercisers of all types would really benefit from reading this book. All of the information is based on real research - I think there are about 30 pages full of references at the end of the book. You can tell that he really did HIS research! Obviously, a lot of the questions don't have an answer to them and there might not be a right or wrong. But sometimes that's the information that is the most valuable.

I found the book so much information to digest with one sitting, so I read about 15-20 pages a night. Jake, however, read it straight through on a long travel day. I am pretty good at keeping up with scientific research, but I still learned a lot with this book. It's been fun to share with others what I have learned as well. Jake and I would highly recommend it for anyone that loves exercise, how to make the most of it, and the science behind it.

Hiking Mt Olympus in Winter

We still haven't been out skiing this season - the snowpack in the Wasatch is very shallow right now, and we have no interest in destroying our skis (or breaking our bones) on rocks. But today we had the urge to get up in the mountains, so we decided to hike up Mt Olympus. We can see this mountain from our living room, yet still haven't been to the summit in the 1.5 years we've lived in SLC. Mt Olympus is an iconic Utah peak - it has a wilderness area named after it - and despite only topping out at 9,000 feet, it towers 5,000 feet above the SLC valley. There are a handful of cool ski descent options (in the springtime). Today we hiked up the standard Olympus trail, climbing 4200 feet over 3.5 miles. The upper third of the trail was packed snow/ice, and microspikes were very helpful. The final couple hundred feet has some fun class 3 scrambling.

It was a nice little change of pace from running. We've bounced back pretty quickly from Philly - I've run 100+ miles each of the past two weeks... and Andrea is starting to feel back to her old self as well.

Some photos from the hike (and some other randoms from the weekend) below...

Andrea hiking up the upper half of the trail. Down low, it was dry.

Looking south from the saddle

Scrambling up the gully

Broads Fork Twin Peaks and Stairs Gulch

You can see that the valley is starting to get inverted

Andrea near the top

Summit shot, looking towards Big Cottonwood Canyon

No snow on the south facing areas in lower Millcreek

Heading back down

Microspikes were crucial on the descent!

Inversion - YUCK!

I won this giant martini glass at my department's Christmas party last night. Should make a good ice cream bowl.

Yes, once every year or two we wear something other than running / skiing / hiking clothes...

...but on those occasions, we are always excited to change back into our normal clothes (ie. giant fuzzy fleece robes!)

Saucony Ignite Review

This post was written by Andrea (obviously!):

The Saucony Ignite product line is my favorite. The Saucony Hurricanes Racing Team uses this product line for their racing attire for good reasons - the clothes are lightweight, breathable, and made for movement.

The Saucony Ignite Singlet has become my lucky singlet - I always seem to have good races in it. I like how the racing back fits. The bottom does seem to flare out a little more than I would like (I have a very straight figure), but it doesn't bother me when I'm racing. It is meant to wear untucked.

I am convinced that Saucony makes the BEST shorts (Ignite, Run Lux, PE, etc). I used to think that all shorts are the same but was proved wrong once I started wearing Saucony's shorts. It's like wearing real running socks as compared to cotton socks. The Ignite shorts are perfect for racing. My favorite things about these shorts are how light and free they feel and the zipper pocket in the back. I am not a fan of shorts with the flimsy pockets in the front, and I feel much safer putting my keys or rings in a zipper pocket.


I wore the Saucony Ignite Short Tights in the marathon. I like wearing short tights as compared to the split shorts when it is a little colder outside. The short tights have worked well for me; they don't ride up like other tights have in the past. They also have the zipper pocket in the back (I fit 2 Gu's inside easily).

I haven't worn the Saucony Ignite Sports Bra yet but have seen great reviews on it. It might be a while before I wear it, but I'm planning to do some races next summer with it. Pros I have seen are that it is very supportive, good coverage, and feels comfortable.

I wear the Ignite Capris more on a casual basis than racing. When it's cold, I would rather wear compression socks and shorts than capris. But I do enjoy wearing the capris on everyday runs. Although they do not have a drawstring, the capris are tight in the waist and stay up well.

This jacket fits perfectly. It is form-fitting, the sleeves are long, and it is long enough in the torso. I have found that some of Saucony's shirts feel too short for me (I'm 5'8"), but the jackets are generally longer. The jacket is comfortable for temps about 40 degrees and above.

FYI - Coupon Code: MILEPOSTS gets you 15% off apparel at www.saucony.com till December 31st.

Some final thoughts on Philadelphia

Everyone has been through this - you work towards something for a long time... you put your heart and soul into it... and when its over, there is a bit of a void left behind. After we hiked the John Muir Trail in 2010 (something we had been building up for the better part of the year), Andrea and I both had that "what do we do now?" feeling. You tend to want to start looking forward to the next big thing instead of looking back at what you've already done. Its hard to look back when things go GREAT... its nearly impossible to want to look back when they don't go as planned.

We keep talking about all these blog posts we are going to write about what we learned in Philadelphia - what went right, what went wrong, etc. - but it just doesn't seem to be happening. The lessons we learned will manifest themselves in the way we prepare next time around. And to be honest, we won't prepare much differently. We did most things right.

Even though what I really want to do is move forward, put Philadelphia behind me, and get on board the train towards 2012, I'm forcing myself to at least jot down some of my thoughts. I'll want to look at these things down the road. So here are some of my random bullet points...

• Philadelphia's course is not extremely difficult, but its not a track race either. The hills from 7-10 were challenging as expected. The gentle inclines from 17-20 were a little more difficult than we anticipated. I think Philly is a PR course if there is no wind. I won't go here to try and qualify next time around, though. There are a lot of marathons that are flatter and faster.
• I'm 99.9% certain that my blowup was caused by electrolyte problems. My whole body just shut down... and then bounced back afterwards very quickly. You can bet that I'm going to be experimenting with all different sorts of electrolyte products and make sure that never happens again.
• Our training was rock solid. We did everything we could and didn't cut any corners. Andrea probably could have used another 4-6 week cycle of 85-90 mile weeks. But she did everything she could considering she only decided to give this a whirl two months before the race. It was a valiant effort on her part, and I firmly believe that she has what it takes to run ~2:40 for the marathon. Hopefully USATF doesn't lower the women's OTQ standard too much! :-)
• I still don't think it was unrealistic for me to go into this thinking I could run 2:18. The workouts that I did weren't fake. The fitness was there, I was ready. The problem is that despite doing everything right, the marathon can still be a crapshoot.
• One thing is for certain, the Saucony Fastwitch is a GREAT marathon flat. Neither one of us had any problems with blisters, foot pain, etc.
• Emotionally, the last 10 days have been a bit of a roller coaster. Its been hard to accept that my season is over and I won't be racing at the trials. But on the other hand, we are both at an exponentially higher level than we were a year ago, and if we build on what we've already done, Andrea and I can light things up in 2012 to the point where this past year looks ho-hum ;-)
• I really love running - hard training, easy training, racing, talking about it - I love it all. Even a disappointing finish to the year hasn't changed that - if anything, it has reinforced the feeling.

Andrea skinning - Early December 2010
I haven't been up to White Pine, but I can guarantee
that it doesn't look like this right now!

We've already been working on the 2012 "plan" and race calendar (and potential vacation destinations!... if I don't spend some time in the Tetons, Wind Rivers, and either San Juans or Sierra Nevadas, then something has gone horribly wrong!). First things first: 6-8 weeks of easy running. Drop the intensity, let the body re-charge. No need for a prolonged period of time off as long as we are smart about making sure to run slowly most of the time. 

Hopefully we'll get some real snow and get on skis soon... I can't believe its already December and not only have we not been skiing yet, but there doesn't appear to be much hope in the forecast. We're actually making plans to go dry-land hiking this weekend!

A few races are already on our radar, and they are the ones we'll schedule everything else around - Carlsbad, Bolder Boulder, and the USA Half Marathon Championships will be the "target" races for the first half of 2012. No spring marathon - and you can hold me to that! :-)

Thanksgiving

We took a little break from blogging after Philly, but now we're back. In the upcoming week we are planning to post some analysis from the race - what we did right, wrong, and what we learned that will be useful going forward. Its easier to think a little more clearly once you get a little distance from the race and have some time to reflect. As you can imagine, we have talked a lot about these things over the past week.

After leaving Philadelphia we went to New York City for a couple days. The weather there was crummy, but we did go to Radio City music hall to see the Christmas show, and that was a lot of fun. From there we went up to my Aunt's house in Connecticut for the rest of the week. Her house was essentially a 4 day all you can eat buffet, so its safe to say we are NOT in a calorie deficit!

Physically we are both feeling pretty good and have run every day since the marathon.

Its nice to be back in Utah after a week on the east coast. Eventually it will be time to get serious about ski season... but the temperature is still unseasonably warm, so we'll enjoy the nice weather while we can!

Some random photos from the past week...

Philly newspaper from last Monday. Sadly, 2 people died during the race.

This was the cover photo from the newspaper. I'm in there on the right side, just behind the leaders.

Turkey Day

Bingo and fireworks are some of my family's traditions on Thanksgiving!

My grandmother, cousins (on my Dad's side) and sister. I am the oldest... but not the tallest!

The immediate family