Shoe Alternation: Vive la Difference?

After my last post, in which I talked about how I sprung for yet another pair of running shoes (Saucony Kinvaras) and plan to alternate days wearing them with days wearing Brooks Pure Flows, the Chronic Runner asked me a good question:

...why (Brooks) Flows and (Saucony) Kinvaras? That's like alternating green apples and red apples ;)

The argument for alternating shoes is that, because every shoe is different (even two pairs of the same make and model), alternating days wearing two or more pairs makes the shoes themselves and, more importantly, the runner's body more durable because you're shifting impact around and not pounding the same places in the feet or on up the rest of the body every time. Sort of like running on trails instead of the road uses different muscle groups and therefore makes you stronger and more durable all over.

The Pure Flows and the Kinvaras are considered "minimalist" shoes. They are very similar to each other. CR's argument: Wouldn't it be better to alternate between these minimalist models and a more traditional shoe that's really different from the two pairs I mentioned (like the Brooks Adrenalines I wore in the Houston Marathon)?

She makes a good point. But my reason for not doing this is twofold:

1) Green and red apples do taste different! Just kidding......Making the transition to the Pure Flows was easier for me than "going minimalist" has been for some people. For one thing, I'm not a heel striker. For another, because I started wearing them running on the Alter-G and doing VERY low mileage post-injury, my legs had some time to get used to them without much trauma. Nonetheless, I still experienced some of the calf pain that others talk about. It didn't last long, and now I run in them quite naturally. But I have no desire to undo the changes I made by going back to shoes with a greater heel-to-toe drop than these have--especially now that I'm doing decent miles again and have two races looming.

2) Merely making each pair of shoes last longer is enough on its own to get me to try this. The coach who suggested this to me argues that you get more than double the time with your shoes alternating two pairs than you get using the same pair every day until it wears out. If that's true, it's money in my pocket. Even though I love getting new running shoes, I don't love paying for them. I'm hoping someday to retire and maybe send my kids to college.

There is a third shoe that's occasionally in my mix. When I trail run, I'm using the Mizuno Ascends that I got through the Mezamashii Project. These are not minimalist shoes. Eventually I plan to get some minimalist shoes of some kind for trails (I'm eying the Merrell "Barefoot" line and also New Balance's version), but right now I do a lot more road running and so my dollars are following my feet.

I haven't actually started the alternating because I had to buy metatarsal pads for both pairs of shoes (I have a neuroma in my right foot and am at risk for one in my left; pregnancy left me with bunions as well as a bad back). I have the pads now, though, so as of tomorrow, the fun begins.

So all you alternators out there: are your shoes different from each other, like Chronic Runner's, or same-y like mine?

Cold, Iron, and Shoes

The Cold/Laryngitis: I am better! Not a big surprise, I guess, but a relief to be able to breathe and talk…and run. I went for my first run in four days, an easy 40-minutes, on my break at work today. It was so nice to run without chest tightness or coughing. It’s also really beautiful here right now.

Thanks to the City of Boulder Facebook page for the picture!

I’m regarding this cold as two things: Glass Half Full Me is calling it a booster for my immune system-- I’m hoping it will be the last one I get for a while now because surely my white blood cells are all on full alert; but Realist Me is thinking of it as a warning; my kids are in a new school, I work with the public and I’m going to be training hard; I need to be smart with sleep, nutrition and hand-washing.

Constant Vigilance!

A Visit to the Doctor: Last week before the illness hit I had my annual preventative appointment with my awesome doctor (he of the 2:50-on-a-bad-day-marathon). We did the usual check-up things (listening to the heart, discussing the past year's issues--everything but the female stuff), but he also did some sports doc things like testing my hamstring and hip flexor flexibility and discussing cheaper options for getting a shot in my back later if I decide I need one. It's always fun to talk to him, and I've never before had a doctor who "gets it" like he does.

Some of the outcomes were surprising. I got my blood test results back yesterday. My cholesterol numbers and glucose are good, and so is my thyroid, but the doc wants me to supplement. It seems that my iron is low, and while my Vitamin D isn't a problem right now, he's concerned that it's low enough that it could become a problem during the long days of winter and marathon training. Who knew?

So tonight will feature a trip to the drug store to get some special non-constipating iron, which I'll be taking for six weeks, and some Vitamin D, which I'll be on all winter.

New Shoes: If you've been reading this blog for while, you know I have no brand loyalty when it comes to shoes (or much of anything else). I've worn every brand of running shoe out there except some of the newer ones, and I will probably be this way forever. Since I started running again earlier this summer, I've been wearing Brooks Pure Flows. I like them just fine.

But last week, while I was having lunch with Kathy, Erin, Erin's mom and her coach (who were all in town for the Denver Rock n' Roll Marathon), her coach (a very interesting guy, and very knowledgeable) suggested I get another pair of shoes and alternate days wearing them.

Kathy, me and Erin after a fun and informative lunch (I stole this photo from Erin's blog; thanks Erin!)

My husband thinks I'm the Imelda Marcos of running shoes ("how many pairs do you have?" he asks me sometimes when he looks in the closet). But I've wanting to try the Saucony Kinvaras for a while. With two races I care about coming up, I decided Coach Rick's advice was all I needed to justify taking plunge and buying 'em. So my plan going forward will be to wear the Pure Flows one day and the Kinvaras the next, all the way through the California International Marathon in December.

Any other non-brand-loyalists out there? Do you take iron? Do you alternate shoes?