Running

Shoe review – The Brooks Transcend (DIS FOR ALL MY SHOE NERDS!)

| cheriarmour

So, before you read, 100% understand that I have been team Brooks for millions of years.  And by millions, I mean for about 2 years, which is as long as I have been working for Fleet Feet in some capacity.  Originally, I was fitted for the Brooks Adrenaline, which is pretty decent stability, but my “princess and the pea” hoof was not having that stability posting.  From there I tried the Glycerin 10 which is what I ran my first half marathon and my first marathon in, and moved to the Ghost for my shorter runs.  My poor rugby knee seemed to really really appreciate the cushioning.

Knee InjuryOuch!

Okay so anyhoo, I actually called our Brooks Rep up on the phone, Chris, and had a really good chat with him about the Transcend, because honestly, I’m not sure I was getting the concept.

The Trance, which the Transcend replaced, was a pretty high stability shoe – felt like a dang dream on your foot, but had a really decent amount of stability in the shoe, so we “prescribed” the show sparingly.  Additionally, the steep price point would sometimes scare folks off who were, at the time, expecting to pay maybe $100.  (The shoe’s price soared to $150, and this was before that was pretty standard for a pair of high-cushioned stability shoes).

So anyhoo, Chris had great insight and great explanation for the way the shoe differed.

The shoe is still considered stability, but instead of there being a huge stability posting that your poor pronating foot slams into with each step, the shoe relies on “guide rail” technology that works to gently guide your foot into a more neutral position.  Still following?  The other big draw of the shoe is the cushioning, that Chris repeatedly described as “plush” but it’s referred to by Brooks as Super DNA, which is their original DNA cushioning, really beefed (or in this case), fluffed up.  Whereas the Glycerin or the Ghost felt a little more firm, a little more stable, the Transcend, out of the box feels straight up smooshy for lack of a better word.

Can you tell that I love my sneaks and that I love my job at Fleet Feet?

Okay, onto the review!DSC_0020

Cons (which I always start with so you can end on a positive)

  • I wear a size 10.5 in women’s which is already pretty big.  I felt like the Transcend made my hooves look HUGE.  You’ve got a skinny little chick in tights wearing giant pink shoes – not the most attractive.  In fact, I felt a little goofy.
  • Being used to the snug, foot-hugging Cadillac feel of the Glycerin, the shoe felt huge at first as well.  It took me so definite getting used to.
  • I’m used to the boat shape of the Brooks Glycerin and the Ghost.  The sort of flatter shape of this shoe reminded me of the Brooks Dyad, and threw me off a little at first.

But, after an initial test-drive….

Pros

  • Out of the box, the shoe is obviously a well-engineered, quality-manufactured running accessory.  I don’t need to name names, but sometimes that is not necessarily the case.
  • I got a lot of compliments on the look of the shoe – maybe I was being a little overdramatic on how big they looked on me?
  • My feet usually cannot stand to have any stability within their vicinity.  The Guide Rail technology was very very comfortable to me, and seemed to really do some guiding.  I’m interested to see what my wear pattern might look like after a few hundred miles.
  • Need cushioning?  Bad knee, sore hip?  This is the shoe for you.  You feel virtually nothing as you’re cruising, and that’s so weird, but so cool.
  • The forefoot of the shoe kinda felt like the Ghost used to.  As in, there was a ton of room up there.  In a good way, not in a weird way.
  • The shoe is very smooshy.  I’m trying to think of something to compare it to in real life, but it’s sort of like running on….sorta of like a firmer marshmallow.  A regs marshmallow would be really weird, it has more structure than that.

Overall, I liked the shoe, and I’m glad that working at the store, I was given first dibs on a pair of these shoes.  Had I not been so intrigued and wanted to try them, I may have just stuck in my old habits.  I’m interested to race in them and kind of see what we think in a race situation.

Anyone else tried this shoe?  What do you think?  

[Full disclosure – FF Ral was seeded a few pairs, and I was a lucky FIT Specialist who got a pair.  But all opinions are strictly my own!]

#1800 Minute Challenge

| cheriarmour

I saw this on Living in Yellow yesterday, and I totally hope you don’t mind I borrowed your awesome image, but I was totally so excited about the challenge, I had to tell you guys all about it.

#1800MinuteChallengeYou guys know how much I love a good challenge right?  I love a streak during the fall months where there isn’t a whole bunch of racing going on, and this thing proves as no exception.  For this challenge, I (and hopefully you guys when you get into this challenge), we will be doing 1800 minutes of activity between the April 1st through May 31st.  That math kinda filters out to about 30 minutes of activity today, so in my mind, with my training for my two half marathons in April, I am totally ready for this, and totally read to make sure that after my half on April 27th, I don’t fall into a lull where I don’t want to do anything anymore.

Plus, Mama is getting married in August, gotta make sure I’m looking good right?

Head over to Living in Yellow and check out this challenge!

5 most memorable moments in life. (Part I)

| cheriarmour

Firstly, I’m having a blast of a time with the new camera that my future mother-in-law got me.  Seriously, I don’t think that you will be hearing any horror stories from me, she’s awesome.  I made sure to play with some filters, and took photos of brunch on Sunday morning with a friend.

DSC_0141 DSC_0142The place was Coquette in North Hills, and in addition to some delicious french toast, they had bottomless mimosas for like $10.  I’m not mad at it, plus I got to hang out with a friend who I’d not seen in a while 🙂  that is the literal best.

Anyhoo.  

I totally stole this idea from Sara at Loving on the Run, but it got me thinking – what are the 5 most memorable moments in my life (thus far)?  This one is tough, but I’ll do the best to get a few of the biggies together.

1.  This is really dorky, but my senior prom was pretty awesome.  I was a big reader in high school and in middle school, and I’d always read about proms and stuff, so I really built the magic up in my mind.  Senior prom was sick awesome, and I think that was one of the most fun nights that I ever had in high school  (and I’m 26 now).  I honestly just remember that I didn’t stop dancing the entire time.

171_506368807389_369_n
I’ll leave that right there….

2.  My entire experience at Elon University.  I’ve talked nonstop about how much I fell in love at Elon, but I really learned so much there.  I had incredible classes, incredible teachers, and incredible experiences there.  Incredible incredible incredible.

3.  Years and years ago, I dated someone, who, when I told him about my plan to become licensed in Zumba and teach classes, told me “You aren’t even athletic,” and made fun of me for wanting to try to teach.  I think he apologized later, but it still hurts to think that someone that cared about you could say something like that.  Years later, miles later, and plans later, sometimes when I’m feeling lazy, or when I’m feeling like I don’t want to work  I think about this, and it pushes me through a rough time  I AM athletic.  I AM fit.  I AM strong.  What someone says shouldn’t determine how you live your life.  And I’m so happy I went through with the licensing process, because it was the gateway to all the running I do now.  And I feel like it changed my life.

4.  Us.  Our first date, our second date, the whole getting-to-know you phase, and us, all the way to our engagement. 

308199_738548441023_853436731_n-1We’ve been together for almost three-and-a half years, and the entire process has been fun.  He started out as that guy I kinda was interested in, and he moved to being that guy that we would go on beer dates with each other, to this guy I went on a date with and now we’re getting married and having 5 babies.  Just kidding (kinda!).

5.  Running my first half-marathon.  My first half was the Hallowed Half in Wake Forest.  There are not any pictures unfortunately because Austin was out of town at a funeral, and the entire time I ran, I just thought about Austin, how much I loved him, how I needed to get back home to him, and how bad my inner thighs were chafed at the time.

Okay, so I think I have a few more, so I might split this up into parts, but this is what I got for my 5 most memorable (thus far).  I have some more, but we will get more into those at a later time.  Give me one of your favorite memories!

I’m stealing.

| cheriarmour

I know that I usually do my Here’s What posts on Fridays but I’m not feeling particularly passionate about anything (I told you guys I had a rough day at work yesterday), and I feel like, rather than force myself to concoct a list when I’m not really feeling it, why not just chat with you guys?

First, a little news!

We ordered my wedding dress yesterday, and the sketch for my save-the-dates was emailed over to me today.  After that, all I do is take them to the print shop, and they can get sent out after it’s sent to me via PDF.  If the weekend passes and I tell you that I haven’t gathered addresses, please come to my house, kick down the door, and strap me to the couch until it gets done.  But it’s getting real, and it’s exciting and scary and so cool all the same time!  I want the day to be here and I don’t all at the same time.  Eeep eep eeep eep!

Now, I’m stealing. 

I stole this over from Krystyn at Chits and Giggles, (hope you don’t mind, babe!), but I love love loved the thought behind the post.

If you could get paid do anything you want, what would you do?

I love it because that’s the question that really indicates what you’d be doing if you could do it.

So what would I be doing?

DSC_0034Some of it, I do.  I teach Zumba classes a few times as week which I love.

But if I could do anything, anything in the world and get paid for it, I would….

….Blog mostly.  Blog and travel and read other blogs, take photos and blog some more.

DSC_0035…Run. I would run and probably run faster if I thought that there would be some money attached to the deal.

…Travel.  Since I was a kid, one of the best parts of any trip is the stay in the hotel room, and nothing about that has changed.  If I got to travel around everywhere, run and blog about it, and sleep in delicious hotel beds, I would do it in a heartbeat.

So, that brings me to this.  What would you do if you got paid for it?

Today was the worst day at work.

| cheriarmour

So in my non-Zumba, non-blogging, and non-Fleet Feet life, I am a social worker, and yesterday flat-out sucked.  I literally told my boss “I hate this day,” before I left the office, and called Austin in a cranky mood.

I was tempted to lay on the couch and call it a day, but when I got home, I cracked one of these.

DSC_0018And I cracked it while I moseyed around and found some clean running clothes, which was no small feat.  There were clothes everywhere, and I had to set out to clean those up.

DSC_0020I did my my-job-is-killing-me run (jk kinda!) in these new babies.  Two things, how good do they look on my new camera?  I played around with lighting, different settings, and different filters today, and it’s starting to turn out beautifully!  I’m not a photographer by any means, but my father has done a lot of photography for years, and I think I caught the same bug that he has.  Second thing, these moon shoes are the Brooks Transcends that arrived last week.  Today was my first real run in them (only 3 miles,) and I will be sure to hit you with the full review once I get some good mileage on them.

The Brooks Transcend is the she that’s replacing the Trance, and honestly, even though I’ve run a lot in the Glycerin (a high-end, high cushion neutral shoe), this shoe is a lot of moon shoe underneath my delicate foot.  On that preliminary tip though, it feels okay, but I’m still not used to having SO much between me and the earth.  But I’m gonna give it that full college try before I tell you for sure how I feel about them.

Now back to the job thing.  What is your real job?  How do you feel about it?  Be honest, I promise I won’t tell your boss!

When do I?

| cheriarmour

P1020103This is Scott, over at One White Guy.  He’s a bestie of mine, and has been for like, 10 years now?  That makes me sounds really old, but I promise, I’m not.

Anyhoo, Scott suggested a really really good blog topic, so I credit this entire masterpiece that you’re about to get.  🙂

I’m a new runner.  When do I….

…Invest in “real” shoes?

photoThe first thing that you do, even if you don’t consider yourself a “real” runner (which I hate, if you run, you’re a “real” runner), is invest in a good pair of shoes.  When you go running in a crappy pair of shoes, and your feet throb after, you’re never really going to want to run again.  Reduce your chances of wanting to quit, and invest in a good pair as soon as you decide you’re going for a run.  Plus I think pretty new shoes are a great way to motivate yourself.

…Spend a good bit of money of a sports bra?

cb48f29e904411e392aa125441224967_7Well that really depends?  How big are are your breasts?  If you’re a smaller chested women, I’m thinking small C and below, you can get away with a perhaps, not as expensive bra, maybe like you’d find at a Target.  However, if you’re a mid C and above, or if you’ve ever had the experience of having to put two bras on, it’s time to drop some cash on a real bra.  Your nipples and your breast tissue will thank you when it’s not being chafed and stretched all over the place.

…Buy shorts/shirts (running apparel) other than the t-shirts/shorts I have in my drawers

IMG_1908This is one of those things that I think you can wait on, especially if you don’t have particularly sensitive skin.  Wear your t-shirts and shorts until you get sick of running around in sopping wet clothes, and invest in a few  pieces that you can reuse again and again.

…invest in a gps watch

Garmin 610This is one that can wait too.  I love love love my GPS watch, and I’m a big fan of Garmin and their products, however, with the advent of Smart Phones, generally there is some type of app you can download.  The app will not be as accurate (Garmin is accurate within 5 feet), and the life of the phone can be a lot shorter if you have a music app opened up along with a GPS app.  This is one of the products that is extremely useful, and luckily, Garmin has a few products that aren’t $400 that you can choose if you’re really in want of a GPS.

…Buy a pair of socks for $15/pair

unnamedThis is one of those that seems dumb (like who spends $12 on a pair of socks!) but once you make the jump from cotton socks to socks that are an acrylic blend, you won’t want to go back.

…Start taking Gu/nutritional supplements.

20 Mile NutritionAt the point at which you’re running for an hour or more, it’s time to explore the ideas of nutrition, especially if you’re a person who is sensitive to shifts in your blood sugar.  If you’re planning one of those longer runs, take one of these before (with a lot of water), and then one about every 45 minutes.  Experiment prior to a race situation because these things (some of them) have been known to cause stomach problems.  I avoid the ones with caffeine generally.

…Start carrying water. 

Same rules as nutrition.  If you’re running for over an hour, take water.  If it’s hot, take water.  If you’re just a thirsty lady or gent, take water.

Do you think I covered it all?  What other questions do you have?

 

 

 

 

 

Rock ‘n’ Roll USA Recap! Friggin epic post!

| cheriarmour

Hi!

I had an amazing weekend, which I’m guessing you can gather from all the tweets and the FB posts that were all “omgomgomgomg I love it here!”.  I’m trying to figure out how many times I can tell you guys I’m having and epic weekend before you start to suspect that I do nothing but traipse around with no other purpose but to write about it, but rest assured, I have a real life too!  My weekends have just been insane this past month or so.

So anyways, I headed to DC this past weekend, the best city in the land, to run the Rock ‘n’ Roll USA half marathon, and the weekend literally gets a 10 out of 10 from me.  I’ll totally tell you why.

P1160264So I stayed at the Westin in Georgetown, and the first thing I saw when I walked in was this.  A big, giant, comfortable bed, with a robe on it.

P1160267Then I saw this, which I immediately decided would be put to good use before I raced the following day.  And use it I did.  Following a quick pre-race dinner of a sandwich and some greens, I immediately set about to fill up this tub, take a quick swig from my bottle of Skinny Girl California White, and soaked in the tub with a Demi Lovato book (don’t judge) until i was too sweaty to continue.  Baths usually go that way for me, I get too sweaty to enjoy it after awhile and I have to get out!

P1160272Westin has this sick program, where, for $5 a day, you can skip packing you workout clothes (which always take up a good bit of room), and sort of rent/borrow some New Balance apparel.  I believe they also guarantee that you will leap about like the model does in all-white clothing.  Added bonus!

P1160268More tub!  P1160276You didn’t think I was going to leave the hotel without trying on the robe, right?  It was comfy, and there’s my mug without makeup.  What do ya think?  And with all of that, I hit the sack for about 3 or 4 hours, and got prepped for the race, the Rock ‘n’ Roll USA!  (And don’t worry, I will go over all the good, the bad (none), and the awesome in a minute, just enjoy the photos for a second!)

P1160277What I wore!  The trusty Brooks Glycerin, my printed Nike tights, a muscle tee from Fabletics, and a little Fabletics Yoga hoodie.  As for socks, I went with some Smart Wool to keep my toots warm.
P1160278And let’s skip ahead!  Mama finished 13.1 and is still smiling, even after a bout with some Norovirus or something funky this week.

P1160279The Rock ‘n’ Roll VIP Tent!  Best post race thing ever!
P1160280More VIP celebrations!

P1160281Me and the beautiful Carrie Keagan hung out before and post race.  Side note, her parents are friggin adorable, and by the time we left, we were referring to each other as Mom, Dad, and their long lost dark-skinned daughter.

P1160282Back stage at the concert – The Head and the Heart.

P1160283What a crowd!

P1160284More more!

P1160285 P1160286 P1160287 P1160288 P1160289 P1160290

And I finished off the weekend with a shower and friends!

So now that you got to see my wonderful pics, let’s talk about Rock ‘n’ Roll USA!

The Good

  • The start waves.  They nailed this one, better than anyone has ever nailed it before.  The waves were timed so well that although a ton of people were running, there was never a point where I felt like the situation was too crowded to move in.
  • The transportation.  If you weren’t familiar with the city, no matter because we were provided detailed maps in tons of ways to get to the start easily by the metro.  So seamless.
  • The course.  The course was sick.  Aside from an ungodly hill at mile 6 (that is all people were talking about after the race), the course was beautiful.

The Bad. 

  • Seriously?  I have 0 complaints.

The Awesome.

  • VIP Access.  Seriously, if you have never sprung for the VIP access, do it!  Because of my VIP access I had an early breakfast of oatmeal and fruit, I had a ride down the the start line, I had a charging station for my cell phone, I had a warm place to hang out pre-race, a separate bag check, and access to the heated VIP tent after the race, where there was a ton of food, liquids, and BEER after the race!
  • The concert.  So rad.  The Head and the Heart.  So rad.
  • The weather. Could not have asked for a more beautiful day.  I wore the yoga sweatshirt for maybe the first three miles, and then peeled it off and was able to get by in a muscle tee the rest of the race.

The verdict. 

‘Rock ‘n’ Roll USA was a 10/10.  I have run many a race, good and bad, and this one is up there as the best – the best organized, the best weather, the best course, and the best service of any race I’ve done, and from what I heard from my folks, Rock ‘n’ Roll has been like this in general.  Sign up sign up sign up!

[Disclaimer – I was given a race entry + VIP access, but I would tell you if it sucked or not.  Seriously, this race is a two thumbs up!]

RnR USA Preview + I love DC :)

| cheriarmour

I’m not gonna spoil tomorrow’s epic post about my weekend running DC for you guys, but I cannot tell you enough how much I love this city.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Raleigh, it’s where I met my future husband, and I love the little love nest we’ve turned Raleigh into, but I haven’t always felt that way about the city.  When I first moved here, I was doing a lot, too much in fact, and that soured my experience a little bit with here.  I moved right after I graduated undergrad, was prepping to go to grad school, was in the process of breaking up with someone, and I felt like I didn’t have any friends here, when the truth was, I did.  But when you’re feeling sorry for yourself, you really and truly convince yourself that you’re alone, and no one likes you, blah blah blah.

So anyhoo, the things that I’ve learned this weekend (without spoiling the epic race post I have for you)?

photo 1 (6)
My view from Saturday morning’s race!
  1.  My stomach is still healing from the little debacle I had last October, where I found out that I’d somehow developed gastritis.  I’ve been really good about taking my meds, but not as good at avoiding caffeine, and during the race, which went really well, my stomach definitely had a few moments where it tried to revolt a little bit.  I was able to breathe through it but it jerked me back to reality.  You can’t jump from gastritis to ultra marathons in a matter of a few months.  That’s just the facts.
  2. All that said, I think it might be a good idea for me to drop from the RnR Raleigh Full to the Half.  My stomach told me so, and I have to agree with her.  She needs more time to heal up before I start shoving Gu and stuff into it.
  3. I am a boss at this city.  I’ve been super open about my love affair with this city.  And nothing has changed, between the public transit, which I rocked at, and between being able to find stuff, I am so comfortable here.  So this blog might turn from a running blog, into a convincing-your-husband-that-moving-to-DC –is-a-bomb-ass-idea.  I’ll keep you posted J

How was your weekend?  What are you looking forward to this week? 

Y’all…

| cheriarmour

I’m in DC for the Rock ‘n’ Roll USA, and I’m having the most amazing time ever.  I cannot wait to tell you all about it!!! Stay tuned beautiful runners!