I'm thinking it's time for new shoes at this point. It's either shins or knees that start to signal. I'm at around 350 for this pair, anyway, give or take, so that's pretty good.

Shins and knees are always a good sign for new shoes. I'm glad that I use pretty neutral shoes that last a while; I usually get around 500 miles out of each pair. Just retired one pair and am getting pretty close on my asics. They are my street screw shoes right now, so I've been wearing them a bit more than I probably should be.

I've tried a number of different shoes, and found that I get the most bang for my buck of out the Mizuno Wave Riders.

I couldn't run further than 4 miles in the wave riders before my feet started to hurt. I won free mizunos for a year from a race series last year, though, so I've been running in the precisions - those are nice and work out pretty well for me.

Haven't tried the Precisions. I've been thinking about looking for something new for races. I'm kinda lazy when it comes to shoe shopping, though.

The precisions are nice and light - a bit over 10 ounces. I did my last marathon in them. Most of my shoe shopping the past couple of years has been through the nike race catalog, since they sponsor my team and I can get them for 25% off of wholesale. Can't beat free, though, so I had to put more effort in to get the mizunos. At least I'm running from that store once a week now so I have more opportunities to use up the certificates.

02/12/08 Definitely the shoes causing the shin pain. Had another pair laying around, did some easy running in them, the shin wasn't nearly as hurty today. So, at least it's nothing serious.

You don't rotate your shoes at all?

You might want to consider a rotation pattern. I have two pairs of of Asics Kayano 13's and a pair of GT-2120's that I rotate between (though one of the Kayano's is a little long in the tooth and is not being used so much). Anywho, the thinking is that by giving the shoes a day off, the insoles have more time to rebound to their original state. The upshot is shoes that last longer and seem fresher (cushion-wise).

02/15/08 OK, so, I think I need to find a race to run or something soon. I was running along, comfortable pace, enjoying it, when I saw someone running up ahead in the distance. The competitive side kicked in, and I went into "pursuit" mode. After she turned off my route (just before I caught her....damnit), I started to settle back down. Then I see someone on a bike, spinning slowly up a hill. *Click*... I start pursuing up the hill... Eventually, I end up on the bike path, with lots of women walking in groups and walking their dogs. And a woman running in the same direction as me, a little over 2/10 of a mile ahead. *Click*. I end up doing 3 of the last 4 at sub-7 pace. Mile 6 was almost entirely uphill, and was under 7:30. Yeah, it was probably dumb, but hey. Sometimes we do dumb stuff. I'm gonna feel it tomorrow and Sunday, that's certain.

Yeah, it was just unplanned.