Those who risk, win: Harder, better, faster, stronger.

Originally I was going to use a Kanye West song for the title and then I decided to have some dignity and throw it to Daft Punk instead. Mostly because I can't stand Kanye West, even if I do listen to some of his music. I don't have a lot of new running news for you, but what I do have doesn't need to be a lot because it's just so fantastic. Yesterday, for the first time ever (or at least since I started running as an adult), I ran a sub-7 mile! My Garmin clocked me at a hot 6:54.9, which is basically amazing, considering up until yesterday my fastest mile ever was a 7:05. Though it might not seem like a huge gap, any runner knows that in terms of miles, seconds count more than you could imagine. 10 seconds off a mile time is an accomplishment that really needs to be worked at to achieve, it doesn't just happen. I'd like to take this time to thank woods running for making flat ground seem like nothing and Bagel World, which is what I ate for lunch yesterday and what I assume fueled this fastest mile ever. And of course the wind and the weather for being exactly right, because any good runner also knows that half of the run is outside forces.

I don't really have any other running related topics to discuss today. However I did buy a new pair of trail running shoes which should be arriving shortly. So perhaps a review of those will be my next post. Speaking of shoes, I think I'm having a problem with my Hoka Clifton 2s. If this is your first read, here's a quick back story. Clifton 1s were amazing and I wore them constantly. Of course like all good shoes, Hoka had to go and upgrade to a new shoe, add some features, change some pieces. Maybe this wouldn't be a problem in the regular world, but here in running world it's a huge deal. Two of the key pieces Hoka changed were the insoles and the tongue. The 1s had an insole that was not glued to the sole and the tongue was considered flimsy by some standards. Personally I never had a problem with the insoles of my 1s, but I've read/heard other people say that the insole would slide around and bunch up. Occasionally I tied my shoes too tight so the thin tongue did cause my shoelaces to dig into the top of my foot, but I put that up to user error more than shoe design fault. Either way, I loved the 1s.

Eventually though I couldn't find the 1s in stores anymore, so I had to upgrade to the 2s. I don't know what the problem is here; it could be the padded tongue, could be the fact that the insoles are glued down and just slightly thicker, could be the extra shoelace lock hole, or it could be none of the above. Whatever the change is though, going from the 1 to the 2, my right foot consistently gets a blister on the side of the ball of the foot. Nothing I do has eliminated this. I've tried padded socks, non-padded socks, wrapping my foot, covering it with medical tape, loosening the shoelaces, tightening the shoelaces, using the extra shoelace hole and not using the extra lace hole. Not one of these solutions has fixed the problem, which leads me to believe the issue lies in the new insoles. And now I'm stuck. I love these shoes and the comfort they provide. They are the only shoe I can imagine running long distances in now that I've done it. Sure I ran two marathons in a pair of Adidas before, but compared to the Hoka, I might as well have gone barefoot!

Obviously I can't keep running in a pair of shoes that consistently causes a blister though. I need a magic solution and I need it fast! Or a new pair of shoes. I heard a rumor that Hoka is coming out with a Clifton 3 soon, so maybe that's my solution? You know Hoka, I'd be happy to be a test subject for your new shoes, should you need people. Call me.
Enough about that though, time to wrap this up, here are your pictures for the day.