E. James White – Startups, Running, Photography

The Altra’s and Newtons I have are fantastic shoes. But with the recent foot pain,  I must still be adapting to them.  I decided I still need another shoe, more traditional,  and the Nike Structures are not it! The Nikes feel odd to me now. I researched shoes and found the Brooks Pure Flow 3, with a 4 mm drop and lightweight, this shoe still has a relatively low drop

I ran 12 miles in my Altra’s, as my training schedule suggested. I’m happy to report that I had no knee pain, but the bottom of my feet felt like they were on fire.  Also, I had a pain on top of my foot – painful to touch or flex my toes.  The Altra’s don’t have a lot of cushion in the front part of the shoe,  so I was

Going into this 10 mile run, I was not sure what to do.  My last run was with a loose knee strap made by Cho Pat, and my knee bothered me. So this time I tightened that strap up so that it was pretty snug and off I went.  The first 5 miles were great, and I thought my issue was a loose knee strap – until the knee started

After a week vacation at the beach, I have now started week one of my Chicago training. This past Sunday I ran 9 miles on my hill route.  I wore the knee strap but it was too loose. I don’t know if it made a difference,  but my knee was mildly achy around mile 7.5. I did not walk much and my knee was fine when I stopped.

Sunday’s run at the beach was my longest run since February.  Because of the ankle issues I’ve had in the Newtons,  I decided to try Nike with a knee strap on. The first thing I noticed about the Nikes was that I’m not used to their feel anymore. I did not like it. Early in the run,  I felt the knee strap was rubbing against my knee,  so I took

My 3 mile test run in the Nikes went well. I had no ankle pain during or after the run this past Wednesday.  Soon I will try a longer run in the Nikes and some shorter runs on the Newton/Altra’s.  Training for the marathon will begin soon.

Just as I was thinking Altra’s and Newtons are the best shoes ever and my knee issues seem to be diminishing,  a new problem surfaces. The weekend after my trail 5K,  I ran 7 miles in the Newtons.  It was really even a jump in miles, but my left arch bothered me on this run.  I missed next two weeks running for other reasons,  and I resumed on May 25th

A week after the Thomas Larner 10K,  I ran the Crozet Running 5K Trail Run and did I ever underestimate this one!  Runners were warned that the first mile is all uphill and steep, but I blew that off as a warning to beginning runners, not ones that run 10 miles with ease. But they were not kidding and before long, I was tired and walking!  Yep,  this hurt my

I was worried about this race because it was my first time running 6 miles since the knee injury.    I was also trying out a new knee strap and didn’t know what to expect. It was a hilly course, with one long hill around mile 4, but I did not seem tired on this course, and my knee held up well,  with just some minor pain to deal with

The Altra’s are great shoes,  but my calf muscles were sore alot, and I kept wondering if I would be able to train in these shoes in the short term because of the days I needed off from running.  So I looked for another pair of running shoes that I could wear to help me transition to the Altra’s. Newton Distance III seemed to fit the bill of what I