When I was lying (awake, of course) in bed at 3:30 this morning, I heard thunder and rain outside. I thought, "Yay, Jessica will probably cancel our run this morning!" (even though canceling the run outside would simply mean I'd have to run seven long miles on the dreadmill).
But Jessica is hardcore. She never cancels! ;) So I sent her a text at 7:00 to see if maybe she didn't realize it was raining and should we cancel. Nope, we were still going to meet at 8:00 at her house.
I'm so glad that we ended up running outside anyway! The rain stopped by 7:45, and the temp was actually in the low 40's. There was a lot of slush, but no more snow. Julia and Johna went with us, too, and we did our seven-mile long run. By the way, Jessica and I decided to switch our long runs to Mondays because it was the most convenient for both of us. I'm going to run on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
I love burning that many calories at once! But I immediately think about what I can eat. Today, I was thinking of peanut butter, so after lunch I had a couple of spoonfuls. Jessica shares my peanut butter addiction, so she completely understands eating it from the jar ;)
We got a lot of snow over the weekend, and I got a chance to try out a product that is used to keep you from slipping while running (or walking) on snow and ice. Remember how I mentioned that I went to the running store, and tried on a couple of different shoe cleats? They were these rubber contraptions that you slide over your running shoes, and they have little spikes on the bottom of them to help grip the snow. They looked kind of like this:
Well, I found them really difficult to get on my shoe, and once they were on, they didn't feel very comfortable. They also didn't seem very secure on the shoe. So I decided against buying any, and then I went home to research which were the "best ones" to get. On the Runner's World website, a lot of people were talking about a product called "
Icespike", so I checked out the website for them and was a little intrigued.
I was about to order them when I decided to ask if they'd let me review a set for the blog--and I told them that I keep the blog very honest, so if I didn't like them, I wasn't going to pretend I did! ;) I received a set in the mail just in time for the snow that dumped on us out of nowhere.
Here is what the Icespikes look like:
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You get 32 spikes and the installation tool |
They are little tiny screws that have a couple of sharp prongs on the screw head that grip the snow/ice when you run. You screw these directly onto the bottom of your shoes.
I decided to use an older pair of my running shoes, since I don't need these spikes every time I run--just on the snowy or icy days. The instructions were very simple, and the whole process took less than 20 minutes to get them installed on my shoes. (Yes, my shoes are dirty and stained... but wouldn't you worry if they looked like they'd never been used?)
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First, I marked them with a Sharpie (the instructions tell you where to mark) |
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Then I just used the screwdriver tool to screw them in |
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This is how they look while screwed in |
They felt very secure (
much more-so than the slip-on cleats that I tried out). You get 32 screws, but you only use 12 on each shoe--so you have 8 leftover. The instructions said that the spikes on the heels tend to wear out faster, so you can replace those as needed with the eight extras. The Icespikes will last the life of your shoes (about 500 miles).
I was excited to give them a try, and thankfully, the snow had come in, so I dressed warmly and headed out. I was very surprised that I didn't FEEL the Icespikes on my shoes. They didn't compromise my stride at all, and while running through the snow, I actually didn't even notice that they were on. They made my footing feel very secure and after a few minutes, I stopped worrying about slipping and I just relaxed.
Overall, I think these things are PERFECT for what I was looking for! I wanted to feel safe running in the snow and even ice without wearing a clunky over-the-shoe contraption. My only complaint about them is that they are pretty loud while running on bare concrete. I made the comment to Renee and Alicia that I sounded like a horse while running on a bare patch of road. While running on the snow, however, they weren't any louder than plain old shoes.
Some positives I noted:
*Light and tiny--you barely even notice them
*They don't compromise my stride
*Easy to install
*They actually work really well!
*They're cheaper than the over-the-shoe cleats I tried on at the running store
*While I didn't try them on a muddy trail run, I imagine these would work just as well in mud as they do in snow
*You don't have to worry about what size to buy, because one size fits all
Some negatives:
*They're not something you'd want to put on and take off each time you run. You can take them off, but it would be a pain to do that every time. Having two pairs of shoes would work best.
*They're loud on bare concrete
So I'm happy that I found something I can use to train for my marathon even on our snowy days!
Here is the website, in case you want to check it out.
(Disclosure: I was provided the set of Icespikes for free, but I was not required to give a positive review. The opinions I've shared are completely my own).
I had a dentist appointment after my run this morning. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate going to the dentist? My mouth is always so sore afterward--
which I know I could remedy by flossing daily like I'm supposed to. Turns out I have a cavity :( Being almost-30 sucks as far as my dental health! I didn't get my first cavity until I was about 27 years old, and since then, I've had two more.
The dentist saw that I was dressed in my running clothes and wearing my Garmin, so he asked about my running. Turns out he's run three full marathons, among other races. He ran the one in St. George that I read about on
The Boring Runner's blog--check out the elevation profile on that! After seeing that, I told Jessica that we had our whole strategy wrong, trying to find a FLAT course ;) (If you've never checked out Adam's blog, you're missing out--despite calling himself "boring", he is very funny!)
Anyway, I have to go back to the dentist to get a filling. Luckily (or not) he had a cancellation tomorrow morning, so I won't have to wait too long.
Jerry is off work tomorrow, and I am SOOO happy about that! We are supposed to go out to lunch for my birthday, but we may not if my mouth is still numb. Either way, I'll be happy to spend some time with him since he's been working so much lately.