Requiem for NB 833s
This morning before I walked out the door I (shall we say) "disposed of" my old New Balance 833s. I ran my last two marathons, both in PR times, in them, as well as a few PRs at lesser distances and recently I've been using them as trainers. The outer part of the heel in both shoes were completely worn down to where I was running on the midsole. Their time had come, but somehow it wasn't proper to just get rid of them. Given the condition of the sole, their dirty appearance and their fragrance, I wouldn't donate them anywhere, but short of getting them bronzed, what to do?
The magnitude of this passing becomes greater as NB discontinued the 833 line, so now I'm running in 825s. I first wore this pair at Broad Street and did alright there, and now they are relegated to training shoes because there is no point in my currently having designated racers as I've got no races lined up in the near future. If I'm happy with the 825s, I'll get another pair
in in a month or so that I'll reserve for racing.
Aren't you glad you know all this about my shoes?!
Ran the 13.5 mile BN loop this morning in what is now my 8th consecutive double digit mileage day. Temps are forecast to go into the 90s today, and it felt it. Nonetheless it was a solid run. Dropped my time on the four river miles to 27:15; and on the BN stretch to 9:05. I find myself taking this loop more strategically - warm up the first 3.5 miles to the Art Museum, go the next 4 hard but aerobic - monitoring my breathing and each time a little faster than last; do the hill hard and again monitor breathing; and take the last 4.5 as cooldown miles. For the warmup and the cooldown I try to up the pace a bit so as to get comfortable at a progressively incrementally faster pace, but I find that when I cut my time down, most of it comes from doing the hard middle distance a bit harder. However it comes, I did the whole 13.5 in 99:06 - always satisfied to break 100 minutes on this loop. And I'm intrigued by the new approach I'm developing for taking this course.
So now you also have the minutiae of my morning run. What's left?
On Friday I said that several folks were running marathons over the weekend. I don't think anyone finished as fast as they had hoped, although judging by their times they certainly did more than respectably. I talked with both Allan and Ian after their races, running a 2:41 and 2:51 respectively. Again, very good but I knew both of them were going for faster times. In talking with them both I felt at a loss for words of what to say. Didn't want to give them platitudes nor did I want to intimate they ran badly.
Looking back, I should have just said, "Good run; too bad conditions were so difficult this weekend." And then, the next time I talk to folks after a marathon, I'd just like to listen. I can listen all day to people talk about their marathons, regardless of time completed. But such talk doesn't come out so well over the phone, it comes out better on a long easy run, perhaps after a week or two when the experience settles and the legs and head are both up for running a longer distance again. Side by side, looking straight ahead, and alot of time to fill so there is no need to skimp on details. So after getting the nuts and bolts, giving my congratulations, I'll just say, "lets get together for a run soon and I'd like to hear all about it." Now that I think of it, Ian closed the phone call saying just that - we'd have to get together for a run soon.
Good idea.
The magnitude of this passing becomes greater as NB discontinued the 833 line, so now I'm running in 825s. I first wore this pair at Broad Street and did alright there, and now they are relegated to training shoes because there is no point in my currently having designated racers as I've got no races lined up in the near future. If I'm happy with the 825s, I'll get another pair
in in a month or so that I'll reserve for racing.
Aren't you glad you know all this about my shoes?!
Ran the 13.5 mile BN loop this morning in what is now my 8th consecutive double digit mileage day. Temps are forecast to go into the 90s today, and it felt it. Nonetheless it was a solid run. Dropped my time on the four river miles to 27:15; and on the BN stretch to 9:05. I find myself taking this loop more strategically - warm up the first 3.5 miles to the Art Museum, go the next 4 hard but aerobic - monitoring my breathing and each time a little faster than last; do the hill hard and again monitor breathing; and take the last 4.5 as cooldown miles. For the warmup and the cooldown I try to up the pace a bit so as to get comfortable at a progressively incrementally faster pace, but I find that when I cut my time down, most of it comes from doing the hard middle distance a bit harder. However it comes, I did the whole 13.5 in 99:06 - always satisfied to break 100 minutes on this loop. And I'm intrigued by the new approach I'm developing for taking this course.
So now you also have the minutiae of my morning run. What's left?
On Friday I said that several folks were running marathons over the weekend. I don't think anyone finished as fast as they had hoped, although judging by their times they certainly did more than respectably. I talked with both Allan and Ian after their races, running a 2:41 and 2:51 respectively. Again, very good but I knew both of them were going for faster times. In talking with them both I felt at a loss for words of what to say. Didn't want to give them platitudes nor did I want to intimate they ran badly.
Looking back, I should have just said, "Good run; too bad conditions were so difficult this weekend." And then, the next time I talk to folks after a marathon, I'd just like to listen. I can listen all day to people talk about their marathons, regardless of time completed. But such talk doesn't come out so well over the phone, it comes out better on a long easy run, perhaps after a week or two when the experience settles and the legs and head are both up for running a longer distance again. Side by side, looking straight ahead, and alot of time to fill so there is no need to skimp on details. So after getting the nuts and bolts, giving my congratulations, I'll just say, "lets get together for a run soon and I'd like to hear all about it." Now that I think of it, Ian closed the phone call saying just that - we'd have to get together for a run soon.
Good idea.
posted by seebo | 10:13 AM
2 Comments:
Those 833's should definitely end up over an electric wire in your neighborhood.
Seebo, I love the 833's too. I saw that the 825s are 10.7 oz where as the 833s where 10.1 (or 10.3). Can you tell the difference in the weight? Hopefully they 825s still have that slipper feel.
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