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Hello everybody and welcome to 
the Docs Running Podcast where 

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we, a group of doctors, physical
therapy, discussed the art and 

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science of running and the stuff
that we put on our feet. 

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A few weeks ago I joked that it 
would be painful to have to sit 

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through a solo episode of mine 
and lo and behold, today is 

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actually that day where we're 
going to run through a solo 

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episode with me. 
The rest of the team recorded 

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their year picks for their best 
training shoes, racing shoes, 

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trail shoes, stuff like that. 
This year I've had a little bit 

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of a unique kind of trajectory 
of the entire year, I guess 

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we'll say. 
And so my ability to contribute 

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to a best of series was a little
bit limited, and I'm going to go

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into why that was. 
But I am going to talk about the

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shoes that I did test some 
things that I learned about 

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myself, about my feet and my 
preferences, and some of the 

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shoes that kind of stuck out to 
me in the way that this year 

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unfolded for myself. 
So buckle up. 

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We're in for a solo episode with
me. 

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I'm Nathan Brown. 
But I am excited to share a 

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little bit of what my story has 
been this year. 

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And some of the shoes that I've 
appreciated, some that I enjoyed

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that I didn't necessarily think 
I would and some others that I 

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think our considerations for 
people with certain types of 

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injuries or pain. 
So let's first just start with 

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kind of what my year has been. 
So I came into 2023 pretty 

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healthy. 
I had a really fun first half of

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the year. 
I was able to kind of get on my 

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feet and get some training in 
for a five mile race and kind 

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of. 
I brought myself back into the 

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racing scene with a local race 
we have. 

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It's called the Bach Run. 
It's a five mile out and back 

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from the local brewery. 
It's super fun. 

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A couple thousand people show up
to to run it and had a really 

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fun race and I'll talk about the
shoes from that later. 

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Then I continued my training 
plan towards a 20K that I ran in

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Madison and that was super fun 
because I felt like I was 

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finally back at it after a 
couple years of being a little 

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bit down in terms of my fitness 
and my shape. 

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And I ran that race and if it 
were 1/2 marathon I would have 

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PR Ed by a couple minutes. 
I was feeling really good and 

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had a really wonderful race. 
Then I just continued running. 

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I had no other specific racing 
goals for the rest of the year. 

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I was going to do another half 
marathon in the fall, but I did 

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with a friend want to do a lot 
more trail running this year. 

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So we have the Ice Age Trail in 
Wisconsin which is over 1000 

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miles and it kind of runs up and
down the state of Wisconsin. 

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It's a pretty neat thing. 
So we picked a couple of the 

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counties around us and we wanted
to cover all of the distance of 

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the Ice Age Trail in those 
counties. 

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So I did a lot more trail 
running this year and then at 

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some point in mid-july it was 
around the time where I went out

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actually for David's wedding in 
California. 

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We took our whole family out 
there, did a Disney thing. 

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It was really fun. 
But around that time I started 

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getting pain on the planter 
surface of my foot, right under 

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the the big toe. 
And actually that week in 

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California was the first week 
that I chose not to run at all. 

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And walking around Disney, I had
a lot of pain in that region. 

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And it turned out that I the 
pain just kept getting worse and

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worse. 
If I would try to run, the pain 

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would get worse. 
And then I noticed that the kind

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of the ball of my foot was about
three times the size is the 

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other side. 
And that was my sign that this 

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isn't just a little niggle, this
is something else that's going 

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on. 
So I gave myself a full 9 weeks 

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off of running or I didn't run 
at all. 

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And within that time, I did go 
get an MRI and I'll talk about 

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that later. 
But then I kind of after these 

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nine weeks, tried to get back 
into running a little bit and 

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the pain wasn't necessarily 
getting worse, but it also 

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wasn't improving. 
So I tried some graded 

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progression loading for probably
like four to six weeks. 

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And then now I'm in a period 
where I've been off of running 

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again for three more weeks and I
can finally say that I do think 

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it's actually getting better, 
which is really cool. 

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So I'll go into that a little 
bit more. 

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So big picture, my year has been
one where I was really excited 

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about kind of where my running 
was going and my fitness levels 

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and kind of some goals that I 
might be able to set over the 

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next couple of years. 
And then I ran into some Rd. 

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bumps that I just didn't 
necessarily expect. 

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So with that said, this year I 
only tested well only. 

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It's a funny thing, I tested 
like 35 to 40 shoes. 

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I have them all written down. 
I went back through my calendar 

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and I write down all the runs 
and what shoes I do them in and 

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I said 35 to 40 shoes. 
And I'm going to talk about 

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those and how they fit into both
my just normal training, which 

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ones really stuck out to me. 
And then I'm going to also talk 

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about which ones just didn't 
work for me because of what was 

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going on with my foot. 
So I guess let's start there to 

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give you a little bit more 
details. 

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I when I got my pain that was 
getting worse and worse, a 

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couple of the tests that I did 
clinically on myself and with 

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another PT that I had here 
locally, we did resistance 

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testing of the first toe to see 
hey does activation of the 

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tendons on that area of the foot
causing irritation. 

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Nothing would bother and I could
push as hard as I wanted through

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that toe. 
None of those tendons caused 

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pain. 
We also would kind of stretch it

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into extension or pull the big 
toe, go back as far as we could.

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That was a little bit painful, 
but nothing super remarkable, 

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but just a lot of it was really 
just pressure. 

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And I would be standing on that 
foot and I would get kind of, it

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felt like there was a a ball on 
the bottom of the foot that was 

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just pushing into like a very 
small marble pushing into my 

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foot. 
A lot of times that marble 

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sensation is more lateral on the
foot or more towards the 5th toe

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or it's between 2:00 and 3:00 
and that's considered a Morton's

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Neuroma. 
But this didn't line up with 

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that, it was a little bit 
different. 

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So one of my big concerns was, 
is this a sesamoid fracture. 

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So the sesamoid is, are these 
small floating bones on the base

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of the the first toe. 
And so that was actually what 

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sparked me to, hey, let's go get
some imaging and make sure that 

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there's not anything going on. 
So I had some X-rays. 

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They were clear. 
If it was a stress fracture of 

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some kind, those wouldn't show 
up anyway. 

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And then I went and got the MRI 
and that showed a couple of 

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things. 
Basically, if you've heard of 

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the, if you've heard of turf 
toe, that's what I have. 

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So it did show a couple things 
on the MRI and I'll go into that

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in a second. 
But it was the medial 

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sesmophalangeal ligament was 
torn. 

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And so that is the, it's also 
called the plantar plate or the 

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volar plate and it's the one 
that connects from the sesamoid 

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and between the like long bone 
or the tarsal bone and then the 

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first phalanx. 
So it had a some tearing in 

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there. 
And the other thing that was on 

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there was some tendinopathy or 
tendinosis of the flexor house 

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as long as tendon which is a 
tendon that runs through that 

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region as well. 
So then when you get MRI 

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results, anyone who gets MRI 
results, you have to make sure 

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that your clinical presentation 
lines up with what the MRI is 

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showing because abnormal 
findings on Mris happen all the 

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time. 
So just because you may get an 

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MRI on your back and it says 
that you have a bulging disc at 

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these certain levels or you have
degenerative joint disease or 

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degenerative disc disease, that 
doesn't necessarily mean that's 

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what's causing your symptoms. 
It's common for people to have 

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abnormal symptoms in the back. 
For example, by the time we're 

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5050% of people have 
degenerative joint disease with 

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no pain. 
So I think when I got those MRI 

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results, the question was what 
lines up with my clinical 

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presentation. 
And because of the swelling that

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was getting really, really large
and the irritability that would 

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happen when I would bring my 
foot into extension depending on

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what type of shoes I would wear,
both me and the orthopedist that

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I was working with agreed that 
it probably was primarily this 

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turf toe or plantar plate 
rupture that were causing the 

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symptoms. 
Which honestly is a really 

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frustrating thing because when 
it comes to a lot of the more 

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common running injuries, you 
think about Achilles, 

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tendinopathy, patellar, 
tendinopathy, IT band stuff, all

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of these different types of 
injuries that have to do with a 

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tendon or a muscle, Those you 
can do a lot for when it comes 

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to rehab. 
You can do loading exercises, 

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you can do progressive loading 
programs where something like 

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this, where it's a ligament 
tear, you have to protect it and

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give it time. 
And if you remember back to the 

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episode that Matt and I talked 
about a lot of times, the 

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healing time frame for ligaments
can be even up to six months. 

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And that's assuming that you 
don't do anything to reset the 

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process or and and assuming that
you put it in positions that 

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allow it to go through the 
healing process that it needs 

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to. 
So I wanted to try it on that 

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early. 
That's why my phases of running 

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where I started with 9 weeks off
of running and I was both 

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listening to my symptoms as well
as looking at that time model 

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and thinking, OK, it's been 9 
weeks. 

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I'm going to start giving it 
this progressive loading I used 

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on my treadmill. 
I used. 

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I have a lever system. 
So I hooked up on that and did 

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some running and it never hurt 
while I was running. 

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But I did notice that after I 
would go on these runs that were

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limited even to 5 minutes up to 
30 minutes, I could just notice 

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the next day. 
And the day after it was just a 

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little bit more sore. 
And after again, four to six 

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weeks of trying to see what I 
continue to improve, even if I 

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try to give in some loading, it 
just wasn't ready. 

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So that's now where I'm at with 
again, I'm taking another long 

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period of time. 
I'm, I'm going to take off, it's

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December 10th today. 
I've kind of committed to 

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finishing the year out resting 
from running, but in the 

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meantime I've been doing a lot 
of other types of exercises. 

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So that's kind of the background
of of what the injury was and 

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again it's frustrating because 
it's not like I can do a lot of 

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this loading to directly help 
this issue. 

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However, what I have been doing 
is a lot of loading of my first 

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so of the flexor halas as long 
as because there's that 

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tendinosis there. 
I was like hey if it's there I 

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might as well treat it. 
So I am doing a loading program 

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for that. 
I've been doing other foot 

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intrinsic strengthening and 
strengthening for other parts of

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my arms and legs, but I've 
learned a lot about myself when 

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it comes to diligence and 
consistency with things outside 

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of running, and I'll go into 
that later. 

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Let's take a pause about my own 
journey of this year and let's 

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enter into some shoe 
conversations. 

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So I want to talk first about 
the daily trainers that really 

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worked for me this year and the 
ones that maybe didn't work so 

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well for me. 
There's a couple that I want to 

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highlight. 
The first was one that I 

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mentioned in our mid year kind 
of conversation about the best 

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shoes for the first half and it 
was the Clifton 9 that was a 

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shoe that really, really worked 
well for me. 

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I got a lot of long runs in on 
that shoe and it's, as I talked 

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about then, it's a Clifton. 
They didn't do anything crazy to

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change the geometry or anything 
like that, but it's just that 

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new phone compound gives it a 
little bit extra bounce that 

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made it really enjoyable for 
those easy runs. 

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But also I took this on multiple
runs over 13 and 15 miles and 

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both of those felt great. 
It felt like they had life the 

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whole time. 
One of them was on a on a cold, 

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really cold day, really, really 
cold day, like like a under 10° 

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kind of a day and it felt good 
overall and it was dry pavement 

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and stuff. 
It's not like I was on ice or 

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anything, but it's just really 
cold and it and it held up 

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really well there and I just 
liked lacing it up. 

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The only issue with it for me is
despite it having a slightly 

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wider toe box, I do wish that it
was even a little bit wider or I

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just got the wide version. 
But the Clifton Nine was still a

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top shoe for me given just that 
new foam compound and overall 

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just smooth transitions. 
And it did well, both of the 

224
00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:38,240
easy paces and when I wanted to 
pick it up a little bit, another

225
00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:40,920
shoe that came out this year 
that did work for me really 

226
00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:42,960
well. 
And it was actually a shoe I was

227
00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:46,840
testing around the time when I 
started to get some pain. 

228
00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:51,000
Very unrelated, but it was the 
Kinvara Pro. 

229
00:11:51,640 --> 00:11:54,600
Very different than the the 
Clifton because of how stiff it 

230
00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:56,280
is. 
Because of the plate, obviously 

231
00:11:56,280 --> 00:12:00,160
a very high stack, you have the 
layer of PB on the top, layer of

232
00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:03,160
power run on the bottom. 
But what worked for me is the 

233
00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:08,040
level of aggressiveness of the 
rocker was gradual enough for me

234
00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:09,920
to just get into a long run 
rhythm. 

235
00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:12,880
So this was just a floater shoe 
for me. 

236
00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:16,120
I could put it on and I could 
just pound miles out and it felt

237
00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:21,160
really, really good. 
The the plate design and the 

238
00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:24,120
stiffness of the forefoot. 
It actually worked really well 

239
00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:27,760
for the injury I had because 
again that plate on the bottom 

240
00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:32,240
of the foot is is put on stretch
when you extend the toe. 

241
00:12:32,560 --> 00:12:34,840
So when I start to talk about 
some of the shoes that worked 

242
00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:38,480
well for me in that phase, I'll 
explain that toe spring and 

243
00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:41,360
flexibility of the forefoot 
weren't ideal for running. 

244
00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:44,680
And so that's why this was 
actually a really good option. 

245
00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:47,600
The only issue is that I was 
also really sensitive to how 

246
00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:50,840
tight the beginning part of a 
toe box was. 

247
00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:55,200
And so the Kinvara Pro, despite 
having some room, was still a 

248
00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:56,760
little bit more of a stiff 
upper. 

249
00:12:56,920 --> 00:13:00,000
It doesn't have a super amount 
of give and it was just a little

250
00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:01,680
bit too snug. 
And so when I would get that 

251
00:13:01,680 --> 00:13:03,760
compression to just cause 
irritation to my foot. 

252
00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:07,000
So this could have been a great 
option for me moving forward as 

253
00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:10,040
I was as I'm coming back from 
running, but it's just a little 

254
00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:12,160
bit too snug to to pull that 
off. 

255
00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:16,000
Another trainer that I wanted to
touch on was actually the 

256
00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:20,920
Cumulus 25 from ASICS. 
Huge update to the Cumulus not 

257
00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:23,760
really recognizable in a lot of 
ways to the old models. 

258
00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:26,560
They really did a lot with the 
geometry and the flaring of the 

259
00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:29,200
sole, the shaping and the 
sculpting of it. 

260
00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:33,040
They really gave it an upgrade. 
And this was 1 shoe that just 

261
00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:35,600
didn't work for me this year. 
I like the direction that 

262
00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:37,040
they're going. 
They want to give it a little 

263
00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:40,760
bit more life, but I think that 
the posterior flare and the 

264
00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:44,040
lateral flare combined on this 
shoe was just too much. 

265
00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:46,040
They put a lot of width here to 
add. 

266
00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:48,320
They want to add some structure 
and stability to these training 

267
00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:51,280
shoes, but because of the 
flaring and the lack of bevel 

268
00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:53,120
that that didn't take it out of 
the way. 

269
00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:56,720
I felt like I got a lot of 
motion, medial and lateral on my

270
00:13:56,720 --> 00:13:59,200
foot because of where I land. 
I land a little bit further 

271
00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:02,400
back, which puts a little bit 
more landing on that posterior 

272
00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:04,520
lateral side. 
And because of that flaring, 

273
00:14:04,680 --> 00:14:06,680
there's more of a moment around 
the ankle. 

274
00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:08,760
So I just never was able to find
a rhythm. 

275
00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:11,520
It felt clunky through the heel 
and I think that it's one that 

276
00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:14,480
I'm excited to see what how they
refine it because they have been

277
00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:18,640
good at making changes quickly, 
I should say they've been good 

278
00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:21,400
at that in the last, you know, 
five years or so, right after 

279
00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:23,760
they revamped everything. 
So I'm excited to see where they

280
00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:25,480
go. 
But this was just a shoe that I 

281
00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:29,920
think if you're a Cumulus person
and you want to keep going with 

282
00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:33,160
the Cumulus line, I would kind 
of wait to see the next 

283
00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:36,160
advancements and what they do 
with kind of the 26 and where 

284
00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:38,920
they go from there. 
Another shoe that I wanted to 

285
00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:42,840
point out that I really enjoyed 
was the Cloud Surfer from on. 

286
00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:44,920
This was the first shoe that 
they came out with, their kind 

287
00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:48,680
of new phased pod design and it 
really just softened up the ride

288
00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:52,000
a ton. 
I'm not necessarily a huge fan 

289
00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:55,560
of salt, like super soft shoes, 
but this one was really 

290
00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:59,200
enjoyable to run in for those 
easy runs and it does feel light

291
00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:01,720
enough and had a really 
comfortable and wide, wide 

292
00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:03,800
forefoot upper. 
So this is 1. 

293
00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:07,760
If you're thinking about trying 
on, you kind of have to decide 

294
00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:10,320
what life of on do I want to go 
into. 

295
00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:12,440
Do I want to go into their 
traditional models, In which 

296
00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:15,640
case you could look at something
like the Cloud Monster or the 

297
00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:17,320
Cloud Flow. 
They have kind of their more 

298
00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:20,600
typical design of the of these 
clouds. 

299
00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:23,800
Or do you want their really soft
experience? 

300
00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:26,400
Then I'd come here. 
And they also had the Cloud 

301
00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:29,760
Eclipse, which I have not tested
yet, but I think this is a 

302
00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:32,800
really fun shoe from on that the
geometry works really well. 

303
00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:36,680
It's really soft, a little bit 
of a pop to it and it's held up 

304
00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:38,840
pretty well from the miles that 
I put on it. 

305
00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:43,520
The last shoe that I wanted to 
talk about is the Nova Blast 4, 

306
00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:46,200
so I did put out a comparison 
video on this shoe. 

307
00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:52,600
The Nova Blast 3 is my favorite 
trainer of 20/20/2022 and I only

308
00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:55,720
have Full disclosure, I only 
have like 2 two runs in this 

309
00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:59,080
shoe, but from what I ran in it 
I have really enjoyed it. 

310
00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:02,120
I can pretty much guarantee that
once I'm up and running again 

311
00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:04,120
this would be a shoe that I 
would reach for. 

312
00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:06,920
It does have a little bit more 
stiffness in the forefoot than 

313
00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:09,560
the previous version. 
I put both mom, but that could 

314
00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:12,400
be because I have multiple 100 
miles obviously on my other one 

315
00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:14,160
which can change how flexible it
is. 

316
00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:18,160
So it just feels a little bit 
more stable again through the 

317
00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:21,440
heel they did, it seemed like 
they widened the base a little 

318
00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:26,760
bit and it just it just is 
another another Novoblast and 

319
00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:29,240
I've been really enjoying those 
even since version 2. 

320
00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:33,280
Version three was my favorite 
and I just love how how 

321
00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:35,760
cushioned the forefoot feels 
with the grooves that they cut 

322
00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:38,680
out and kind of this pat crash 
pad that they put in the 

323
00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:40,680
forefoot. 
So those are a couple trainers 

324
00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:45,800
that stuck out to me this year. 
I another one that I wish worked

325
00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:48,960
better for me was the Invincible
from Nike. 

326
00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:52,240
Cushioning was fantastic. 
I did a lot of really great 

327
00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:56,080
workouts, long run workouts in 
that shoe leading up to MY20K, 

328
00:16:56,560 --> 00:17:01,400
but the only issue was that the 
heel construction in the hold 

329
00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:04,960
was pretty wretched. 
So it was so loose that rocks 

330
00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:08,319
from I run on the Green circle 
trail around Stevens Point which

331
00:17:08,319 --> 00:17:11,599
is a granite crushed granite 
trail and rocks would even be 

332
00:17:11,599 --> 00:17:13,839
able to slide into my shoe. 
That's how loose it was. 

333
00:17:13,839 --> 00:17:16,000
It would just slide around under
foot. 

334
00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:19,079
Feel was awesome. 
Lot of great things about having

335
00:17:19,079 --> 00:17:23,000
that mod mode of Zumax 
underneath, it just didn't work 

336
00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:27,720
from a from a fit perspective. 
Now contrast that with testing 

337
00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:31,040
the Vimero 17 that was a really 
nice daily trainer was my first 

338
00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:34,080
Vimero that I've ran in, but I 
had dual density midsole, He had

339
00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:37,000
some Zoom X on the top and the 
fit was just way better. 

340
00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:40,520
Definitely more of like a 
comfortable cruising kind of 

341
00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:44,640
daily trainer, but I I would 
hope that they can take some of 

342
00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:48,480
the construction of the heel fit
on that shoe or pretty much any 

343
00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:51,080
of their shoes and put it into 
the Invincible. 

344
00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:54,120
I think that it would make it a 
shoe that I would reach for all 

345
00:17:54,120 --> 00:17:55,800
the time. 
The one thing that other thing I

346
00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:59,880
would notice about the the 
Invincible is that the upper 

347
00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:02,720
minimizes stretch as well. 
The Vimera is more that 

348
00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:04,960
comfortable, Cruiser has a 
little bit of a flexible upper, 

349
00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:08,800
The Invincible has more of a 
rigid upper that tries to lock 

350
00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:10,840
everything down. 
They just failed in the heel to 

351
00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:12,520
make it work. 
But in the forefoot, at that 

352
00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:14,680
little bit lower volume, it's 
going to lock the foot in so it 

353
00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:17,200
doesn't have a lot of stretch. 
And with the way again that my 

354
00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:20,440
foot has been working with me, 
I'm curious to see if that lack 

355
00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:22,120
of flexibility would cause me 
issues. 

356
00:18:22,360 --> 00:18:25,760
But I hadn't been testing that 
at the time when my foot started

357
00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:28,040
to bother me. 
Let's see. 

358
00:18:28,040 --> 00:18:31,040
I think the other shoe that I 
did want to give a little bit of

359
00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:36,200
a shout out to was the Topo 
Phantom 3 That there is from 

360
00:18:36,360 --> 00:18:39,720
From a boring shoe standpoint, 
this is kind of like epitomizes 

361
00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:41,360
it. 
But I never think that boring is

362
00:18:41,360 --> 00:18:43,720
bad. 
It has a good amount of cushion 

363
00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:47,280
underneath, has a little bit of 
a drop, and it has a nice wide 

364
00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:49,720
toe box and transitions fine 
front to back. 

365
00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:52,240
Really great for standing and 
walking around at work. 

366
00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:54,720
The colorway just wasn't 
conducive. 

367
00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:57,880
The one that I got for wearing 
it at work all the time, but 

368
00:18:57,880 --> 00:19:00,760
super comfortable for walking, 
really comfortable for easy 

369
00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:02,200
runs. 
I wouldn't take it on anything 

370
00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:04,680
fast, but it it could cruise 
really, really nicely. 

371
00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:09,680
And then let's move on to some 
of the trail stuff that that I 

372
00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:13,160
that I Oh no, I did want to see 
one other thing, but I noticed 

373
00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:17,320
about my experience with daily 
trainers this year, even before 

374
00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:20,080
my injury started. 
The thing that would turn me off

375
00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:23,560
the most, the thing that was the
most consistent issue was upper 

376
00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:26,960
fit. 
So I talked about the 

377
00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:31,120
Invincible, even some of the 
ways that the that I talked 

378
00:19:31,120 --> 00:19:34,320
about the Kinvara Pro. 
There were a lot of things with 

379
00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:36,440
these uppers that they were just
a little bit too snug in the 

380
00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:38,560
forefoot, didn't hold the heel 
down well. 

381
00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:41,400
And I think I learned this year 
how much I value a good fit in a

382
00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:43,800
shoe, making sure that it's 
something that I'm not going to 

383
00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:45,960
have to worry about at all when 
I go out and run. 

384
00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:50,000
That's why I did really like the
Cloud Surfer because that fit is

385
00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:51,800
really comfortable. 
Good amount of cushioning in the

386
00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:54,800
heel, but not too much 
cushioning in the heel where it 

387
00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:58,360
got sloppy and then the forefoot
had enough room to let the foot 

388
00:19:58,360 --> 00:20:01,000
kind of breathe. 
So really, really good fit 

389
00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:02,920
there. 
Another shoe with good fit that 

390
00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:05,440
I appreciated and I'll talk 
about the shoe when I talk about

391
00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:08,720
ones that work for me with my 
injury is the Saucony Triumph 

392
00:20:08,760 --> 00:20:11,600
RFG, so that's run for good. 
This is their sustainable model.

393
00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:16,840
This upper is kind of like that 
more true sock like upper where 

394
00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:20,160
it's more of a. 
Cloth material, and it has a 

395
00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:21,680
good amount of flexibility to 
it. 

396
00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:25,400
I really like how comfortable 
that forefoot is in adapting to 

397
00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:28,360
the foot, and they still did a 
nice job getting the heel to 

398
00:20:28,360 --> 00:20:31,640
lock in really well. 
So for me fit really, really 

399
00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:34,040
matters and I'll talk about it 
again further when I talk about 

400
00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:36,640
shoes that did and didn't work 
for me specifically. 

401
00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:41,600
So I said that I got to try out 
a bit more trail life this year 

402
00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:44,120
on the Ice Age Trail. 
Ice Age Trail is like a single 

403
00:20:44,120 --> 00:20:46,400
track hiking trail. 
It's one that some people like 

404
00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:48,800
through hike and do the whole 
the whole deal. 

405
00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:51,720
Obviously I went out with my 
friend to do just segments of it

406
00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:54,160
throughout the year and it was 
super fun. 

407
00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:57,360
So a couple of shoes that I 
tested did the Speed Goat, 

408
00:20:57,360 --> 00:21:01,200
Exodus Ultra 2 from Saucony 
Brooks Catamount 2, Solomon 

409
00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:05,280
Ultra Glide 2, Topo Terra 
Venture 4, Endorphin Rift and 

410
00:21:05,280 --> 00:21:09,520
the Ultra Fly from Nike. 
So the shoes that really stuck 

411
00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:15,480
out to me were the Solomon Ultra
Glide 2, the Speed Goat and the 

412
00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:17,360
Rift. 
Those were the three where if I 

413
00:21:17,360 --> 00:21:20,320
was going to be in the market 
for buying a shoe for the 

414
00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:23,480
trails, those would be the three
that I'd go to and I'll kind of 

415
00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:27,400
talk through why. 
So Speaking of fit, I had to get

416
00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:29,040
the wide version for the speed 
goat. 

417
00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:33,160
I know this shoe is not the 
newest or not the most, you 

418
00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:35,000
know, didn't just drop or 
anything like that. 

419
00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:39,280
But the consistency of the Speed
Goat has not too deep of lugs, 

420
00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:42,000
they're probably 4mm or so. 
Somebody can correct me if I'm 

421
00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:46,400
wrong, but has a a nice lug 
pattern, really grippy in all 

422
00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:50,240
directions but not too high 
where if you're on pavement you 

423
00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:51,560
could get away with it for a 
little while. 

424
00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:53,440
Which is nice for the Ice Age 
trail because there are 

425
00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:56,120
connector segments. 
So I found this to be a really 

426
00:21:56,400 --> 00:22:00,040
comfortable cruiser to be able 
to go from the trail to the road

427
00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:01,960
for short distances. 
I wouldn't just take this on 

428
00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:04,600
road runs and then back onto the
trail. 

429
00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:07,640
I also really loved the shoe in 
the winter. 

430
00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:11,040
I found that the upper was warm 
enough. 

431
00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:13,280
This is not the Gore Tex 
version, this is just the 

432
00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:16,200
regular version, but it was warm
enough where I could just have 

433
00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:19,440
my typical socks. 
I can wear this shoe and get get

434
00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:22,040
by just fine. 
And then the traction that was 

435
00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:26,040
added from the outsole was great
for going on to a little bit of 

436
00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:30,200
snowy kind of snow covered roads
and big big fan of the Speed 

437
00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:32,440
Goat 5. 
Pretty simple and smooth. 

438
00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:34,560
The rocker just kind of rolls 
you through, but it isn't 

439
00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:39,320
aggressive in the same way. 
That's part of why I loved the 

440
00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:43,720
Ultra Glide 2 from Solomon and 
this would I still think this 

441
00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:46,920
was my favorite trail shoot from
2023. 

442
00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:50,800
Pretty similar in terms of the 
depth of the lugs on the 

443
00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:53,240
outsole. 
A little bit less aggressive and

444
00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:56,680
even more smooth on the roads. 
I took this on over a 15 Miller 

445
00:22:56,680 --> 00:22:59,640
on the roads. 
It was a really snowy day so I 

446
00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:02,880
did have some something on the 
ground, but I was on the roads 

447
00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:05,360
and I had over 15 miles in this 
chute. 

448
00:23:05,360 --> 00:23:07,800
It it worked fantastic both for 
grip. 

449
00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:10,520
It it didn't. 
Despite it being a cloth upper, 

450
00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:14,200
it didn't hold water too bad. 
It was a very slushy day and I 

451
00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:18,000
just really appreciated it. 
Took this on multiple 10 plus 

452
00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:21,920
mile trail runs and just the 
type of rocker you can just see.

453
00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:24,880
It's very gradual, goes from 
heel to forefoot. 

454
00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:28,240
There isn't like a flat surface 
in the back, it's completely 

455
00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:31,160
rockered from front to back and 
it just worked so well 

456
00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:35,200
traversing the trails flexible 
enough to adapt to the some of 

457
00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:38,720
the surfaces. 
Excuse me, Flexible enough to 

458
00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:42,640
adapt to some of the surfaces on
the trail, but not so flexible 

459
00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:44,360
that it didn't give you a little
bit of guidance. 

460
00:23:44,360 --> 00:23:47,720
So I just felt like glide is a 
good word for this shoe. 

461
00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:52,280
It just moved really well and 
and I appreciated it both on the

462
00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:55,920
road when I was doing kind of 
snowy runs but also when I took 

463
00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:59,200
it out this summer in the spring
on those trails, single track 

464
00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:01,880
trails, there was a lot of mud 
some of those days it just 

465
00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:05,520
worked really, really well and 
it was my my top shoe of the 

466
00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:07,880
year for trail. 
But the other one that I did 

467
00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:10,560
want to talk about that I think 
I had the most fun running in 

468
00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:14,600
was the Endorphin Rift. 
So a couple years ago tested the

469
00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:16,680
Endorphin edge. 
It's got a plate in it. 

470
00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:18,960
It has the power and PB. 
It's a little it's a higher 

471
00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:23,200
stack shoe that came out with 
the Rift that is a little bit 

472
00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:25,200
lower stack but still has that 
power and PB. 

473
00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:26,920
But it's a little bit more 
flexible as well. 

474
00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:30,960
So it felt way more nimble and I
enjoyed it more and I felt more 

475
00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:34,280
safe running in this shoe than I
did the endorphin edge on the 

476
00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:38,360
trails and just really liked the
under foot feel. 

477
00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:40,960
You can see the lugs are a 
little bit deeper, a little bit 

478
00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:43,280
more aggressive than the other 
shoes that I talked about. 

479
00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:47,280
So I really like this more for 
pure trail running and but I 

480
00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:50,400
really thought that the under 
foot feel was really fun but it 

481
00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:54,120
wasn't too much too much foam 
where it's in the edge. 

482
00:24:54,120 --> 00:24:57,560
Sometimes I felt like it was so 
high that I could roll an ankle.

483
00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:01,000
I did not feel that at all in 
the in the Rift. 

484
00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:04,200
The only thing about the Rift 
that I didn't like back to my 

485
00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:07,480
mantra of the year is the upper 
has I think some work to do. 

486
00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:10,200
They have a pretty they have a 
really stiff heel counter in 

487
00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:13,640
here and not a lot of Patty and 
they also have a very rigid kind

488
00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:17,000
of collar around the neck or 
like the throat of the shoe. 

489
00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:19,480
And so that was a little bit 
uncomfortable. 

490
00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:22,640
I sometimes would feel it on the
runs, especially this heel part 

491
00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:25,400
would kind of dig in. 
I think that this is could be 

492
00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:28,000
all very well refined. 
They also have this lacing 

493
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:30,440
system where it's kind of a 
booty construction, which is 

494
00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:33,760
fine and good. 
But this lacing portion for the 

495
00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:37,920
more proximal part of the lace 
is made of a pretty dense 

496
00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:40,640
plastic and I could feel that a 
little bit in my foot. 

497
00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:43,960
So if they could refine kind of 
this back half of the upper, 

498
00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:47,680
this would probably or I would 
have the chance to take over my 

499
00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:50,560
top trail shoe. 
But just as it is, the Ultra 

500
00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:54,280
Glide is the one that I could 
use for hiking and I could use 

501
00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:58,160
for going out for some runs. 
And so that's why I like to 

502
00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:00,200
choose this shoe. 
It's just the versatility there,

503
00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:03,960
all right. 
The other shoe that I did want 

504
00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:10,160
to mention and it's it's from 
that it's from Topo and it was 

505
00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:15,120
the Terra Venture 4 and I would 
call it the like the lone peak 

506
00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:18,120
of Topo. 
So the lone peak for Ultra is 

507
00:26:18,120 --> 00:26:22,760
like this through hiking shoe, 
really flexible, kind of 

508
00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:25,000
minimalized. 
A lot of the stuff around the 

509
00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:28,120
upper Terra venture is pretty 
much similar in that little bit 

510
00:26:28,120 --> 00:26:32,440
more of a constructed heel and 
it does have a 4mm drop or 3mm 

511
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:35,720
drop. 
But I did it like 15 miles in 

512
00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:40,240
that or 14 miles one day in that
shoe and I just loved having the

513
00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:43,400
nimbleness of that shoe. 
Not nimble in a fast way, but 

514
00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:45,840
nimble in a flexibility and just
morphing to the trail while 

515
00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:47,120
having enough protection 
underneath. 

516
00:26:47,120 --> 00:26:49,600
So that was a fun shoe. 
That was a fun shoe to get some 

517
00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:51,040
running in. 
It was a day that we were 

518
00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:53,960
crewing for a friend who was 
doing a 50 Miller and that was 

519
00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:56,520
my shoe that I would go out and 
do all my running in and ends up

520
00:26:56,520 --> 00:26:58,960
being a lot when you're crewing.
So that was super fun. 

521
00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:02,720
All right. 
The two more categories, one of 

522
00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:06,240
them is winter and I did want to
talk about that a little bit. 

523
00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:09,360
So I have mentioned a couple 
shoes that I ran in the winter 

524
00:27:09,360 --> 00:27:15,200
in like the Ultra Glide and the 
Hoka Speed Goat. 

525
00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:19,400
So what I like about those is 
the grip that you get for kind 

526
00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:21,400
kind of going over ground. 
I actually was, they were 

527
00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:25,160
actually planning to send me the
speed goat spike, which has 

528
00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:28,320
little metal ridges, but they 
tried to send it to me and it 

529
00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:30,920
ended up being this pair. 
And I'm actually super glad. 

530
00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:33,680
One of my issues that I have 
with either yak tracks or spikes

531
00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:35,840
or whatever is you have to make 
sure that you're on somewhere 

532
00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:38,880
that has snow or ice or 
something like that. 

533
00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:41,080
Because if you don't, it 
actually gets more slippery when

534
00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:44,240
you're on pavement and just 
really loud and uncomfortable. 

535
00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:47,600
So I actually like to keep some 
rubber on the ground instead of 

536
00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:50,920
having something that is metal 
that could that could poke in. 

537
00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:53,800
So I did talk about those shoes,
but two other ones that I wanted

538
00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:55,720
to mention that were interesting
to test. 

539
00:27:55,920 --> 00:28:01,160
One of them I would never buy 
full Full Transparency, but it's

540
00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:06,800
the Las Fortiva shoe. 
It's the Cyclone Cross GTX so 

541
00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:11,600
you can see how decked out this 
thing is in snow and winter 

542
00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:13,280
readiness. 
It looks like a cross country 

543
00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:16,720
ski boot, but you have this kind
of Ebola lacing. 

544
00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:19,640
You have this lace up Gator 
that's attached to the shoe. 

545
00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:23,800
It's a pretty slick design. 
Some things that I had a hard 

546
00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:27,800
time with with this shoe where 
the price over $200 for a shoe 

547
00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:30,320
that you're not going to get 
that meant that much use out of 

548
00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:34,440
unless you are doing this for a 
very specific purpose I guess it

549
00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:37,680
it could get a lot of use. 
The other thing was how tight 

550
00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:41,160
the upper was and how tight and 
narrow the toe box was. 

551
00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:43,120
Again, this was something that 
could, I think that could be 

552
00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:45,680
opened up quite a bit because 
it's not like you're trying to 

553
00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:49,200
rip speed in this thing, or at 
least I wasn't. 

554
00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:51,480
I was going to use this if I was
going to go in deep snow. 

555
00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:54,280
I did do that one day and it was
awesome because it was like 6 

556
00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:56,400
inches of powder and I could 
just run straight through it, 

557
00:28:56,720 --> 00:28:59,280
but it just wasn't. 
I just don't think it had 

558
00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:03,640
anything super unique or special
that made me want to choose this

559
00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:08,160
over my speed goat. 
And the you can see the outsole 

560
00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:11,120
construction on this shoe. 
You can get that in a lot of 

561
00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:14,160
other trail shoes. 
It's a little bit more 

562
00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:16,560
aggressive, a little bit deeper 
and they're a little bit more 

563
00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:19,600
spread out to make it more like 
a spike like nature. 

564
00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:22,760
But I didn't necessarily think 
that it gave me any more grip. 

565
00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:25,960
But it is a really cool 
construction and I did like 

566
00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:29,360
this. 
Foam is super firm, but if when 

567
00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:31,840
I'm running on snow in the 
winter, in the middle of winter,

568
00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:36,120
I don't like something that's 
overly cushioned and overly soft

569
00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:40,200
because that is a recipe for 
like super soft foam on top of 

570
00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:42,440
soft snow. 
You just get lost and you don't 

571
00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:44,160
really know where your foot is 
in space. 

572
00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:46,000
And I'm usually pretty sore 
after those runs. 

573
00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:49,400
So I did like that this was 
firmer, but that again minimized

574
00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:52,280
my utility to those times where 
there would be a lot of snow on 

575
00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:54,520
the ground. 
Last shoe that I wanted to talk 

576
00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:57,360
about is mainly for the upper 
and it's like if they could just

577
00:29:57,360 --> 00:30:00,600
make make some tweaks to the 
outsole, this could be like the 

578
00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:04,440
best shoe for for winter all 
around, but it's the endorphin 

579
00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:06,640
speed three. 
This was the run shield. 

580
00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:09,360
So again, this is an older shoe,
but I do think when we think 

581
00:30:09,360 --> 00:30:11,840
about winter running, I think it
should still be in the 

582
00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:14,120
conversation. 
Two things I love about the shoe

583
00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:17,640
is the run shield upper. 
It's super warm, it's not 

584
00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:20,440
waterproof, but it's water 
resistant, keeps the wind away. 

585
00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:23,120
So on those really cold biting 
days, it's really great to have 

586
00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:26,960
an upper like this because it's 
just it keeps your foot from 

587
00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:28,480
from feeling like it's going to 
fall off. 

588
00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:31,520
So big fan of the Run Shield 
upper, I think they do a 

589
00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:35,480
fantastic job with it and they 
did open it up enough where even

590
00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:37,240
though that the upper is a 
little thicker it didn't feel 

591
00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:39,240
like it's constricting down on 
the foot. 

592
00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:42,560
The second thing that I really 
enjoyed is that because it is 

593
00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:45,400
power on PB, it felt like the 
foam was a little bit more 

594
00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:50,080
resistant to the colder weather.
So those Evas can firm up quite 

595
00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:52,400
a bit when you get outside and 
even ever you're out there. 

596
00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:55,480
For a long time it felt like 
this just maintained its pop. 

597
00:30:56,280 --> 00:30:59,360
Now because of the outsole, 
which is the same as far as I 

598
00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:02,840
know as their typical models. 
It didn't do anything for me if 

599
00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:05,080
there was any snow or anything 
like that, but if it was just a 

600
00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:07,560
cold day, but the roads were 
cleared and there'd been enough,

601
00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:10,400
like sublimation from the sun, 
this was a shoe that I would 

602
00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:14,920
love to put on in the winter. 
Top choice and even more than 

603
00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:17,880
their other models that are run 
Shield and that's because of the

604
00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:19,360
Power and PBI. 
Just like that. 

605
00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:24,240
That foam keeps its its life and
it keeps its bounciness more so 

606
00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:25,880
than some of the Evas that are 
out there. 

607
00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:28,560
So had to give that shoe a shout
out as well. 

608
00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:31,640
All right. 
The final category before I get 

609
00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:35,120
into shoes that worked for me 
with my injury is race day. 

610
00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:38,880
So I ran, as I mentioned, I ran 
two races, did my five mile race

611
00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:44,240
in March, and then in May I did 
MY20K and I think that it's it's

612
00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:46,200
there, they are, they're down 
there. 

613
00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:50,200
It's easy to hypothesize about 
shoes that would work for me and

614
00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:53,040
wouldn't work for me, and I feel
like the most telltale thing is 

615
00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:54,360
what do you actually lace up 
with. 

616
00:31:55,760 --> 00:31:58,240
So I laced up with two different
shoes for that races, those 

617
00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:01,600
races, but I also trialled a 
bunch of shoes during the 

618
00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:04,600
training cycle. 
So for that 5 Miller I was able 

619
00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:09,680
to do some testing in the five 
Miller and for the 20K in the 

620
00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:12,200
Hoka Rocket X2 I tested that 
out. 

621
00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:16,640
I got to test out the Alpha Fly 
two and then I tested out the 

622
00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:22,240
Endorphin Elite, Endorphin Pro 3
and I tested out the New 

623
00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:24,960
Balance. 
My gosh SC Elite. 

624
00:32:24,960 --> 00:32:27,960
This is why I need my my my 
people here to keep me on track 

625
00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:30,880
here. 
SC Elite V3 tested even the 

626
00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:33,720
Super blast in consideration for
some of these races for me. 

627
00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:39,080
And yeah I there was some that 
definitely didn't work for me. 

628
00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:41,200
I guess I'll put it that way. 
Don't know if they would have 

629
00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:44,400
worked for me if I put them on a
metabolic cart maybe I would 

630
00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:46,040
have been surprised. 
But shoes? 

631
00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:47,920
That didn't work for me and I've
talked about this another 

632
00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:51,160
podcast, but were the Hoka 
Rocket X2. 

633
00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:55,000
I just felt like I was having to
climb out and I couldn't get 

634
00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:58,040
into a nice rhythm in that shoe.
I did some really nice 

635
00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:01,440
progression workouts, kind of. 
When I say nice, they were fun. 

636
00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:03,760
They were fun progression 
workouts, but I just couldn't 

637
00:33:03,760 --> 00:33:07,320
get into rhythm really at any 
pace until I was lower than my 

638
00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:10,680
5K, for like faster than my 5K 
pace, because then I was really 

639
00:33:11,640 --> 00:33:14,440
not so much back on my heel, but
kind of up towards my forefoot. 

640
00:33:14,760 --> 00:33:17,160
And besides that, I couldn't get
into a good rhythm. 

641
00:33:17,160 --> 00:33:18,640
So that shoe just didn't work 
for me. 

642
00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:21,920
And the other one that just 
didn't work for me was actually 

643
00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:25,760
the alpha fly too. 
It was super comfortable, but it

644
00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:30,080
just was so clunky for me in 
that transition from the heel to

645
00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:32,040
forefoot. 
I like the amount of cushioning.

646
00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:35,080
The width of the forefoot felt 
really nice, but I do think I'm 

647
00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:37,080
excited. 
I just got the Alpha Fly 3 

648
00:33:38,280 --> 00:33:40,440
shipped to me like last week, 
but I haven't ran in it yet. 

649
00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:43,920
I'm excited to see if I enjoy 
the Alphafly unit with a 

650
00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:47,120
connected midsole to see if that
changes that transition from 

651
00:33:47,120 --> 00:33:50,560
heel to forefoot, 'cause I did 
like the amount of cushioning 

652
00:33:50,560 --> 00:33:51,920
and the width that was going on 
there. 

653
00:33:52,080 --> 00:33:55,000
So those were some that that 
didn't so much work for me. 

654
00:33:55,160 --> 00:33:59,680
Ones that did work for me quite 
a bit were the SC Elite version 

655
00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:02,560
3. 
And when I say it worked for me 

656
00:34:02,560 --> 00:34:05,160
in that sense, it was very 
comfortable and worked super 

657
00:34:05,160 --> 00:34:08,000
well with my mechanics. 
Even though it was a softer 

658
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:12,000
shoe, which again I typically 
don't gravitate towards, the 

659
00:34:12,239 --> 00:34:17,040
transition from heel to 4 foot 
and through felt so smooth and I

660
00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:19,920
didn't feel any hitches in the 
entire thing and I would take 

661
00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:21,800
this. 
I actually enjoyed it more for 

662
00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:25,040
like easier portions of the runs
and that was when I decided I 

663
00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:27,159
wasn't going to work. 
Take it for the races because I 

664
00:34:27,159 --> 00:34:29,679
would go do my workout and I 
would enjoy the warm up and the 

665
00:34:29,679 --> 00:34:31,400
cooldown more than I did the 
effort. 

666
00:34:31,600 --> 00:34:35,480
So I really like how it worked 
with me for running in general, 

667
00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:36,880
but not so much for the 
workouts. 

668
00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:40,760
So with the new version, version
4 coming out, which we have not 

669
00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:43,239
seen or tested, but we have 
heard they're changing the 

670
00:34:43,239 --> 00:34:46,639
midsole, I'm excited to see what
their kind of geometric design 

671
00:34:46,639 --> 00:34:49,600
and their ability to play with 
midsoles does when you have a 

672
00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:51,480
phone that might have a little 
bit more life to it. 

673
00:34:52,120 --> 00:34:55,120
So that one works for me in one 
sense, but not enough to pull it

674
00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:58,720
out on race day. 
The one that I brought with me, 

675
00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:02,440
I guess maybe I don't have it 
next to me, that's OK. 

676
00:35:03,360 --> 00:35:06,520
The the shoe that I ended up 
wearing for the Five Mile Race 

677
00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:10,840
was the Saucony Endorphin Pro 3.
I tested that in the Elite and 

678
00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:13,640
the Elite. 
The late stage rocker was just 

679
00:35:13,640 --> 00:35:18,040
too late for me, whereas the the
Endorphin Pro 3 has a little bit

680
00:35:18,040 --> 00:35:20,520
more of a gradual rocker. 
It's still aggressive but not, 

681
00:35:20,680 --> 00:35:23,000
but it starts a little bit 
earlier and it allows you to 

682
00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:25,720
just roll through to the 
forefoot a little bit easier, 

683
00:35:25,720 --> 00:35:29,520
even at slightly slower paces. 
And so I took that shoe out for 

684
00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:32,800
the five miles I anticipated, 
kind of holding myself back. 

685
00:35:32,800 --> 00:35:36,040
But classic running circumstance
where you get to the line and 

686
00:35:36,040 --> 00:35:39,760
you can't slow yourself down. 
I had a really great race in 

687
00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:42,080
that shoe. 
It felt smooth the whole time. 

688
00:35:42,080 --> 00:35:45,800
I felt like I was in rhythm and 
would have no problem taking 

689
00:35:45,800 --> 00:35:49,120
that any further. 
But for the 20, Ki used a 

690
00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:54,200
different shoe and that was the 
Vapor Fly Next percent three. 

691
00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:58,080
And I absolutely loved my race 
in that shoe. 

692
00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:01,360
Super streamlined. 
It felt like nothing is wasted 

693
00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:06,640
in that shoe in terms of midsole
width or geometry or extra foam 

694
00:36:06,640 --> 00:36:08,600
or extra upper. 
It just felt like they did a 

695
00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:13,120
really nice job sculpting the 
shoe and I I had again I had APR

696
00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:15,680
race which it's easy to love a 
shoe when you have a good race 

697
00:36:15,680 --> 00:36:18,080
day, even though the shoe wasn't
what made the race day. 

698
00:36:18,840 --> 00:36:22,160
But I really enjoyed kind of my 
my race in that shoe. 

699
00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:24,880
I'd pick it again and it was 
awesome. 

700
00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:28,400
I would have to test out some 
other some other racing shoes to

701
00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:32,640
or like try out the Alpha Fly 3,
see if it would usurp it for a 

702
00:36:32,640 --> 00:36:35,520
race in the future. 
But as of now that's that's kind

703
00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:39,520
of my go to racing shoe for 
longer distances, at least up to

704
00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:41,280
the half marathon. 
I think I'd have a different 

705
00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:43,960
conversation if I was running a 
marathon and it would depend on 

706
00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:46,440
what kind of shape I'm in. 
But because I was in such good 

707
00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:50,520
shape in May and was feeling 
healthy and good, it was easy to

708
00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:53,840
lace that shoe up and it just 
felt so light on foot in 

709
00:36:53,840 --> 00:36:56,160
comparison to some of the other 
shoes that I had been testing 

710
00:36:56,320 --> 00:36:59,160
and just really enjoyed getting 
turnover in that shoe. 

711
00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:01,240
Do it again. 
It was really nice. 

712
00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:06,200
OK, so I wanted to talk about a 
few shoes that worked well for 

713
00:37:06,200 --> 00:37:09,120
me and a couple tips that I 
learned along the way when it 

714
00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:12,040
came to the injury that I had. 
So remember it was a planter 

715
00:37:12,040 --> 00:37:14,760
plate rupture, so anything that 
would bring me into a lot of 

716
00:37:14,760 --> 00:37:18,640
extension would cause irritation
and then anything that just lead

717
00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:21,320
to compression would would 
irritate that region. 

718
00:37:21,320 --> 00:37:25,200
So let's start with the good 
start with the good stuff. 

719
00:37:26,200 --> 00:37:28,680
There's a couple of shoes that 
as I was returning to running 

720
00:37:28,680 --> 00:37:31,280
for that period, that really, 
really worked well for me. 

721
00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:36,400
Some of them made more sense to 
me than others, but the first 

722
00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:39,520
one that that worked really, 
really well was actually funny 

723
00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:41,800
enough. 
The on cloud Boom E3. 

724
00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:46,560
I was not doing anything fast at
all, but what this shoe had 

725
00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:50,120
going for it was a very I went 
down into by this shoe wall and 

726
00:37:50,120 --> 00:37:52,000
I picked up every shoe and I 
tried to bend everyone. 

727
00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:54,760
I was like I want the shoe with 
the stiffest 4 foot rocker. 

728
00:37:55,200 --> 00:37:58,200
So that was my first thing 
because I didn't want my foot to

729
00:37:58,200 --> 00:38:02,120
move into extension so picked up
the cloud boom echo. 

730
00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:05,200
That one was super stiff in 
comparison to the other ones so 

731
00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:07,000
that was on the docket as an 
option. 

732
00:38:07,160 --> 00:38:14,080
I also grabbed I have the Audi 0
Prime X2 and that's even more 

733
00:38:14,080 --> 00:38:17,120
stiff than this shoe. 
So that was another one that was

734
00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:19,160
I was thinking about trying out.
So I just grabbed all these 

735
00:38:19,160 --> 00:38:22,840
stiff rocker shoes because I 
wanted to avoid extension of the

736
00:38:22,840 --> 00:38:25,200
toe. 
But what it came down to was 

737
00:38:25,200 --> 00:38:29,400
which shoe had the the rocker 
but didn't have the toe spring 

738
00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:32,640
and also didn't compress my foot
too much. 

739
00:38:32,640 --> 00:38:39,520
So the the Prime X2 from Adidas 
way too snug in the forefoot for

740
00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:42,720
me at that time, and the foam 
underneath was just a little bit

741
00:38:42,720 --> 00:38:45,640
firmer, which means that it was 
pushing up into that swelling 

742
00:38:45,640 --> 00:38:47,320
that I had and just causing 
irritation. 

743
00:38:47,800 --> 00:38:49,600
Other shoe that I tried that 
just didn't work. 

744
00:38:49,960 --> 00:38:53,840
It was close to working. 
The cushion and the softness of 

745
00:38:53,840 --> 00:38:55,880
the phone was nice. 
It allowed kind of that swelling

746
00:38:55,880 --> 00:38:58,480
that I had to push into it. 
But if you can see this is the 

747
00:38:58,480 --> 00:39:02,680
sorry, what is this called? 
SC Trainer. 

748
00:39:02,680 --> 00:39:04,040
That's it. 
Too many shoes. 

749
00:39:04,280 --> 00:39:08,680
The SC Trainer V2, really nice 
foam compound that allowed my 

750
00:39:08,680 --> 00:39:10,880
foot to sink into it. 
But if you can see, look how 

751
00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:13,520
much toe spring there was. 
So my foot was just always held 

752
00:39:13,520 --> 00:39:16,720
in extension and it's just a 
little bit more flexible than 

753
00:39:16,720 --> 00:39:19,160
some of the other ones. 
So it's being held in extension 

754
00:39:19,160 --> 00:39:22,040
and pushed into extension and it
just didn't work for me. 

755
00:39:22,040 --> 00:39:25,120
Combined with a little bit more 
of a narrow forefoot, I've 

756
00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:28,560
noticed about that about this 
shoe over the last this version 

757
00:39:28,560 --> 00:39:31,800
and then actually the Rebel V3 
just a little bit snug in the 

758
00:39:31,800 --> 00:39:34,400
forefoot. 
For me it just didn't work and 

759
00:39:34,400 --> 00:39:37,360
the SC trail was the same too, 
so the toe spring just didn't 

760
00:39:37,360 --> 00:39:40,920
work for me on that shoe. 
But the other shoe that worked 

761
00:39:40,920 --> 00:39:45,160
really well for me during this 
time was not the SC trainer, but

762
00:39:45,160 --> 00:39:48,240
the SC Elite. 
A little bit, a little bit more 

763
00:39:48,240 --> 00:39:50,280
gradual. 
You can see if the rocker and 

764
00:39:50,280 --> 00:39:53,320
less of a of a toe spring than 
there was in the SC trainer, 

765
00:39:53,320 --> 00:39:55,680
funny enough. 
And so this shoe worked pretty 

766
00:39:55,680 --> 00:39:57,760
well, except it was just a 
little bit more flexible. 

767
00:39:57,960 --> 00:40:00,680
So that's why I ended up 
gravitating towards the Cloud 

768
00:40:00,680 --> 00:40:04,520
Boom Echo, because it had a 
similar kind of fit and feel 

769
00:40:04,760 --> 00:40:07,920
from a comfort standpoint on the
foot, but it was just a little 

770
00:40:07,920 --> 00:40:10,400
bit stiffer in the Cloud Boom 
Echo and that's what I would 

771
00:40:10,400 --> 00:40:13,680
lean towards. 
What was more important than the

772
00:40:13,680 --> 00:40:16,240
shoes that I ran in were the 
shoes that I walked in and the 

773
00:40:16,240 --> 00:40:19,440
shoe that I have spent more time
in than any other shoe this year

774
00:40:19,680 --> 00:40:23,320
is the Topo Traverse. 
So this is kind of a through 

775
00:40:23,320 --> 00:40:24,720
hiking shoe that they came out 
with. 

776
00:40:24,720 --> 00:40:26,840
It's not specifically made for 
running though. 

777
00:40:27,120 --> 00:40:29,840
I have ran in it and it feels 
nice for just kind of some easy 

778
00:40:29,840 --> 00:40:34,480
runs on the trails, but I really
appreciated going back to what 

779
00:40:34,480 --> 00:40:36,920
felt good. 
Having the space in the forefoot

780
00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:40,360
didn't compress my foot and the 
type of cushioning and amount of

781
00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:43,560
cushioning just allowed my foot 
to sit in the foot bed without 

782
00:40:43,560 --> 00:40:47,600
getting any pressure. 
There's some flexibility in the 

783
00:40:47,600 --> 00:40:49,600
forefoot. 
There's no plate, but with my 

784
00:40:49,600 --> 00:40:52,880
walking around and stuff it has 
enough stiffness that it didn't 

785
00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:56,720
push me into a lot of extension 
and and it's been the most 

786
00:40:56,720 --> 00:40:58,960
comfortable shoe and I've worn 
it to work pretty much every 

787
00:40:58,960 --> 00:41:02,560
single day during this period of
time that I've been injured. 

788
00:41:03,160 --> 00:41:06,720
The other shoe that I have used 
during the day is come. 

789
00:41:06,720 --> 00:41:10,040
Bringing the shoe back out is 
the Saucony Triumph Run for 

790
00:41:10,040 --> 00:41:12,200
good. 
The reason that I use this shoe 

791
00:41:12,200 --> 00:41:15,560
is because I had multiple pairs 
of previous triumphs and I 

792
00:41:15,560 --> 00:41:18,360
actually, and I don't have the 
one with me that I used, but I 

793
00:41:18,360 --> 00:41:20,400
would take the insoles out. 
Oh, that's gross. 

794
00:41:20,400 --> 00:41:22,120
Look at that. 
That's disgusting looking up my 

795
00:41:22,120 --> 00:41:24,840
dirt. 
But what I did is I created a 

796
00:41:24,840 --> 00:41:28,560
cut out around my first MTP 
which allowed the swelling that 

797
00:41:28,560 --> 00:41:30,360
I had to sit there without 
getting pressure. 

798
00:41:30,360 --> 00:41:33,360
So I basically offloaded that 
part of the shoe and I did that 

799
00:41:33,360 --> 00:41:37,160
for over a month, right. 
I was wearing only the shoes 

800
00:41:37,160 --> 00:41:39,600
that I could create cutouts and 
offload the shoes. 

801
00:41:39,600 --> 00:41:43,320
So if you're in a spot where you
need to create some offloading 

802
00:41:43,320 --> 00:41:47,440
to a painful area of the foot, I
recommend getting an old pair 

803
00:41:47,440 --> 00:41:50,720
that you have, taking out the 
insole and creating a cut in the

804
00:41:50,720 --> 00:41:54,200
region of the of the area of 
discomfort and pain. 

805
00:41:55,040 --> 00:41:59,480
So thankful for those couple 
shoes that got me through and 

806
00:41:59,480 --> 00:42:00,680
are getting me through this 
time. 

807
00:42:00,680 --> 00:42:03,800
I'm still wearing that that 
traverse every single day just 

808
00:42:03,800 --> 00:42:05,680
from the level of comfort that 
it's giving me. 

809
00:42:06,400 --> 00:42:09,360
And those are the shoes that 
I've thought about for 2023. 

810
00:42:09,920 --> 00:42:12,520
Obviously, I did not get to test
most of the shoes that came 

811
00:42:12,520 --> 00:42:14,880
through our doors in the 
second-half of the year, which 

812
00:42:14,880 --> 00:42:17,120
is a bummer because that's a 
really fun part, obviously of 

813
00:42:17,120 --> 00:42:18,400
being a part of Doctors of 
Running. 

814
00:42:18,920 --> 00:42:22,600
But I I did want to share kind 
of some of my experiences and 

815
00:42:22,600 --> 00:42:25,880
the shoes that I did get to test
and kind of why they may have 

816
00:42:25,880 --> 00:42:28,600
worked for me based off of the 
injury that I'm currently 

817
00:42:28,680 --> 00:42:31,480
walking through. 
Also, I didn't even say this, 

818
00:42:31,480 --> 00:42:33,800
but I think that the question of
how did this, how did I get a 

819
00:42:33,800 --> 00:42:36,280
planter plate rupture, I think 
is an interesting one because 

820
00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:39,400
typically planter plate ruptures
happen in like football players 

821
00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:43,840
or some kind of level 1 sport 
athlete where you have a very 

822
00:42:44,120 --> 00:42:46,880
rapid and fast extension of the 
first toe. 

823
00:42:47,120 --> 00:42:49,480
Maybe you're like changing 
directions, going from backward 

824
00:42:49,480 --> 00:42:52,000
to forward and your foot's in 
extension, your toe's in 

825
00:42:52,000 --> 00:42:53,480
extension, then it kind of 
ruptures. 

826
00:42:53,760 --> 00:42:57,160
I don't think think I had 
anything like that unless it 

827
00:42:57,160 --> 00:43:01,040
happened when I was coaching 
Henry's soccer team or if it 

828
00:43:01,040 --> 00:43:04,480
happened when I was running on 
the trail and maybe I hit like I

829
00:43:04,480 --> 00:43:07,560
was maybe climbing a hill and I 
hit a route and it just pushed 

830
00:43:07,560 --> 00:43:10,000
my toe back. 
But I never had like a moment 

831
00:43:10,000 --> 00:43:13,280
where I felt it. 
So it is possible that it was 

832
00:43:13,280 --> 00:43:20,440
just this chronic kind of wear 
down of that of that ligament 

833
00:43:20,480 --> 00:43:23,600
and then it just kind of reached
its failing point and now I'm 

834
00:43:23,600 --> 00:43:26,840
just letting it recover. 
So I don't exactly again know 

835
00:43:26,840 --> 00:43:30,120
why it happened. 
Part of me wishes and hopes that

836
00:43:30,120 --> 00:43:32,720
it was kind of that there was an
incident that happened because 

837
00:43:32,720 --> 00:43:35,320
then it's not having to do with 
kind of my training volumes and 

838
00:43:35,320 --> 00:43:38,840
having to rethink that. 
But obviously, that's all part 

839
00:43:38,840 --> 00:43:42,760
of kind of recalibrating as I 
think about jumping back into 

840
00:43:42,760 --> 00:43:45,320
running. 
OK. 

841
00:43:45,320 --> 00:43:50,200
The last thing that I wanted to 
talk about was just a couple of 

842
00:43:50,200 --> 00:43:53,840
things that I learned about 
myself in this past year when it

843
00:43:53,840 --> 00:43:56,840
comes to running and my 
relationship with running and 

844
00:43:56,840 --> 00:43:59,400
that kind of thing. 
Because when you if you've gone 

845
00:43:59,400 --> 00:44:01,760
through any sort of injury, 
there's so much more than the 

846
00:44:01,760 --> 00:44:04,280
physical part of it. 
There's a lot of the mental part

847
00:44:04,280 --> 00:44:06,600
and relational part and all 
these different things that 

848
00:44:07,120 --> 00:44:09,640
interact with maybe why you run 
in the first place. 

849
00:44:09,680 --> 00:44:12,320
And so I just wanted to share a 
couple of things that I learned 

850
00:44:12,320 --> 00:44:14,200
about myself. 
And I'm thankful that a lot of 

851
00:44:14,200 --> 00:44:16,760
these are pretty positive 
overall. 

852
00:44:17,680 --> 00:44:19,720
And then a couple things that I 
kind of expected to have 

853
00:44:19,720 --> 00:44:22,640
happened and that did. 
So the first thing I learned 

854
00:44:22,640 --> 00:44:29,120
that I have always said that my 
favorite part of running are the

855
00:44:29,160 --> 00:44:31,960
friendships that I make in the 
community that I have in 

856
00:44:31,960 --> 00:44:34,000
running. 
And it's kind of encouraging to 

857
00:44:34,000 --> 00:44:37,440
see that that's true. 
I have people come over every 

858
00:44:37,440 --> 00:44:41,480
single Thursday to our house and
just like some friends and we 

859
00:44:41,560 --> 00:44:43,640
run from our house and we sit 
and we drink coffee. 

860
00:44:43,800 --> 00:44:45,560
Well, they drink coffee. 
I drink chocolate milk. 

861
00:44:46,960 --> 00:44:48,840
I just my stomach doesn't do 
well with coffee. 

862
00:44:49,360 --> 00:44:53,720
But every single Thursday we get
together and we run and we do 

863
00:44:53,720 --> 00:44:55,360
that. 
And even though I hadn't been 

864
00:44:55,360 --> 00:44:58,440
running for like 15 weeks out of
this year, they've still come to

865
00:44:58,440 --> 00:45:00,880
our come to our house. 
Sometimes I would bike with 

866
00:45:00,880 --> 00:45:03,720
them, but now that it's so cold,
I just wait for them inside. 

867
00:45:04,000 --> 00:45:07,640
I'll welcome them in, we chat, 
we drink coffee, and I just. 

868
00:45:07,640 --> 00:45:10,880
I'm so thankful for the running 
friends that I have and that I'm

869
00:45:10,880 --> 00:45:14,080
still able to be in relationship
with them, even though I'm not 

870
00:45:14,120 --> 00:45:16,400
out there running with them. 
But I have noticed that's the 

871
00:45:16,400 --> 00:45:19,480
flip side, where one of my easy 
ways to connect with people is 

872
00:45:19,480 --> 00:45:22,600
to go on a run with them and you
chat and I just love when you're

873
00:45:22,600 --> 00:45:24,360
with somebody and you're 
running. 

874
00:45:24,880 --> 00:45:26,880
There's it's easier to talk 
about stuff because you're not 

875
00:45:26,880 --> 00:45:29,600
looking face to face. 
You're kind of distracted by 

876
00:45:29,600 --> 00:45:32,800
whatever's going on around you 
and it just feels like you can 

877
00:45:32,800 --> 00:45:34,840
open up about life and all the 
stuff going on. 

878
00:45:34,840 --> 00:45:37,960
So I have missed some of that my
ability to connect with people 

879
00:45:38,600 --> 00:45:42,520
in that way, but I am thankful 
for the running friendships that

880
00:45:42,520 --> 00:45:45,680
I have and that those have been 
able to continue because they're

881
00:45:45,680 --> 00:45:49,280
still willing to kind of come 
over and do their thing while 

882
00:45:49,280 --> 00:45:50,640
I'm waiting for them to come 
back. 

883
00:45:50,640 --> 00:45:55,280
So running community really is 
what I love about the sport and 

884
00:45:55,360 --> 00:45:58,320
it's still the thing that I love
about the sport and the 

885
00:45:58,320 --> 00:46:00,680
activity. 
So really, really fun. 

886
00:46:01,600 --> 00:46:06,640
I also learned that I've always 
I did a project as part of my 

887
00:46:06,640 --> 00:46:09,000
doctoral studies that I'm doing 
right now for my educational 

888
00:46:09,000 --> 00:46:12,560
doctorate and it was about 
running the identity and how 

889
00:46:13,800 --> 00:46:19,200
health habits inform things like
our identity and how deeply that

890
00:46:19,200 --> 00:46:21,720
in that can impact our 
day-to-day life. 

891
00:46:21,720 --> 00:46:24,920
So I had always thought I was a 
pretty healthy, had a pretty 

892
00:46:24,920 --> 00:46:26,280
healthy relationship with 
running. 

893
00:46:26,280 --> 00:46:29,040
And I'm thankful to say that 
even though running kind of got 

894
00:46:29,040 --> 00:46:33,200
taken away from me for 15 or so 
weeks, that I have been like, 

895
00:46:33,200 --> 00:46:37,360
good on, like a base level 
inside, I have been able to 

896
00:46:37,600 --> 00:46:40,480
still have like joy and 
happiness and all that stuff. 

897
00:46:40,680 --> 00:46:45,800
And I found other ways to spend 
my time because I did run a good

898
00:46:45,800 --> 00:46:49,760
number of hours a week, still 
find other ways to be somewhat 

899
00:46:49,760 --> 00:46:51,800
active, other ways to connect 
with people. 

900
00:46:51,960 --> 00:46:54,680
And I just was thankful to find 
that that wasn't a linchpin in 

901
00:46:54,680 --> 00:46:56,840
my life. 
That was like keeping me afloat,

902
00:46:57,960 --> 00:46:59,600
which I think is a healthy spot 
to be. 

903
00:47:00,400 --> 00:47:02,200
So I was thankful to to find 
that out too. 

904
00:47:02,560 --> 00:47:06,800
I also found that I maybe am 
more patient when it comes to 

905
00:47:06,800 --> 00:47:09,440
recovery than I thought I would 
be or than I have been in the 

906
00:47:09,440 --> 00:47:11,320
past. 
Because sometimes when I've had 

907
00:47:11,320 --> 00:47:14,800
smaller niggles, I start to 
like, Oh no, if this gets really

908
00:47:14,800 --> 00:47:17,840
bad, maybe this is going to 
derail me a little bit. 

909
00:47:17,840 --> 00:47:20,120
I'm going to be really 
frustrated because it's going to

910
00:47:20,120 --> 00:47:22,200
do XY and Z to my fitness or 
whatever. 

911
00:47:22,600 --> 00:47:27,760
And I've been, I've been pretty,
pretty thankful that I've I felt

912
00:47:27,760 --> 00:47:30,440
pretty patient like even in this
phase of trying to come back to 

913
00:47:30,440 --> 00:47:33,280
running and now being off for 
three, three weeks and thinking 

914
00:47:33,280 --> 00:47:34,880
I'll be off for three more or 
so. 

915
00:47:36,640 --> 00:47:41,720
I I have been in a good patient 
spot knowing that the healing 

916
00:47:41,720 --> 00:47:44,280
time frame exists, kind of 
listening to the PT side of 

917
00:47:44,280 --> 00:47:47,800
myself, which is kind of rare 
for me saying, hey, this could 

918
00:47:47,800 --> 00:47:49,920
take up to six months to 
actually heal. 

919
00:47:50,160 --> 00:47:53,200
Give it the time that it needs, 
do the other things that you can

920
00:47:53,200 --> 00:47:57,440
in the meantime to keep moving 
and have fun and be with people.

921
00:47:58,920 --> 00:48:00,760
But I've also been able to 
listen to kind of some of the 

922
00:48:00,760 --> 00:48:03,600
advice that I would give a 
patient where if they were 

923
00:48:03,600 --> 00:48:05,840
trying to either rest from it, 
protect it with different taping

924
00:48:05,840 --> 00:48:08,720
techniques and all this stuff. 
Also doing some loading to the 

925
00:48:08,720 --> 00:48:11,480
tendons around the area just to 
keep the foot strong since I'm 

926
00:48:11,480 --> 00:48:14,400
not using it in the same way. 
So I have learned that I'm a 

927
00:48:14,400 --> 00:48:16,440
little bit more patient than I 
thought. 

928
00:48:16,480 --> 00:48:21,920
I than I thought I may have been
when I would actually get into 

929
00:48:21,920 --> 00:48:25,680
this situation. 
The final thing I learned about 

930
00:48:25,680 --> 00:48:29,400
myself is that I love running, 
and I don't love pretty much 

931
00:48:29,400 --> 00:48:32,160
anything else. 
I did a lot of biking for a 

932
00:48:32,160 --> 00:48:33,360
while. 
Brutal. 

933
00:48:33,400 --> 00:48:35,760
Never enjoyed it. 
Not once, but part of it's 

934
00:48:35,760 --> 00:48:39,080
because I biked alone. 
The second thing that I still 

935
00:48:39,080 --> 00:48:42,920
don't love is lifting. 
But again, I was doing it alone 

936
00:48:43,240 --> 00:48:45,760
and it's just really, really 
hard for me to get motivated 

937
00:48:46,080 --> 00:48:47,600
swimming. 
Swimming's fun. 

938
00:48:47,960 --> 00:48:50,640
I did enjoy swimming. 
However, I didn't like waking up

939
00:48:50,640 --> 00:48:54,880
extra early, having to go into a
pool where it's like dark. 

940
00:48:54,880 --> 00:48:57,480
It was dark outside and it's 
cold outside and then you got to

941
00:48:57,480 --> 00:49:00,000
go into a cold pool, swim laps, 
shower. 

942
00:49:00,000 --> 00:49:03,040
It just was so time consuming. 
So there's just all of these 

943
00:49:03,040 --> 00:49:04,680
different forms of exercise I 
learned. 

944
00:49:04,680 --> 00:49:06,920
I don't like on any of them as 
much as I love running. 

945
00:49:06,920 --> 00:49:10,160
So still thankful for running. 
Excited to get back into the 

946
00:49:10,160 --> 00:49:11,840
swing of it whenever that 
happens. 

947
00:49:12,080 --> 00:49:14,240
Hopefully in the next, you know,
month or so. 

948
00:49:14,560 --> 00:49:19,800
But learning, learning a lot 
about myself, learning that 

949
00:49:20,440 --> 00:49:23,720
accessibility to the exercise is
a key thing. 

950
00:49:23,720 --> 00:49:26,280
It's so much harder for me to 
get to the weight room because I

951
00:49:26,280 --> 00:49:28,280
have to. 
I can't just put on shoes and 

952
00:49:28,280 --> 00:49:29,920
run out the door and go run. 
You have to. 

953
00:49:30,160 --> 00:49:35,680
I have to drive to a gym. 
I have to get inside that gym 

954
00:49:35,680 --> 00:49:38,200
and then I have to shower after 
because I'm or go home and 

955
00:49:38,200 --> 00:49:40,600
shower. 
So accessibility really matters 

956
00:49:40,600 --> 00:49:44,160
and I can see where that can 
lead to difficulty with 

957
00:49:44,160 --> 00:49:47,040
consistency for a lot of people,
and I know for sure it has been 

958
00:49:47,040 --> 00:49:50,760
for me when it comes to lifting.
And then just I I again, I 

959
00:49:50,760 --> 00:49:52,640
haven't tried any of those 
activities with people. 

960
00:49:52,640 --> 00:49:55,320
And I think that if I did maybe 
I would be more consistent with 

961
00:49:55,320 --> 00:49:57,840
the things that I didn't like if
I was doing it with people. 

962
00:49:57,840 --> 00:49:59,480
So maybe that would be something
worth trying. 

963
00:49:59,480 --> 00:50:02,040
It's just harder to coordinate, 
harder to coordinate. 

964
00:50:02,680 --> 00:50:04,520
I think that's everything that I
wanted to talk about. 

965
00:50:04,960 --> 00:50:09,720
I babbled for probably way 
longer than you have wanted to 

966
00:50:09,840 --> 00:50:14,480
listen to me talk about. 
But there's my thoughts on 2023,

967
00:50:14,640 --> 00:50:17,440
the shoes that I got to test, 
which ones worked well for me, 

968
00:50:17,560 --> 00:50:20,760
which ones I am excited to see 
progressions of in the future, 

969
00:50:21,000 --> 00:50:24,520
and also some of my journey 
walking through a ligament 

970
00:50:24,520 --> 00:50:27,120
sprain in my foot. 
And for anyone else who's going 

971
00:50:27,120 --> 00:50:29,560
through a longer standing 
injury, we're going to get 

972
00:50:29,560 --> 00:50:30,720
there. 
We're going to heal. 

973
00:50:31,280 --> 00:50:34,120
We're going to do the things we 
have to do, get back and it'll 

974
00:50:34,120 --> 00:50:36,200
be fun to see what's on the 
other side. 

975
00:50:36,240 --> 00:50:39,040
But hope everybody has a great 
night, great day or whenever 

976
00:50:39,040 --> 00:50:39,760
you're listening to this.