Around the Earth, in Brooks!

This is a very special milestone: I had already covered the whole length of the Equator in my running log (see my January 2011 post, Around the world: once!) but this time, I passed the 24,902-mile mark today (40,077 km) which is the horizontal circumference of our planet (the vertical one, passing by the poles is 42 miles shorter by the way). All these miles in Brooks shoes!

What a journey it has been so far with this brand since I was recommended my first pair of Trance in a running store in Cupertino, MetroSport, which has closed since. This was in April 1999 when I was preparing for my first marathon, the San Francisco Marathon in July. After 21 marathons, 38 10Ks, 25 half marathons, 76 ultra marathons and 204 races overall, I'm grateful to Brooks for its focused mission on running shoes, mixing innovation and tradition. Indeed, speaking of tradition, it's a little known fact that Brooks started in 1914, quite a milestone approaching for the company (almost as old as... IBM, which celebrated its centennial in 2011 ;-). Yet, Brooks is at the leading edge when it comes to new and recyclable fabrics, sustainable manufacturing techniques, balancing the currently diverging trends of minimalism versus increasing cushioning, and an appealing spectrum of colors too!

I got three new pairs of Brooks in the mail this week, 2 PureConnect and 1 PureGrit. I took one of the pairs of PureConnect out for my long run on Saturday, these brilliant blue ones.

28 flat miles up to the Palo Alto Baylands from Cupertino, running the whole Stevens Creek Trail from the new bridge which opened this year (85 over pass from Heatherstone Way in Sunnyvale). I was able to sustain a reasonable 7:10 min/mile pace which got me a 3:08 marathon time. I was reading about the new Boston and New York marathon qualifying rules this morning and realized that I still don't have a qualifier (my 2:47 World Masters in July 2011 is too "old" for Boston). I know I'm taking a risk with the stricter qualifying times but I'll wait for next year to get a reference time and see what I'm up for when I turn 50.

I went for another run this morning and ran a half marathon at 7:08 pace. The shoulder is still improving and getting better (June fracture) but I need to get back to the track to regain more leg speed in particular.

Back to my "journey" around the Earth in Brooks, here are some stats:

1. 2,076 entries out of 2,580 in my log
2. An average of 12 (11.99...) miles per run
3. 40 different pairs used
4. 623 miles average / pair, with a max of 1,574 miles in my 2nd pair of Trance and 1,320 miles in my first pair of Burn

And here is a spread across the 9 model families:

Of course this is a static view and doesn't show the trend. I'm not running in Trance anymore. I used 10 pairs overall, from the original ones to the Trance 8. This is still an amazing shoe but I don't need as much cushioning now. I loved the Burn but they don't exist anymore. I replaced them by a blend of Launch and Racer ST. I was used to do most of my trail runs in Cascadia but I keep them for technical trails only now, while using running flats in ultra races. I love the cushioning of the Green Silence for my recovery runs. And I'm a new addict of the minimalist Pure "movement" or PureProject.

This has certainly been great and very productive 13 years of running so I'm not sure how long it will take me to circle the Earth a second time (19,461 miles to go ;-), that is, at my current 62 miles/week average, assuming I can maintain this pace, "just" 6 more years...). The biggest lesson out of this long injury-free experiment is that I rotate through 3 or 4 different models every week. Along with a variety of running courses and terrains, I'm sure this is a key element of sustainable running and the ability to Run many miles, ... Happy! So, you all, Run Happy too... around the world!

10,000 miles in Brooks

This week, as I'm tapering before my first 100K on Saturday, I passed the 10,000-mile mark in Brooks shoes. Yes, shoes, I mean several pairs, not just one, I'm not Forrest Gump ...

I have had a few other brands (New Balance, Salomon, Nike, Montrail), which I still use depending on the terrain and conditions, but Brooks has really worked best for me. 15 pairs so far and counting.

A few of my Brooks: 5 pairs of Trance in the back, 3 Burn and the Racer T3 (flat) in the foreground

The Trance

It started in 1998 when I visited MetroSport of Cupertino, a great place to receive personalized and expert advice for such a critical piece in the runner's panoply. Not the cheapest model (and that didn't improve overtime), the Trance really provided the ultimate blend of cushinoning and stability. And, as I found out a few years later, an incredible resistance and longevity as well, so the extra bucks were well worth.

That said, I regret some modifications brought to the original Trance model. I still run from time to time in my first pairs of Trance and love their simpler platform and design despite the obvious and visible wearing. Why do shoe makers have to keep inventing, when it's not bringing improvement? Must be to keep marketers and designers busy... Or to satisfy other customers, it's hard to please everyone when it comes to comfort and design/look...

With regard to the Cascadia, it may be too soon for me to judge. I wore them on two 50K training runs early January and had to take a 3-week break to treat an inflammation on the top of my foot, which I even took for a 2nd metatarsal stress fracture at some point. I must admit the shape of the sole intrigued me when I first found out about the shoe (completely flat under sole). I hope it's not the cause of the misfit so far, they actually felt so great during these long runs. I'll give it another try after Western States. In the meantime, I'd love to find out more about why they work great for Scott Jurek.

As for the Burn, they are really perfect for me (light weight, neutral, and reasonably long stride for my size), so I use them as my flats for speedwork and road racing. I like the soft cushioning in particular, I need at least this one on marathons. And I can't believe I've run more than 1,000 miles in each of my first pairs of them, yet they feel so comfy.

The original Burns: some signs of wearing but still great after 1,300+ miles!

10,003 miles and counting

10,000 miles logged, just in my Brooks (out of 15,000 miles). A car service and oil change milestone! Here is how the miles spread over the 15 pairs, in the order I got them (2 of which I haven't wore yet):

1. Trance (original): 715 miles
2. Trance (original): 1,321 miles
3. Trance (original): 775 miles
4. Trance (original): 1,249 miles
5. Trance NXG: 1,002 miles
6. Burn: 1,314 miles
7. Burn: 1,084 miles
8. Trance NXS: 966 miles
9. Racer T3: 116 miles
10. Trance NXR: 864 miles
11. Burn 2: 419 miles
12. Cascadia Pivot: 0 mile
13. Trance NXR: 0 mile
14. Cascadia Pivot: 91 miles
15. Racer ST2: 88 miles

The brand

As you know, I was quite new to running back in 1998, as well as just settled in the US. I knew about Nike and Adidas, never heard about Brooks. So that was not a trendy-motivated pick for me.

I later found out that Brooks was actually reborn in the 1990s. 80 years after its creation (1914), with ups and downs in the meantime. Famous shoes in the 70s when marathon crossed the chasm, almost disappeared then because of too much diversification in other fields and too stretched while competing with Nike in particular. Even Brooks' website is very discrete about all these years in their corporate history page. They definitely turned the page, maybe they will highlight again this legacy when celebrating their century in 2014! Hope so. Like in ultra, you learn from your mistakes and it's ok to talk about it.

In the meantime, you can read more about Brooks history thanks to FundingUniverse.

So, am I paid or sponsored to advertise this brand? Well, having picked Scott Jurek as their marketing "showcase" is setting the bar way too high for us, mortals, to join Team Brooks. No, I'm not sponsored, I buy my shoes or win them as race prizes (a special thanks to the Runners High for their generous support of local events in the Bay Area). I'm just an extremely satisfied customer, loyal to a series of shoes which have been good to me so far (few injuries).

Is there a Brooks for you?

Try their nice shoe advisor online. And more importantly, here are some tips:

1. Try before you buy. Do not buy without trying a model in a specialized running shop, which let you practice/run, at least inside the store.
2. Perfect fit. Do not pick a model if it doesn't fit right, it won't get any better over time (there was a time where shoes, in leather, were living and getting fit to your foot, but this time is over; if you feel anything wrong, you'll feel the same thing 500 miles down the road).
3. No universal shoe. The model which fits best your best friend may not be good for you, you need to make your own mind and experiment.
4. Rotate shoes. Pick at least 2 different models and use them for different workouts during the week (a corollary of this rule is that you have to vary your workouts during the week, e.g. alternate speedwork, easy run, tempo run, long run, hill work).
5. Take a half or full size extra. The longer (distance) you plan on running, the more room you need to give to your toes. That's particularly important for the down hills (not to discount a tight lacing of the shoes).
6. Don't be greedy. It's true that one of the great things about running is that it's a cheap sport. Yet, don't try to save on the shoes, that's the most important investment of a runner. Extra $10 or 20 are usually well worth, getting you a model which will protect your joints better, help prevent injuries and will last longer anyway. Especially if you are serious about training for races which will cost quite more than that.
7. If you find a model which works great for you, buy a few extra pairs before they disappear. Running shoe companies cannot make a shoe which fits everyone and they need to modify design and look to keep up with competition. This may not work to your advantage in some cases, so better plan ahead. Besides, older models are usually nicely discounted, as long as your size is still available.

I found that Brooks really offer a broad, I should say an amazing, variety of shoes: Racer (ST and T) , Burn, Addition, Glycerin, Beast, Adrenaline, Axiom, Vapor, Radius, Dyad, Trance, Cascadia, just to name the running shoes, skipping the spikes, and the walking models--sorry I don't like walking... ;-). Worth giving it a look and try if you are in the shoe hunting.

Farther and faster, in the right shoes!

PS: make no mistake, if you are working in a semicon fab, I'm not advertising for Brooks software here, my company is actually competing with them with a much more innovative and performant product, ILOG Fab PowerOps!