During a St Paddy’s Day 5K event one of the 5 lugs on the
bottom of one of my Newton Motion III’s ripped off. Somewhere around mile 1 I could hear this
“flapping” sound, but of course since this was a race I wasn’t about to stop
and investigate. After all, I was
neither in pain nor bleeding profusely, so I kept on running. I ran the rest of
the race with that “flap” sound at every step until I crossed the finish line,
and then realized that one of the lugs on the bottom of the shoe was hanging by
a thread (the “flap” sound with every step was the sound of the lug slapping the
pavement), and then within a few steps while getting some water, ripped off
completely. Ok, no biggie I thought, I still had 4 lugs left… I took a picture of it and called it good.
I love these Newton’s… really. I’ve flirted with other
brands, but I always come back to Newton’s. I’m on my third pair, if that is
saying anything… In a crazy way, they help me run faster, they encourage me to
run stronger, and I believe, they help me run more efficiently. I just wish that they weren’t so damn expensive…
I’d try other styles of Newton’s if I could afford them…
When I get lazy during a run and my form starts to droop,
somehow the feel of the Newton’s prods me to pay attention. Other shoes don’t
do that for me. I’m not exactly sure how it happens, but there is a subtle feel
in my midfoot whenever I start to lose my form, coupled with another odd
feeling in my core-area. And as soon as
I fix it, I start running more efficiently.
Best of all, when I get into the groove I can easily out-run my intended
distance for that day – which has good and bad ramifications...
But I do find that in order for me to run in the Newton’s “properly”,
i.e. get the efficiency of form out them, I have had to build relatively solid
core strength as well as well-conditioned hams and quads. I’m not talking about
going crazy with core exercises, squats, and so on –I’ve just been doing general
routines – and I can both see and feel the difference. But it turns out that
this is pretty important, because the stronger my core and legs feel, the
better my form, pace, and endurance are.
And better yet, the more confidence I have. And I think that running
with Newton’s has had a lot to do with it.
Oh, and by the way, I placed second in my age group on that
5K, flapping lug and all…! I missed
first by 27 seconds ! If I had paid a
little more attention, maybe I could have claimed 1st Place ! But I should also note that this was a very
casual event – yes it was timed event, but it was a gun start (no starting line
mat) and the start itself was somewhat very half hazard. For all I know, the guy that beat me had
lined up way in front, whereas I was way in the back with my wife and son and
had to bob and weave my way up.. Once
clear of most of the starting area pack, I ran pretty hard, despite the fact
that it was very hot (yes, this was a Florida event!).
I narrowly missed destroying my ankle while cutting a corner
though: the course ran along an asphalt trail and just before the finish had a
90 degree turn onto a sidewalk. I was in the process of passing another runner
at that moment (bad timing on my part – lack of patience) and he suddenly
bobbed out towards me causing me to miss the sidewalk and land on a rocky edge.
It’s amazing what goes through your mind in a situation like that. I remember
simultaneously thinking that this had disaster written all over it for me,
while at the same time calculating where could I place my left foot to take the
weight as soon as possible. As it turns out I was able to get my left foot firmly
on the sidewalk right about the time I felt my right ankle complain.
Fortunately nothing bad happened (I have a history of ankle injuries) and I was
able to finish strong. But that little tiny event, a duration of perhaps 3
seconds, reminds that I ought not take
this stuff too seriously – this is supposed to be fun and I want to be able to
run for years to come. I could so easily of destroyed my ankle in my desire to
pass somebody at the worst possible time and that would have sucked big ones!
