Houston Half Marathon

I had a good rest and night's sleep preparing for today's race, and was very much looking forward to it since I thought the weather would be good. Indeed it was a good race, as it was nice to see Rick, Joanne, Kim and Laura during and after the race, and the race volunteers and organization was great. Despite temperatures in the mid 60s the very high humidity was much more draining than I had anticipated, and did not negative split owing to the growing impact of the humidity and the unexpected difficulty of dealing with the up and down contours along Allen Parkway.

From a technology perspective my new Magellan Echo running watch paired by Bluetooth 4.0 to my iPhone 6 with the excellent iSmoothRun App worked great, as it controlled my music and gave me verbal pace and distance prompts through my headphones. Naturally, I ran again in my trusty and excellent Newton Motion III's.

Results: pace: 7:41, 7:22, 7:21, 7:40, 7:37, 7:49, 7:51, 7:49, 7:52, 7:54, 8:17, 7,55, 8:24, 8:18. Div.: #10/136, Gender: #365/2169, Overall: #347/4445. Avg. Cadence: 84, Avg. HR: AVHR, 66 °F, 4mph SW, 83% humidity.

Memorial Hermann 10 for Texas Race Report

One of the many benefits of running a race distance in which you have minimal experience is that you are almost assured of achieving a personal record. Happily, I did so in today's race, with an average pace 30 seconds faster per mile then my prior - much hillier - 10 mile race experience over five years ago.

Chip time: 1:18:31, pace: 7:51, age place; 10/80, male: 147/933, overall place: 184/2,262. Splits: 7:30, 7:32, 7;32, 7:49, 8:21 (sock hurting), 9:08 (sock repair!), 7:45, 7:39, 7:39, 7:37.

I had a great race experience both due to my PR, and as the weather was decent, the volunteers friendly and helpful. I did have a problem though with my pair of Injini toe socks. I'm not sure why, as I've worn them previously without problems, but at mile five they pulled up at the heel pinching my toes painfully and I knew I wouldn't be able to finish. So, I removed the socks entirely which solved the problem, but it was agonizing to sit alongside the road as hundreds of runners passed me. In any case, it was the right decision, as with my painful socks removed I was then able to step up the pace and recover lost time. Lesson learned: on race day only do that which you have done before many, many times.

This is yet another personal record running in Newton shoes! In this case my excellent Newton Motion III's shoes proved their top quality as being completely comfortable and run-worthy even without wearing socks (the first I've ever done so in any shoes.)

Finishing the race in the Woodland's Market Street was fantastic as the race organizers had arranged for excellent food and drinks. Thirty minutes prior to the race beginning the race organizers hosted a kids' K which was also fantastic to see and I enjoyed cheering for all the kids, and their parents.

Newton Motion III Review (2014 Edition)

Newton Motions have always been my favorite all-around training and racing running shoe.  I've worn them in their prior two incarnations, and, as always, Newton’s Action/Reaction forefoot technology provides springy responsiveness owing to their unique lugs that line the bottom of the sole as shown on my recently arrived Newton Motion III's.

The big change in the Motion III's, and my favorite, is the added fifth lug.  This, combined with the Extended Medial Bridge (E.M.B) helps the sole of the shoe better align with the foot’s five metatarsal bones, and delivers more cushioning, greater responsiveness and a broader and more stable base.  Combined, the added lug and E.M.B. allows for a more balanced and efficient running gait. 

Newton's Motion III's also provides a new micro-suede overlay on the upper and 360-degree reflectivity for added safety.  Unchanged are the Motion III's 3mm drop from heel to toe, as the shoe's near-level platform encourages a more balanced and natural posture, an essential component to efficient running.

I found the transition to the new Motion III's versus my prior Motion II's to be seamless.  I just tried them on, and they felt great.  As a result of my confidence in Newton I wore them with essentially no transition (from my previously running in Motion II's) both on last weekend's Texas Independence Relay (~20 miles in four legs) and yesterday's 4 the Park 4 mile race, and they felt comfortable, stable and responsive.

Needless to say, I highly recommend these shoes, and encourage runners new to Newton to try them on at a specialty running store which allows you to get them on the road where they truly shine.