Dabbling in other brands, and a fresh Monday night

As part of my extending grizzling about Sunday's SMC event, my poor Magic Racers copped a share of the blame (it's like golf - it's never the golfer, always the club), so with work being quiet I had a bit of a ring around to see if anyone had the Brooks Burn that a few people, MPH and Fats amongst them, had recommended.

My endeavours pinpointed Paul's Warehouse in town and I scooted down there in my lunch break.

Perusing the shoes on offer there, I was surprised at the weight of the Burn, figuring them to be more like the DS Trainer than a true racing shoe. They seemed okay, and the price was pretty decent, so I thought I'd try a pair on. Then I saw the Brooks T4 Racer - bit hard not too, they're fairly eye-catching...
...very light, too, at just over 200 grams a shoe (I weighed them when I got on). Tried them on too - both felt pretty decent in short strides through the store, a lot softer than the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 5 I ran in a few years ago that gave me fearful shin splints. Again, prices were very reasonable, so I headed back to St Leonards with two pairs of new shoes.

Feel a little guilty, but the whole fleet's been renewed now so I'll be right now until the new year when the post-Xmas sales should see shoes cheap.

Anyway, back to the running thing. EliseS decided to do Run Club tonight, so the routine was much like last week. I have to train with SW's morning group tomorrow, so thought it best just to run with a good rhythm and not belt the bejesus out of myself like I did last week.

So, after a brief chat with Tim and 26miles, with new Brooks Burn 2 (to give them their correct name) on the hooves, I set off, completing a lap of the Dog Run and a lap of the Bay Run for 16.34km in 1:13:18. Had the iPod on, with the quite isolating headphones and a good series of songs, and just had a nice, solid comfortable rhythm going.

Quite fresh out there, I was comfortable in a long sleeve top and shorts, and quite a solid breeze out of the south east. The shoes were surprisingly soft for a DS Trainer equivalent, but certainly had very good control in the sole - it seemed that the insole is fairly soft, giving good cushioning within the shoe without sacrificing the control of the shoe. Quite impressed. Good to add a bit of brand variety to the shoe rotation.