adidas Mana

It's time for a little shameless plug. The shoe pictured is the adidas Mana, and I totally love it. My training has been in a lull for quite some time and for a variety of reasons, but it has recently picked up. Higher mileage, clear, defined goals and periodization have all contributed to better output within the past couple weeks. In addition, I put on the adidas Mana, a lightweight stability shoe for a test run. Although recommended ideally for tempo runs, I will see if I can try these out for a long run so that they can survive the pounding of a marathon.

So I did my 6 mile distance run with that "other" group (Nike). Emily was pacing the sub-8 group. And we were chugging at 7:17 pace, but it wasn't forced. It just sort of happened that way. Along Jefferson St and before the turnaround, the pace was increased slightly again. The shoes really held up. The real question was whether or not I can maintain that pace! Only Jorge and I managed the pace that probably went down to 6:35-6:40 with a tailwind all the way back to N***town.

What a comfortable ride! I strongly recommend this shoe to anyone who wears lightweight stability shoes for their fast, tempo runs.

If you are lucky adidas SF Urban Run raffle winner, we strongly suggest that you try the shoe that is offered for that month. But we also strongly suggest that you own a shoe that suits your needs and abilities. Warren and I will find that shoe for you. Every runner is made different, and your feet and knees know what they want and will thank you later.

Also recommended: adistar Singlet....very fast, but they may be a size larger than what you're used to. Also worn on the run.

Not recommended: Wearing new apparel/shoes at a race. Good thing this run didn't mean anything to me and I didn't run it as I would in a race. I wore new singlet, new shoes, and new socks. All passed my test, but trying something new (diet, rituals, apparel/shoes, etc.) in a race may not be positive 95% of the time.