Did 6.17mi today since the weather got nice (though roads and walks were wet, salty, icy still). Zero leg pain! I discovered it wasn't the shoes...the answer was in my description of my running form.
In order to try and run with good form, I started taking shorter strides, landing under myself rather than out in front, and when I'd check my cadence it was up where it's supposed to be. This naturally encouraged me to strike much less with my heels and more of a mid-foot/full-foot strike. I focused on trying to keep this movement efficient and not to clobber my feet with each strike (softer landing). The thing is when you move away from heel striking, your bones are not dealing with the shock nearly as much...more so your muscles. Specifically, calf muscles! This was the cause of my weakness/soreness - I was not used to my muscles etc. handling the shock. It's a pretty well-documented issue, apparently. Anyway, it went away.
The weather has been so shit I'd been doing short runs (1-2mi) on the treadmill after lifting at the gym. I hate treadmills. Not only do I find it insanely boring, I always overheat (I am fat). The little piddly fans built into the treadmill don't do jack. I have yet to go to a gym that has a cardio area that is ventilated to my liking or cooled enough for me. If only I could get a window AC unit in front of me. For all the hate I have for treadmills, I will say this - if you can build up some miles on them, running outside seems so much easier.
I'm now switching between my two pairs of shoes - Saucony Guide 7 and Kinvara 5. The Guide is really plush to run in, though has the higher heel at 8mm offset. I really did get used to 4mm with the shoes I had before, and that's what the Kinvara is at. The Kinvara is also the lightest shoe I've ever owned, and is probably the lightest training shoe at the shops I've been to. 7.7oz for a size 9 (I'm 10.5, but whatever)! It's super flexible as well. So much so that I find it an odd shoe to walk around in because of the way the shell flexes and moves. However, when actually running in them, they feel wonderful. To me they feel like they have just enough cushion but they offer really good feedback from the road itself.
The only thing i'm slightly worried about, besides injuring myself by overdoing it, is not having changed shoes at the right time... The ones I currently use (Adistar Boost) already have almost 700 km on them since March 2014, and they'll be over 1,000 once I'm done with the 42K. Do you think I'll be fine? I'm quite light (60kg), fwiw.
