Retirement Run

No, I am not retiring from running… my pair of Asics Gold Kayano 15 is. I put 400 miles on a pair of shoes and try to get as close as possible to that distance. Today while in Redmond for business, I run the last 3.99 miles in this pair. I like for my retirement runs to be a little different than my other training runs. Sort of like a way to thank a pair of shoes for the good service they have given me. Retirement runs are usually at a slow pace, to truly enjoy the scenery. They also have a very unplanned route which is usually driven by landmarks in the distance that catch my interest.

These particular shoes that retired today have given me exceptionally good service. To reach 400 miles, they completed a total of 57 runs, so just about seven miles per run on average. They also were part of four races including three marathons:

• 2009 Rails to Trails Marathon in Norwalk Wisconsin (3:59:43)
• 2009 LifeTime Fitness Turkey Trot 5K (0:29:40)
• 2010 Madrid Marathon (4:48:57)
• 2010 Minneapolis Marathon (4:31:36)

Today I got up late. I am fastidious about setting up the alarm clock in a hotel. I test them, confirm the AM and PM setting at least twice, check the radio station, etc. This time I forgot to do a volume check. As a result a text sent by my wife woke me up about five minutes before I was supposed to hit the road. Barely made it...

I did learn one thing from this run: because of its random nature, it is not a good idea to do a retirement run in a city you are unfamiliar with. As you can see from the resulting route, there were a few 180 turns and a lot of confusion. Several times I was convinced I was lost, and this added some stress to what was supposed to be a relaxing run. In some way, I felt I did a little bit of a disservice to my shoes, so when I returned to the hotel, I sincerely, and profusely apologized to them... Then I threw their ass in the trash :-)

Some shoes have a life after retirement as walking shoes. The hole that developed by my right big toe many miles ago may preclude them from such a destiny. As a result, these will not make it back to Minneapolis. The Gold Kayanos are survived by a pair of orange Kayanos, a pair or New Balance MT800, a pair of Mizuno Wave Nirvana and a pair of Vibram Bikilas. All of then in active status on the rotation. They will be replaced by a pair of Saucony Hurricane that I got at a good price at a Running Room sale and have been patiently waiting in their original box in the closet. This will be my first pair of Sauconys. I may need to write about the inaugural run :-)

By the way, the irony of retiring shoes after 400 miles to avoid loosing too much cushioning a the same time that I am starting to run with a pair of no-support-whatsoever Five Finger shoes because of the benefit of natural running is not lost in me. And yes, I am comfortable with both positions. They are both perfectly consistent with my love for new gear.