I kid. I paid $109 for these, and that's with my club runner's discount from Varsity (and 9% sales tax, thanks New Orleans). And I'm not wildly in love with the marketing for Brooks (I would like less emphasis on how amazing these shoes will make my soul feel and more emphasis on how they will cure all running ills and immediately heal or prevent injury).
But marketing aside, I have heard nothing but good things about the Brooks Pure line, and they seemed like a safe way to move to a slightly more supportive shoe. I got the men's Cadence because:
1. I have osteitis pubis. This means that my pubic bone is hurt and inflamed all the time. It is worsened by adductors pulling on the bone; if I can reduce that load the pain should lessen. Pronating leads to aductor shortening and tightness. I'm trying to work on this by strengthening my hips, too, but maybe a little control at the foot will assist.
2. When I got the left femoral stress fracture, my gait was off from some MTSS in the right leg. I've had that before in my right leg, and it is also a result of pronation.
3. The Cadence is probably a safe, light level of control and I don't want to go full stability. I tried that before and I was chronically injured: knees, hips, groin, etc. My runner's knee vanished immediately when I got out of my motion control shoes and into neutral. The Cadence seems to be halfway between monster motion control and cushy Kinvara freedom.
So this is a big experiment, and I thought I might as well try it while my mileage was low and slow. I ran in them once and didn't have any terribly ill effects, although there isn't as much cushion underfoot compared to the Kinvaras. I'll report back on the results after a few weeks.
Anyone else in the Pure line? Love them? Hate them? Do they really wear out in 300 miles?!
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hahahahahaha love it
ReplyDeleteI do have a few pairs of the pure flows. I don't know WHAT to say about them. I liked them initially because they have the wide toe box and are a LOT less money than my Newtons. However, I wore them a bit last summer and then all of a sudden I had the IT band issues and my calves/knees have gotten worse. I've blogged about it before, I don't know if I can blame the shoes for that or if it just "happened" or if it was because my base was lowered BECAUSE of aches/pains. I really WANT to love them - mainly because of the price tag. I wear them now mostly when I cross train.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Yes, big Pure line user. My favorite is the Drift, which is the newest, lightest, lowest drop one. I'm up to a 16-miler in them. My back up is the Connect. I think Brooks did a good thing with this line.
ReplyDeletehahaha! I actually fell for it for a second there. I don't think I exactly realized why I hate Brooks' marketing until just now.
ReplyDeleteI think that I probably need to try on some shoes that have a little less "freedom" that the Kinvaras too. And a shoe that could withstand 500+ miles would be nice.
I haven't tried the Pure Project shoes. I just switched to minimalist, though. I'm interested to see what you think about them and if they do help with all of your issues. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteHA!! You totally had me going! I always read about other bloggers getting free shoes and I wonder what I'm doing wrong (well, I'm sure my el cheapo blog and lack of posting has something to do with it) but seriously- no free shoes here!
ReplyDeleteI really do love my pure cadence. Been wearing them since November. My friend wears the mens cadence because she has wider feet and had a stress fracture on her foot last fall so someone suggested the mens and they seem to be working well for her.
Connects are my go to shoe
ReplyDeleteThat was very funny:) You don't know how happy this made me to see you wearing my favorite line of shoes - from someone who was a faithful kinvara wearer AND also loved those asics speedstars that I think you also wore. That's funny that you don't feel like there is as much cushion as the kinvaras, I felt like they had more, but were just as light. I am obsessed. Love them. REALLY love the connects, but based on what you've said about your foot, not sure they would work - although they might work in the mens. I hope you love them!!
ReplyDeleteoh, they do really wear out quickly. I get 300 max, but I think I wear them hard. I just talked to the shoe store guy and he said he is up to 400 miles in his, maybe you will get more out of the mens and the cadence, they are a bit sturdier. I really start to notice aches after about 250 miles, which is actually making me think part of my back problem was that my shoes have almost maxed the miles out. It's not cheap when you run about that many miles a month.
ReplyDeleteI tried the pure flow
ReplyDeleteIt was a disaster for me
I hope those works for you