Over 50 Running

We ran the Island Vines 10k this morning in South Hero, Vermont. This was our third time following 2023 and 2025. I ran in Superblast 3, the first race for those. I'm liking them. 2026 2025 2023 I set my course record today at just under 53 minutes, an 8:30 pace. I would love to get my 10k time under 50 minutes, but an 8:30 pace is still good. If I could do that for a half marathon, that would be impressive progress. Julie finished about a minute behind me, a 10k PR for her, I think, in a little under 54 minutes. She wore her Hoka Cielo X1 3.0's and liked them for that distance. She had said they had made her feel unstable near the end of the half marathon in Charlotte, NC, which she did in under 2 hours! Superblast 3 and Megablast have gravitated to the top of my shoe list. I see a bunch of love on YouTube for the Vomero Pluses - maybe their time will still come.  I have three pairs of carbon-plated shoes, which is wild. I like training in them, but I do feel like they can be ...

Julie and I ran the Charlotte, Vermont Covered Bridge Half Marathon yesterday. We ended up finishing together around 2:03. It was an out and back out of Shelburne, Vermont, but the one covered bridge is in Charlotte, as I understand it. I had some sub 9-minute miles through the middle, but around mile 10, I crashed. I often crash around mile 10. This time, I turned it into a run/walk for the last 3 miles. Then, at mile 12.5, Julie tapped me on the shoulder and passed me. I was able to keep up and finish right behind her. The Toronto Half Marathon is coming up soon. I should hopefully be up for a sub 2-hour there. My legs are still in a long-term recovery from the thigh strain from June. Yesterday, my legs were so tired after 10 miles. The 11-main trail run in Jay was just a week ago. I'm looking forward to some training runs in a few days when I've recovered. It was a beautiful course. I would do it again.

We ran the 11-mile loop at Jay Peak yesterday. I love ski resorts, and this was a great summer event for Jay Peak ski resort. I finished in 3:32.  We did a 5k on day 1 of the 2-day event. My wife ended up doing just one loop on the 2nd day and also finished in a little over 3:30. She started with the 6:30 am starters and I started with the 8 am group. My right thigh injury/weakness flared up during the 11-miler and I had to walk the last few miles, which were downhill. My right thigh could handle running on level ground but not downhill. The Toronto half marathon is six weeks away. I’m hoping I can start running again in a few days. These trail runs are crushing. I have a sore right ankle and sore left thigh. And sore lower back. My Adidas Agravic SL’s hurt my left foot again, causing a blister on the side near the ball of the foot. I used tape over the spot for the second day and that helped. Ultimately, though, it is bad luck that the shoes tend to hurt me. I might be done with t...

With several rest days interspersed, I have completed five 5-mile runs. In 5 different pairs of shoes, to make it fun. The same route for the five runs. 1. Superblast 3, 49:50, 9:57/mile 2. Vomero Plus, 49:59, 9:59/mile 3. Megablast, 45:51, 9:09/mile (best time) 4. Nike Alphafly 3, 46:13, 9:13/mile (2nd best time) 5. Asics Metaspeed Sky Tokyo, 48:04, 9:36/mile These were the first outside runs for Nike Alphafly 3 and Asics Metaspeed Sky Tokyo. The Nike did quite a bit better. The Sky Tokyo's did better as the run went along, but took some getting used to. After winning the last round, the Superblasts were just as slow as the Vomero Pluses this time.  The Megablasts finished second in the 3.5-mile runs, and now first, living up to their reputation as good shoes.  I think I might be getting a bit of a soft spot for the Superblast 3s, and I'm still into the Megablasts. The other three in this series (Vomero+, Alphafly 3, and Sky Tokyo) are closer to curiosities. I like them, but ...

I have just completed five consecutive days of running a 3.5-mile route in the Butler Farms neighborhood of South Burlington, Vermont. I used a different pair of running shoes each day. Sunday, August 9, 2026 - Asics Glideride Max 2 - 72 °F - 9:11/mile - 31:52 Monday, August 10, 2026 - Nike Vomero Plus - 76 °F - 8:51/mile - 31:03 Tuesday, August 11, 2026 - Asics Superblast 3 - 63 °F - 8:26/mile - 29:34 Wednesday, August 12, 2026 - Asics Megablast - 64 °F - 8:37/mile - 30:16 Thursday, August 13, 2026 - Nike Zoom Fly 6 - 62 °F - 8:44/mile - 30:40 Why Superblast 3 Won The Superblast 3 was the fastest because of energy return from the heel. I was taking it easy on my legs trying to avoid injury and just going with what the shoes made comfortable. The Superblast 3 seemed to have the best shock absorption and energy return in the heel. I didn't have to expend energy trying to make the landings soft. I could slam into the heel as hard as possible over and over again, no problem.  Megablas...

We ran the 14.7-mile Moosalamoo trail run in Goshen, Vermont yesterday. Goshen is only about an hour from where we live in South Burlington, Vermont, and yet this might have been my first time there. It's a rural town up in the mountains that isn't too far away from the Champlain Valley. It's basically the Middlebury area, and Middlebury is up there with Richmond and Stowe, mentioned previously, as one of my favorite Vermont towns. Goshen includes the Moosalamoo National Recreation Area plus some nice, rural, Vermont mountain neighborhoods, similar to Middlesex, Vermont where I lived from 2006 to 2022. I was sold on Goshen right away, especially with the Moosalamoo area, which did seem worthy of being one of 41 "National Recreation Areas" in the United States.  The weather and trail conditions were fantastic. I finished in around 3 hours and 50 minutes (3:50). That included large sections of walking. My Adidas Agravic SL trail running shoes gave me blisters in the...