My First Run Back (and a Product Review: Saucony Kinvara 4s)

Sponsored post. All opinions are my own. FTC Disclosure here.

Today, I was scheduled for 6 miles on the elliptical… with a run sandwich.  In other words… elliptical for 3 miles, run 1 mile, elliptical for 3.  See how the hip felt.

So I ran a mile.  And I waited for the pain. But it didn’t come. I had almost phantom pain–like it should be there and I could kind of feel it… but not really. It was bizarre.  But so far, so good.

I had a weird dream last night (which I’ll get to later), but recently Saucony sent me these Kinvara 4 shoes to try out.

And what better to try on my maiden run voyage than a snazzy pair.  (Okay, so it’s not really a maiden voyage… but three weeks of non-running… feels that way.)

The Saucony Kinvara 4s will be available on May 1. (This is the 4th edition of the popular shoe—and the tagline for it is “Activate Your Kickassimus.” Enough said.)

Now, I LOVE my Saucony Virratas—I seriously wear them EVERYWHERE. I call them my laundry shoes—which is not what Saucony had in mind, I’m sure—but our house is full of tile and hardwoods, and very spread out… I have about killed my feet and legs walking barefoot. So instead, I wear my Virratas when I get home from work…. and they serve to strengthen my feet and ankles while I do the 5pm-8pm run around-the-house-working-mom routine.  Dr. Miracle Man Hands likes neutral shoes for gals like me because it helps with our sense of space and locomotion (proprioception). He likes for me to wear these shoes for walking and general footwear, because it helps to improve my balance and strengthen my feet and ankles. Good for a Swim Bike Klutz to get around in.

But I have not been able to completely “give in” to running in the Virratas and their ZERO drop.

But the good news for me was that Kinvara has a 4mm drop.  And I think it’s more comfortable, for me at least, to run when I have been accustomed to a little more stability.

And when I ran my first mile … I felt a little Kickassimus.

[Seriously. They came in this bag. Ignore the scary face.]

Things to love about Saucony Virratas and the #kickassimus Kinvaras—- is the extra cushioning in the shoe to protect feet — so in that sense, they are not as “minimalist” as you might think—but neutral.

Saucony says, Kinvara “offers protection, not correction.”

Because today was my first run back since the injury, I wanted to “feel” my feet and have some quick turnover for my one miler.  So I gave the Kinvaras a spin. And they felt great.

And I am considering using these for Ironman.

In fact, I am very seriously considering switching over to Saucony shoes entirely after trying both of these shoes. (I have been a Brooks gal for the last two years).

Why switch?  Well, I really like the room in the toe-box.  There’s well… just room.  Most shoes feel pinchy to me.  They are SO lightweight. So cushy. I don’t feel like they are holding me back. I feel like they are moving me forward.

Sometimes in my Brooks shoes… I feel like, “If I didn’t have these shoes, I would go faster!”

I feel the opposite in the Sauconys…  I am thinking, “Man, if these shoes had a fast runner in them… they would fly!”

But also, I had a dream…I had a dream last night that I was running a marathon. And the marathon took place in a town that looked like Sesame Street.  I couldn’t find my usual running shoes OR my Body Glide liquid powder for my feet.  I was freaking out. In my dream, someone found me some Body Glide… and then I had my bright yellow Kinvaras in the car. Ah-ha! I can wear those! So I grabbed them.  And in my dream, I was very fast and skinny.  So I consider it an omen.

For more info on the Kinvara 4, there’s some great stuff here too.  Look out for them in stores May 1.