The other week, I was rewarded for what seems like a winter of endless snow shoveling when I found a brand new pair of Saucony Virrata shoes hiding under a pile of snow in my garden:
They had been sent to me as part of a Fitfluential campaign I was chosen for, so I was expecting them to arrive; only I had no idea when they would come. I had been anxiously rushing home every day from work, hoping to find the shoes, as I had the Chilly Half Marathon coming up.
The Saucony Virrata?s are zero-drop shoes and only weigh 6.0 oz. The Virrata is Saucony?s lightest and most flexible training shoe and allows your foot to move naturally.
First Impressions:
- Holy cow these are LIGHT!
- Wow! These sure are colourful!
- These are SO flexible!
Saucony Virrata Zero-Drop Shoe:
Aren?t they pretty?
Of course, the first thing I did with my new shoes was to put them on my feet and walk around the house in them. Then, the next day I took them for a snowy 6k run:
Even though my body felt trashed from all the snow shoveling the day before, the Virratas felt light on my feet, so I was able to have an enjoyable run. Then, on Sunday, I decided to put them through the ultimate test: The Chilly Half Marathon. It?s a big leap of faith for me to run a race in a new pair of shoes that I haven?t broken in yet, but the shoes had felt SO GOOD on my run a few days prior that I felt like I just had to race in them.
Truthfully I usually have tons of issues when I run further than 10k, so despite my love affair with the half marathon, it?s not usually a pleasant distance for me. My hips get stiff, my hammy?s scream at me and my feet get arch blisters and bruised toenails. Ouch! I hadn?t really trained for the Chilly Half, so I knew that a light pair of comfortable shoes was exactly what I needed in order to make it through the race pain-free. Wearing the Virratas prevented ALL of my usual race issues! My feet felt light all the way through the race! Usually at about the 14k mark I begin complaining about the bricks on my feet, but not this time. In fact, my race/training partner Emma kept telling me to slow down.
Over the past week I have continued to wear them? for a total of 33k!? These shoes are awesome!
What does zero-drop mean?
Zero Drop ? refers to the thickness of the sole which features a heel that is less than a half inch in height, allowing the forefoot and heel to be the same distance from the ground. This allows for natural running experience in which footfalls are in the mid to forefoot area instead of the unfavorable heel strike.
From: Shoe Digest
Basically, it helps you run more naturally.
I was skeptical about trying these shoes.? I have flat feet and normally run with my orthotics.? I was SO afraid that I would get injured from them, or my plantar fasciitis would come back. So far I?ve run 65k in my Virratas and my plantar fasciitis hasn?t reared it?s ugly head (and the weird hip pain I?ve had for 6 months has disappeared).
These make my feet SOOOOOOO happy!
All in all I am officially converted to zero-drop shoes and I LOVE my Saucony Virrata shoes!
Have you tried zero drop shoes before? Yay or nay?
Disclaimer: Saucony sent me the Virrata shoes in part of the Fitfluential Ambassador Program. The thoughts and opinions are my own.
Like this:
Loading...
hangout todd haley kareem abdul jabbar miramonte elementary school mark jenkins super bowl commercials 2012 mia
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.