100 Kilometers = 110 Miles

That is a screen shot from the Google results of a question I asked.  That question is "How many miles is 100K?" 62 and change. But I already knew that since I had run a 10K this summer, and knew it was 6.2 miles, and I'm at least good enough at math to multiply by 10.

Why does this matter? Well, I had signed up to do the Wounded Warrior Project Soldier Ride on September 21st around suburbs West of Boston. If you aren't familiar with the Soldier Ride program, you should get familiar with it. It's pretty amazing. While it aims to raise money via charity bike rides, its main focus is actually on having Wounded Warriors - those who fought for America and were injured in the line of duty (both external, physical injuries and the unseen injuries of brain damage and emotional trauma like PTSD) - train and and ride in the event. The speaker for my ride was a veteran who suffered both kinds of injury, and spoke about how hard it is to be part of such a tight-knit, interdependent team and then coming home to such a contrasting life where your injury also makes you feel incapable. He talked about how the Soldier Ride gives Wounded Warriors that team connection and feeling of not just accomplishment but ability.

The program offers a 22 mile ride (which the Warriors and most people do), a 100K route and a century ride (100 miles).  There was a barbell distribution in sign ups - I didn't talk to a single other person who said they were doing the 100K officially, but I did talk to a few 100 milers who planned to cut out early as the ride went through their home town.

It is for this noble cause that I decided to push myself, and sign up for a distance twice what I had ever rode. I had only been riding for about six weeks when I signed up (like, ever, not just six weeks this season - I only started road biking in July, and hadn't ridden a bike in nearly 15 years before that). I believe in my level of fitness, and see myself as an athlete, so I felt I could do it. When I saw the official, final course was set at 45 miles and change, I said, "Not good enough!"  I used my commute to the ride's start and end to get back up to 100K (actually more like 107K) because there was no way I was going to ride for people who made incredible sacrifices for us by cutting short the real goal or taking the easy way out.

Me, MA Gov candidate Evan Falchuk and my dad, pre-race

So, I rode to the event at a leisurely, warm-up pace in the mid-teen miles per hour on what was a very chilly September morning at about 7am. I got to the event, picked up my bib, changed into my riding gear, and met up with some family who were doing the ride, too.  My cousin, who is running for Governor of Massachusetts, did the ride. Not trying to plug him, but I do really appreciate when a person does more than show up and smile, but actually gives of themselves in a real way. This actually wasn't his first time, and his family has attempted it with him in the past, too (his wife was doing it again this year).  My father was also along for the 22 miler, which was great.

Middlesex County Honor Guard (and the GEICO Geccko)

So I put a Gu gel, two Honey Stinger Cherry Cola gummy chews (with caffein - I was very happy with these as they were easy to eat, not messy and gave me a good boost), and a pack of Jelly Belly Recovery Beans in my riding shirt. I decided to eat a Gu about 15 minutes before the ride started, and have a bag of recovery beans so the protein had a chance to get into my system. I should have hung onto one of those, but I had no room in my pockets given that I also had a spare inner tube and a flat repair tools, plus I needed to put my cleat covers into my shirt once we mounted up.

The Middlesex County Sheriff sent the Honor Guard to open the ceremonies, and we heard from the organizers and the Warrior I mentioned above.  There was a lot of cheering, and people were in great spirits.  It's hard not to be for something like this.  Some companies had amazing showings with large teams they had put money behind, like this one from Raytheon (makes sense since they're a major defense contractor and based near the ride's start).

The Raytheon team at the starting arch

One of the most amazing things was to see the Warriors and their bikes. Some of the bikes were pretty standard, but others were altered in ingenious ways to work with the various injuries the Warriors have. Hand bikes were a common site, as were several variants of recumbent bikes. Here's a little shot of the Warrior's corral, where you ca see a couple of them plus the various different bike setups they have.

Wounded Warrior bike corral

So the ride started at 9:25am, and the temp was probably in the low 50s. I was actually shivering at that point from basically not moving for the last hour and a half on a brisk morning (and having very little on). I had chosen a De Marchi bib with a medium-thickness chamois, plus my Zoots Kona Iron Man sleeveless, compression, riding jersey. I was regretting the latter of those choices at that point, but my regret would flip flop as the day went on.

We started off with the Warriors leading the pack followed by their support vehicle.  We did the first few miles in a controlled pack, all riding together in the high-single-digit to 10 mph range. It was really moving and positive - no one was racing, everyone was happy, and it was great to get a view of the Warriors riding.

After a few miles, we could pull in front of the Warriors and start to ride at a pace we'd set. I had never ridden in a road race or pack (or actually ever more than with one other person), so I was really just trying to figure out how to fit in, pick my moments to pull ahead, read the cues of those around me, etc. It reminded me of my second running race, which was super-densely packed and hard to navigate.

After a bit, we started to break apart more, and settle into pace packs. Those doing the 100K and 100M routes turned off onto a different course, leaving the 22 milers to their route.  I waved goodbye to my father, and used the less-dense group to try to pull ahead a bit. I also resigned in my mind to be content finishing and not worrying about whether I was up front or not. I was inexperienced, and while the overall crowd wasn't super elite or anything, there were some very serious looking riders in the mix.  There was also block of four or five guys on Cervélo TT (time trial) bikes that were intent on leading.  Anytime they were behind, they'd pack together, and push ahead, whizzing past us in their super-aerodymic, razor-thin frames. We were in a residential and slightly hilly area with lots of turns and street crossings - not really the place for a TT bike, but they were focused on leading.

That didn't last long.

After about 15 miles, the TTs were a bit spent, and out of their element. A group of about 10 of us pulled to the front, and broke into two packs by the 20 mile mark. Unbelievably to me, I was in the front group with three other guys that I got to know pretty well over the miles that lay ahead. They were not just nice guys and good riders, but helped teach me (whether they knew it or not) about how to ride in a pack and handle the distance.  I was the youngest in the group, but they weren't likely more than another 10 years older than I am.

I had my Garmin bike computer tracking distance (among other things), and watched as the miles ticked by while I took in the scenery. In the back of my mind, I had this fear or missing a turn or more importantly the spot where the 100K and 100M routes split.  I kept a close eye on my Garmin's distance  measurement.

As we hit the 40 mile mark on what was said to be a 45 mile route, we were definitely not within 5 miles of the ride's end, but I figured maybe there's some route I wasn't aware of, so I didn't lose faith. Also at this point, we hit a water station (the second, with the first at 20 miles - but we didn't know this was also the last one). We asked the guy manning the station about the distance, and he had no idea how far we'd come or how far was left. I had two water bottles, but had given one to one of the 100 mile guys in my group, so I took a bottle at the water station to refill my only remaining bottle.  That 100 miler split off as we were not far from his home, so he ended up doing something in the low 40s.  Still, he was pushing, so he put in a good effort, and was a great guy and good rider.

About 30 minutes until the start. Cold but excited!

We entered a park area, and ended up riding for the next two to three miles on a mix of sand, dirt, rocks and moss. Not really what road bikes are meant for, but it was actually kind of fun. It was also a chance to recover a bit as our pace was cut in half to deal with the terrain.  One of our pack slipped on a mossy spot, and wiped out, but was able to recover with some scrapes on his elbow.  The path came to a fork with no markings as to which way to go, so we went with the larger, clearer route. That was a mistake, and we ended up in a model plane air field during a local gathering.  The planes were really cool, but I was starting to worry about how long this ride would be, whether I had enough fuel and water to make it. We were told to stop at a gas station or convenience store if we needed something, but the mainly residential route meant we hadn't seen either of those things in about 20 miles, so we couldn't really bank on that.

We back tracked, and took the other part of the fork only to be joined by a large group of riders that we had previously been quite a ways ahead of.  I was bummed that my sizable lead had been cut to nil as I had been feeling a bit of a high from being the lead 100K rider.

Getting through the rest of the woods, we all largely stayed together, but once we hit the road, those of us that had been leading pulled ahead again.

At this point, I was at 43 miles, and realized the map was just totally wrong, so I best ration my water and remaining fuel (one pack of recovery beans and one pack of Honey Stinger gummies) to get through the next 20 miles.  I used the recovery beans, and kept chugging.

All the while, I looked down at my Garmin, and called out major miles to my pack.  I also was growing increasingly concerned since I knew enough of the local area to know were actually getting farther from the end.

60 miles came and went.  I got really nervous.

100K ticked by.  OK, now what?

Now what was to stay calm. My body actually felt ok. I'm strong, conditioned, and the day was perfect - not too hot, not too windy in most areas - and I had great company that I was enjoying. The only concerns I had were around fuel, water and not having a clue how much was actually left to go. My wife was also feeling sick when I left that morning, and I was already past when I was supposed to be back, so that was weighing on my mind. Luckily, she was doing better and totally awesome and understanding about things when I called her, so I could put that concern out of my head.

All of the sudden at mile 80 (as in 18 miles past the 100K mark), a sign appeared directing 100K riders to the left and 100M riders to the right. I took the left, but wondered if that was a weak choice. I think I could do another 20 miles, and then officially hit 100M during the ride itself (and 120.6 for the day). That said, my concern was whether the remaining distance was 20 miles or maybe far more. Since my course was mapped at 45 miles, maybe there was another 50 miles to go or something? That I was pretty sure I couldn't do without a major refueling, and it would put me out past dark as it was now approaching 2:30 or 3pm. I wasn't sure about any of that since I had stripped my bike of all lighting and reflecting to save weight.  Plus, we hadn't seen a gas station in 60 miles, and hadn't seen a water station in 40, so I didn't want to risk doing so much distance without any additional fuel or water (since I was now out of both).

Knowing I'd at least hit 100 miles for the day (10.3 in, 80 so far, 10.3 back plus whatever I needed to get from that split back to the finish), I took the 100K route.  Just past the 81 mile mark, I hit a gas station. Let me rephrase that - I hit an oasis in the desert. I knew I should get a Coke or Pepsi to get some sugar in my body as I was really feeling the bonk, and figured the caffeine would be a smart idea. I also knew I'd need to buy water - enough to fill my main bottle at the very least. Good thing I had put a $20 in my flat repair bag and had myAmEx on me, too.

When I stepped in, that's when I saw it - the ice cream cooler.  Apparently, Snickers makes an ice cream bar that's the most delicious thing on Earth when you've been riding a bike for four and a half hours. I bought that, a Pepsi and a large bottle of water.

I called home and texted the ride organizer about the course issues. I was less worried about myself than anyone else out there who had paced for 45 or 62 miles and was now at mile 80, no clue how far they had to go, and was out of water, fuel or willpower.

Feeling literally energized, I hit the course and fired up Google Maps on my phone, put in the finish line's address, and tapped for bike directions.  It said I was 10 miles away.  I had been checking periodically throughout the ride, and often got 10 miles as the distance, so I was a bit skeptical, but I started to recognize some of the highway signs I was seeing and what they pointed to.

I followed the course, but soon came to a sign I thought I'd seen before for a split between the 100K/100M and 22M courses. That means I must be near the finish, but is this a new sign, or the one I had seen around 9:45 that morning? With the missing turn sign and the major course mistake that had me doing so much longer of a route, I just couldn't have faith at this point.  I decided to take the 22M route in case it was the same sign, so I knew I'd only have another 10 or so miles to go. Google Map check - 10 miles from the finish.  Of course it is.

Google thinks bikers go much slower than I do. That's demotivating for someone who has been riding for about 5 hours already.  Seeing "50 minutes" for something that should take less than 30 has an effect on you when it only displays time remaining. Add to that how I got it down to 19 minutes from about 40, took the turn it told me to take, and it bounced right up to 37 minutes.  I'm sure the people in the homes I was passing at that moment not only heard me moan, but felt it in their bones.

But don't worry, there's only 10 miles to the finish according to Google Maps.

That's when I saw it. Or him, rather. A guy I had noticed at the start wearing a red cycling jersey with Star Trek across the front. He was on the side of the road, having a drink and rest. I must be on the right path - or at least I be lost with someone else. Either way, I was happy.  I took that emotional boost, and started to really cook.  Google understood my pace, and now told me I was under 10 minutes away (I'll guess it wasn't saying 10 miles at this point).

I had veered from the course directions and was sticking to Google because I had absolutely no faith in the course at this point. Suddenly, a sign appeared with an arrow for "straight ahead" signaling I had rejoined the actual course (maybe I never left it?). A couple more miles, and I could see the finish.

As I cross under where the inflatable blue arch of the start had been (they had cleaned up most of the event setup after the 22 miler and picnic had concluded), I stopped my Garmin.

5:10. That's five hours and ten minutes of riding versus the roughly three hours it should have been. I felt good, actually, and wasn't worried about my ride home.

89.5 miles versus the 45 or 62 it should have been.

6,668 calories burned (not including the fuel I took in, including the big hit from the Pepsi and Snickers, but I definitely still ran a major deficit, and you need to add in my 20.6 mile commute, too).

I downed a veggie and a turkey six inch sub from Subway that they had at the finish, drank a bottle of water, talked to the organizers about the route and the risk to other riders, and hit the road again.  I took a decided slower pace on the return home (about 15 mph vs the high teens and low 20s I had been cooking at much of the day).

Next stop, the shower.  Then I took my son to a local Whole Foods to get some fresh made juice and tell him about the day, and that was that.

Adding in my commute, I did 114 miles.  I biked for six hours and 20 minutes and burned 8,047 calories. I rode at an average pace of 17.5 miles per hour. I was not happy about the course issues and the risk it posed to people, but I was also blown away with what I had accomplished and how well I had done in that accomplishment. I didn't just finish, I performed really strongly, outdoing many more serious bikers who certainly looked the part physically more than I do.

The takeaway

So what have I taken away. There's a clear story of ability, belief, hard work and commitment. There's also a story about trusting your body more than your mind thinks it can or should, as I learned well during the Three Peaks Challenge.

More tactically, there's a definite lesson in fueling and hydration strategy and back up. I would definitely plan for an extra 20 miles or 2 hours of need to be safe - more if I know there's no way out or to get help. I would definitely have taken a second water bottle at the 40 mile station - that would have been the easiest change to make, and I even debated it. I didn't want to carry the weight, but surely it would have been worth it as I know not having to ration my water would have helped my muscles from feeling as worn as they did when I hit that split with the 100M route. I think I would have gone for the 100M if I had that other bottle.

I woke the next day pain-free save for a bit in the left side of where my neck and back meet, and a numbness in an area I'd have to write a new Rüez review to name.  For that issue, I would have chosen a bib with a beefier chamois (I picked my least built up), and have since gone back to my bike fitter about my saddle, which I've changed out for one with a relief channel in the middle. I also found that my saddle (the standard that came with my bike) is about 10mm too narrow for my biology. So I'd have gone back in time to when I bought my bike, and ask to add saddle fitting to my initial setup.

The general lack of pain - either stiffness, sore muscles, etc - and the fact that I worked out the next morning (at a slightly lower intensity on purpose, but I think I could have done the usual) really amazed me. I've had back surgery, double hernia surgery, two left knee ops, right wrist surgery twice and a dislocated left shoulder. I expected to at least have back pain. Not a lick of it during or afterward. Not even stiffness. This is all a testament to the general level of fitness I maintain, the emphasis I've placed on balancing my musculature (this is why I think the left side of my neck hurts and the right doesn't - imbalance somewhere that was pulling unevenly on my neck), and doing proprioceptively rich training (BOSU squats and push ups, running on grass, minimalist shoes), and actually doing all the PT exercises I've been given after each surgery.

If you work hard, you can achieve so much. Honestly, not doing that doesn't interest me at all. How about your? Do you agree that hard work, dedication and belief in your abilities is the way to enlighten.your.body?

Q: What is newbodi.es About? A: Whole Fitness.

Q: What is newbodi.es about? Are you about personal training? Life coaching? Diet ideas? Energy bars? What?

A: Simple, we're about whole fitness.

OK, maybe it's not quite that simple, or maybe that doesn't actually explain things.  By 'whole fitness', I mean that we are about being healthy in every way, shape and form.  newbodi.es aim is to help people transform their complete life into a higher level of health. This means focusing on the body (exercise and dietary habits), but going beyond that into the mind and how we live our lives.

So, yes, we are about personal training. We are about life coaching. We do give diet advice and guidance, and do offer 'energy' bars (if you can call them that - they're really nutrition bars). But the key is what we do to offer these things in an intertwined, holistic manner.

You can be physically fit, and still overall 'unhealthy' because you are overwhelmed by stress, pessimism and anxiety. That is not living healthily. That is living under a cloud (at best). The flip side of this is that you can be mentally very healthy and happy, but your body isn't at the same place, so you live a limited life (either by what your body can't do, how hard it is to do what you want, or quite literally that your life is limited in how long it is due to health factors). That physical health cannot just come from exercise or food choices alone, but rather the combination of the two. Improve the machine while giving it the right fuel for its needs and eliminating the poisons that work against it.

Focusing on any one aspect of health will only provide a local maxima. This is like being in a valley between two hills, and seeing those hills as the highest points around. You can pick which of the two is tallest, and think that's the highest point you can achieve. But if you change your perspective, get out of the valley and see all the peaks around you, then you can find the global maxima. Only then can you achieve it.  Fitness is a valley.  Diet is a valley. Working on your mind is a valley.  Rise above and see across all of them to find the true summit. Climbing that summit is how you enlighten.your.body.

Getting Jiggly with It (aka Proprioceptively Enriched Environments)

Proprioception. What is it? A pill that is meant to help with baldness? No, that's Propecia. Sweating? Nope - perspiration. It's about instability, and your body's ability to stay balanced by sensing what it needs to do in response to the instability and then doing it.

The definition of it from the National Academy of Sports Medicine (of which I'm a Certified Personal Trainer) is:

The cumulative sensory input to the central nervous system from all mechanoreceptors that sense body position and limb movements.

See? Just like I said. It's your body's ability to deal with the undulations under foot (or other body part that's responsible for balance or movement).  An extreme but clear example would be walking on a tight rope or a slack line. A simpler example would be running on something other than a paved surface like sand or a trail.

Creating a proprioceptive rich environment to workout in is a way to increase the difficulty of an exercise. If you don't increase the difficulty or intensity, you won't keep progressing, so this is a good thing to know as you master an exercise at a given level of difficulty. Most people think, "I need to add a few minutes/miles/pounds to my exercise," to make it tougher, but here's another way to keep getting results from your efforts.

It's not about 'more', but rather 'many'. By that I mean it isn't about doing the same exercise with more weight, moving farther or being more powerful in your movement.  Rather, it's about how many things you're asking of your body in the process of the movement. So with a squat, it isn't that you're now wearing a weight vest, holding dumb bells, going down deeper or explosively charging back up. It's about activating all the muscles from your core to your toes to help keep you balanced, and asking your prime movers (quads, hamstrings) to activate more broadly and more finitely at the same time (triggering more of the muscle, and using each fiber more acutely).  There's nothing wrong with 'more', but 'many' can do more for you depending on your current fitness level and goals. It's also more likely to give you usable benefits for everyday life.

Combine more and many, and you're in a great position, but you have to work up to that. But that's the whole point of making progress. Work up to many, more and better. That's what it means to enlighten.your.body.

Recipe: Green Eggs

I've given a lot of breakfast advice over the past couple of years with a focus on getting 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking (read this Q&A post for some thoughts on the matter). This seems to be a real sticking point for people who aren't used to eating breakfast, or, if they are, they eat something fast, cold and simple (bagel, cereal, muffin, etc). The idea of cooking breakfast sounds way too hard, and the idea of having eggs every morning sounds way too unhealthy.  You have it backward in terms of the health point.  As for it being hard, yeah, you've got me there.  The good news is, I have a solution.

How is it that I eat a multi-ingredient omelet every morning around 5am without making so much noise that I wake up my whole household? How do I do it without having to cook on top of trying to workout, do some work, shower, get dressed and get out the door to get to my office?  The answer is really simple - I cook the omelet at night, and employ my economics undergrad degree a bit by leveraging economies of scale.  In non-dork terms, I make more than one omelet at a time.  Sometimes, I don't even make an omelet, but do more of a fritada so I can just stick it in the oven for 20 minutes and not even have to think about it (or clean the dish for a few days).

OK, here's the deal. You need an egg for each day you're cooking for, some egg whites, powdered greens (optional, but highly recommended since they're SO good for you), spinach, onions or scallions, chia seeds, mushrooms, cayenne, salsa, sea salt, a kitchen sink and anything else you want in your omelet. Be sure to skip cheese, milk and anything you don't want in your omelet.  I tend to make enough for five or six breakfasts, so I use that many whole eggs, and then probably another cup to two cups of egg white added in.

Start with cracking the eggs into a bowl.  Add a scoop of greens for each day's worth of breakfast (e.g. five scoops for five breakfasts).  I find stirring the greens in after each scoop is best for avoiding clumps. A mini whisk is ideal, but I fork will work ok.  If you get some lumps, don't worry too much, but generally try to minimize how many lumps you get. Also add any seasoning (salt, cayenne) at this point. After you have all the greens in, add in your egg whites, and stir it all together some more to help mix it and break down any remaining lumps.

In a sauce pan, sauté the veggies a bit as they won't cook sufficiently for most people's taste once in the egg mixture. Add the spinach (or kale, if you like) half way through.  Sprinkle chia seeds on top, and then pour the eggs in.  If you're doing this in a quiche dish as a frittata, pour the veggies into the dish, spread them, and then sprinkle on the chia seeds.  Chia seeds are a great source of fiber and energy. They're good to work into your diet, and this is an easy way to do so. A nice optional ingredient is salsa or pico de gallo. Just drain the liquid off, or let it burn off during the cooking process. Tomatillo sauce is also a nice addition. Really, just play around to suit your preferences and taste, and to help differ things from week to week.

Next, pour in the egg mixture. If it isn't enough to cover the veggies, add some more egg white.  I felt like a little more spinach was in order, so I pressed some down into the mixture, but that's basically it.  You can cover it and let it cook on medium or medium-low heat for 5-10 minutes (until the middle isn't liquidy), or stick the quiche dish in the oven at 375 for 15-20 minutes (checking that it looks cooked throughout).  The time will depend on the depth/thickness, so adjust for your situation. I find lower heat for longer time works better than trying to cook it hot and fast.

When it's done, let it cool, and then just cut it into wedges that look like a good portion for you to eat at breakfast.  Depending on the size of the pan or quiche dish and the thickness of the frittata or omelet, I find I get five or six portions out of it.  My breakfast routine consists of a wedge of that warmed in the toaster oven (15 minutes at 275 or so) or microwave (1:30 on high is usually good) plus a protein shake and a couple of newbodi.es 4hb slow carb bars.  Sometimes I'll also make lentils to along with it, and only eat one slow carb bar.

A tasty, good for you, protein-packed way to enlighten.your.body first thing in the morning.

Review: Mizuno Wave Evo Cursoris Has a Weird Name But Rocks

The buildup

I have been searching for the perfect shoe for me for a while. I thought I had it in the Adidas adipure Gazelle. They are amazing, and I love them, but they wear out way too fast for me, and I end up feeling like I'm running off the edge of them because of how badly the upper has stretched (within 50 miles, no less!).  I thought I had them in the Merrell Bare Access 2. They're great, but I found the sole to be a bit stiff, causing forefoot pain when toe striking, and the form is a little too rigid, allowing for some slop in the toe box. They are really good shoes, though, but not perfect.

I've been seeing things about the Mizuno Wave Evo Cursoris, and waiting for RunBlogger to review them because Pete and I seem to have similar preferences in shoes.  He finally did, and I didn't hesitate to pick up a pair (on closeout for the Halloween color version from RunningWarehouse.com - great deal).

All I can say is that I'm done. The search is over. I think. Read on to understand.

What it is & How it works

The Wave Evo Cursoris is one of two shoes Mizuno came out with this year to feature truly anatomical design and minimalism philosophy at play (the other is the racing shoe, the Wave Evo Levitas, which I'd love to try for my next 5K or 10K - hint hint, Mizuno, can send me a pair to review?). The shoes look adequately weird, and have a terrible name. Both good traits in running shoes in my book.

They are narrowish around the heel, and come out around the toes, with a really nicely shaped and sized toe box that looks like the shape of the foot. I don't know anyone with a foot the shape of most running shoes, but I know pretty much no one with feet that aren't shaped like these.

The Cursoris (I don't have time to write out their full name, ok?) has fantastic flex, and a nicely cushioned 18mm sole that has no drop between the forefoot and heel. The lacing has a slight bias so that it follows the movement patterns of the metatarsals rather than cutting across them. Another good design move.  The shoe came in a couple of bad colors (green and blue or orange and black), and has this weird lizard/leopard/flower pattern on a few parts. They discontinued these colors and moved to a white, black and blue scheme that's really nice looking.  I have the Halloween editions, and basically don't mind if my running shoes are majorly fugly because that only adds to the power with which I shout out that I am a runner (silently shout, that is).

Another thing to note about them is that they run larger. I used the awesome Shoefitr system on Running Warehouse's site to find my size since I couldn't find a local shop that had them to know what size I needed.  I put in my Gazelles in size 10 as the comparison point, as they fit me perfectly. Shoefitr said I needed 9.5s.  They were spot on for fit. I've never worn other Mizunos, so I can't say if they all run large or if it's just the Cursoris, but you should either try them on or use Shoefitr.  I've found Shoefitr to be a total life saver when ordering shoes online or even buying locally with a try-on as new shoes don't always fit the same after a little break in (I should have listened to Shoefitr when I bought the Kinvaras - it said go with a 10, but I felt the 10.5s fit better...after about 5 miles, I realized that was a mistake, but I couldn't return them).

My impressions

Seriously, these are the best running shoes I've ever owned. They're fantastic, and only get more fantastic the faster I run in them.  I've put about 50 miles on them so far, with runs ranging from two miles to 9 miles. They're fine at 9+ minute pacing and outstanding at sub-7s. I really notice how they are just primed to respond when I need to really kick it into high gear. It's like their structure is made to go faster and faster, and they're just waiting for me to hit the turbo button on my legs.

I ran my fastest mile ever at about 6'50" the first time I ran with them.  Then, on a 9-miler, I had to cut across a busy street really quickly about 3 miles into the run.  I had been doing maybe 8'15" pacing so far with the Cursoriseseseses (not sure what the plural is, but it probably isn't that - maybe Cursorii like Toyota Prii) proving good traction, flexibility, fit and cushioning without being obvious or obtrusive in any way.  When I called on my legs to sprint across the street (probably a 50 yard sprint - nothing major), the shoes felt like something different than they had been. They gripped even better without being overly grippy (I can't describe too well - they just give immense confidence without feeling too tacky), lightened up, flexed more, and the cushioning just seemed to know what I needed of it. They also disappeared even more on my feet at the same time.  Yes, they're magic, if that's what you were wondering.

The funny thing about them is how they feel when standing or walking. That is to say, not great. The sole is fine, and the shoe is light and airy, but there is a feeling of some sort of constricting seam or band over my forefoot (a little behind the toes, yet forward of where the laces end and the material changes, which is where I would expect to feel it). I was concerned about this for my first run, but as soon as I took off, they felt 100% invisible.  I've heard people talk about shoes disappearing under foot, but figured that was a BS marketing line or something. I now know what that feels like.

My depressions

Honestly, I'm really struggling here to find things that concern me. I may have a list after doing 100-150 miles on them, but there's nothing at all that's worrying me.  The only potential thing I see is how fast the sole will wear.  The cushioning is largely dense EVA (see the white sections of the sole shot here - though there's a white rubber insert on the heel, as are the green pods), and sure enough, it's wearing already. I am in the middle of recovering from knee surgery, so I know my gait is a bit off, which is why one shoe is wearing faster than the other as I tend to turn my foot a bit on impact. That said, so many people have muscle imbalances, so it's not like everyone else runs perfectly.  I don't notice it while running, but can blatantly see the wear when I look at the sole.  Oddly enough, it's smack in the middle of the mid-foot (first white pod to the left of the wide green one in the shot above, sort of sandwiched between the lateral and medial green pods of the mid-foot).  You'd think it would be an outer or inner pod, but it's not.  This goes to the rotation I have in my stride.

I have three pairs of Gazelles that are almost unusable after 40 miles due to the upper stretching out too much, so I'm not at all unhappy with how the Cursoris is holding up.  I'm sure I'll be able to get somewhere between 150 and 200 miles on them.  For the $60ish I paid for them on close out, I'd say that's a damn good value.

To buy or not to buy?

Buy them. 'Nuff said.

OK, not really enough said.  I really do love running in these shoes. I'm side-lined with tendonitis in my left big toe right now (not from these - it started before I bought them, and is possible because I was trying to forefoot strike in my Saucony Kinvara's, which just aren't flexible enough for my stride), so I'm really antsy to get back out on them.

I am bummed that I didn't order 2 pairs when I got them as they're now out of my size in the orange and black ones, and I don't like the green and blue, and don't want to pay full price for the white and black (which look really sharp).  If I am going to still run the half marathon I have planned for October, I'll need a new pair.  I'll probably go for the white and black to give me a little amping up for the race.  Maybe some good coupons will come out by early October or maybe Mizuno or Running Warehouse will just the coolest companies and throw me a pair out of the goodness of their hearts.  Yeah, probably the former, though they're both cool companies.

The Cursoris is literally the best shoe I've ever run in. Find something that you truly enjoying running in. It's out there. The Cursoris may just be that shoe for you, too. It will help you enlighten.your.body.