Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Newest Shoes

It's official: I'm crazy about my running shoes. After much much thinking, I decided to bring back the Nike Air Pegasus+ shoes I got. They just didn't feel right. I was used to running in a minimalist shoe, and this felt like running on pillows. I couldn't get a feel for the ground at all and felt that this was having a bad impact on my form.

I decided I needed to check out a new store in Northampton called, Good for the Soles, which specialized in minimalist and barefoot walking and running shoes. A trip to the store and a talk with the extremely excellent person there who understood exactly what I wanted and I ended up with these.


These shoes are the Altra Intuition 1.5. I did my first run in them today, a 3.5 miler on the treadmill at the gym. I think I'm in love! The shoes have a very very roomy toe box to accommodate my wide foot. They are flexible for a comfortable landing. They have just a tiny bit of cushion underneath for comfort -- but not too much. I honestly can't wait to go running in them again on Friday. I think I've found the shoe for me. And it couldn't come at a better time, as I plan to increase my mileage for the summer.

I also have to share that I made a delicious green tea smoothie last week, again from the book Green Tea. The beverage was very involved and required having iced green tea, matcha, pears, watermelon, and yogurt, among other things. 

I started by whisking my matcha with my yogurt. 


The book said that the resultant beverage was supposed to be pleasantly pink. I would report that my results differed. See the green of the yogurt plus matcha -- that was the color of the beverage.


I added everything to the blender, and it looked quite exciting. I like how this smoothie has yogurt in it. I used Greek yogurt, so the smoothie I made has extra added protein, which could make it a good post-workout smoothie in the future. (Think how nice it would be after a long run.)


I blended everything together, and here's the result!


The smoothie was light, cool, and delicious. All the flavors, especially the watermelon, were very subtle. The tea was nicely balanced by the fruit. None of the flavors were overpowering at all. I think this smoothie would be great for summer refreshment!


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