Sunday, January 31, 2016

Reebok One Lite

I recently bought a pair of Reebok One Lite shoes. Reebok says they're ideal for tempo runs. I intended to replace my Kalenji Kiprun LD with the One Lites for my long distance sessions. My very first impression was that of a mixture of dismay & ecstasy. The very first day I ran in the new shoes, I shaved off 25 seconds off my 10 km PB; but my left inner heel and arch were in excruciating pain. That was the last thing I wanted considering I have to be in Kashmir come Feb 2nd for a ski trip. I am aware that I am a light pronator on my left foot, but the pain was severe.

So I took a day off and then tried the shoes for a 16km run. The second trial was much better. I shaved off 90 seconds off my 16km PB and another 70 seconds in a couple more days. Ive never bettered my PB in such short intervals but with the One Lite I was able to do it with relative ease.  After three runs the pain has subsided; I guess the sole of my feet were just getting used to the contours of the new shoes. I feel much better about the Ski trip now. I was petrified at the prospect of having to ski with an injury and make things worse. I am just glad that things have fallen in place in the nick of time.

Kiprun LD weighs over 300 gms and is heavily cushioned in the heel which is a hindrance to mid foot strikers; and then there is the issue of propulsion. As for the One Lite; they are light, nimble and come with just the right amount of cushion under the mid foot. The minimalist design might put off some beginners, but folks who've been running for quite some time could get used to it.

The Kalenji Kipruns have served me well. I've used several pairs over the last three years. The Kiprun LDs helped me bring my Marathon and 21k times to 3:50 and 1:43 respectively. I guess I'll just have to wait till mid Feb to try the One Lite in a 20+ km session and see how they perform. Based on the performance so far, I gotta good feeling that I'll trump my PB by a considerable margin, but let's not count the eggs before they hatch (OR some saying along those lines :p)