Infinite Love for the Infiniti

I know you're not supposed to do this, but I've always been a rule breaker. I just did my first run in a new pair of shoes. 20 miles. Now the "running rules" clearly state that you shouldn't run so far the first time in a pair of new shoes. Instead you should wear them around the house and break them in with a few short runs (preferably on a treadmill so you can stop any time if you get a blister or something else goes wrong). But I don't always follow the "running rules." In fact, I've sort of discovered that the rules don't always work. It's much better to develop your own set of rules that work specifically to you.
Within my personalized set of running rules is the rule that clearly states that I can run a long run in a new pair of shoes if 1. The shoes feel fantastic walking around; and 2. I take my liners out of an older pair and replace them with the new liners in the new pair.
Well, I tried it this weekend with a new pair of Brooks Infiniti I got down at the Foot Zone and the results couldn't have been better! I've worn hundreds of pairs of shoes in my life, and after one run the Infiniti have to have moved into my top 5 of all time. The shoes are incredibly protective while still maintaining a fairly light weight and performance feel.
I set off on my 20 miler taking me around a loop going by Tumalo State Park and back home past Shevlin Park. I had no particular plans to run hard or try to hit a certain time. I just needed to put in the miles. Well, the shoes felt so good that I soon found myself rolling along. At about 7 miles in I passed J.J. Howard and Michael Dennis going the other way on a long run gearing up for the Boston Marathon and Michael yelled out, "Wow, you're going fast!" I hadn't been thinking about it really, but I realized after he said it that Michael was right, I was cruising right along at a sub 6 minute pace and feeling just fine.
The shoes continued to protect, mile and mile. I ran the last five in 28:40 for a total time of 2:00:11 for 20.00 miles on my Garmin. Not bad for a weekend long run! In fact that's my 2nd fastest time for that course and I've run in several times with a much harder effort.
Anyway, the point is, those shoes are sweet! I loved them every step of the way. If you happen to be a neutral runner or slight over-pronator you should give them a try.
More blogs to follow.
Andy