My 11th Grade AP American History teacher used to do this thing where whenever he was talking about when someone was born and when they died, he wouldn’t just say that they died. Instead, if, for example, he was talking about a President, he might say, “He went to The Great Oval Office in the Sky in…” Everybody went to the great (something) in the sky. He had a few creative ones, none of which I can remember now. (Hey, it was 26 years ago and counting. I can barely remember what I had for dinner last night.) So, when it comes to my retired running shoes, I’d like to think that they go to The Great Road Race in the Sky.
The Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline GTS 15 (4th Pair)
These were my final pair of Adrenaline 15s. At the expo for the Raleigh City of Oaks Marathon, I saw that the Adrenaline 16s were out, and although I didn’t need to buy a new pair of shoes right away, I figured I’d make sure I picked up a pair of 15s on sale while I still could. The City of Oaks expo was pretty small, and they didn’t have any Adrenaline 15s in a 10.5 Wide, but I made a mental note to stop by the local running store when I got back to Charlotte, and the following week, I bought them. I don’t have the exact date, but it was sometime in early November 2015.
First Run: December 31, 2015. 7.15 miles.
Wow. I knew I wasn’t ready for a new pair of shoes when I bought this pair, but I didn’t realize until I looked it up that I ended up waiting almost 2 months to start wearing them. And yes, the .15 was to celebrate the end of 2015. I ran around my neighborhood. It was pretty uneventful. It was at the tail end of the late December heat wave, so it was 63 degrees and humid that day. As I write this, 63 and humid actually sounds good, but December was a different story.
Races
Charleston Half Marathon, January 16.
Great race. Flat course. PR. I haven’t re-posted my recap at the time that I post this, but it went really well.
Tobacco Road Half Marathon, Cary, NC, March 13.
I haven’t re-posted this recap either. It went…not so well. My left ankle blew up after 9.5 miles. Ouch. Somehow, I still finished. (It wasn’t the shoes’ fault.)
Yiasou Greek Festival 5K, Charlotte, August 27
Hot and humid, but I survived. I thought I’d be retiring my shoes after this race, but due to a math EPIC FAIL on my part, at the end of the day I ended up with 399.9 miles.
Other notable runs
January 23: 3.31 miles.
We had a winter storm the day before. Most of the Y locations were closed. One that was open had a strict 30 minute limit on the treadmills, so I went all out. It’s my second fastest average pace ever, 9:06/mile. (My fastest average pace ever was the 2015 Greek Festival 5K.)
April 8: 3.1 miles.
After the Tobacco Road Half, I rested my ankle, but it didn’t seem to get better, so I went to a foot and ankle specialist, and he determined that I have short Achilles tendons, putting pressure on everything attached to those tendons, and it just so happens that my left ankle was the first thing to go. Luckily, it’s treatable. I started with inserts and later switched to orthotics. This was my first run after my diagnosis. After a few weeks of not running, this run was amazing, even if it was on a treadmill.
(So my two most notable runs in these shoes that weren’t races were both treadmill runs. That’s disappointing, because I hate running on the treadmill.)
Last Run: September 1, 7.01 miles.
I did one last run to get me over 400 (for real this time).
Total Miles: 406.9
I don’t have a before picture, but here’s the after.
They’ve got some wear and tear, but they’re still presentable, so I can use them as walking around shoes. But their running days, sadly, are over. They served me well, though.