I am not running with any other shoes. There, I said it. At this point, I don’t care if I have to pay $500 for my next pair of Newtons. OK…maybe not that much…but you get the point.

I attained a PR of 27:44 (official time is actually 27:39.27) and with no numbing nor pain whatsoever.

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My upcoming first half-marathon will be an interesting challenge. Hopefully I’ll have the discipline to stick with the training plan.

On the Newton Gravitas: After about 20 miles with them (combined treadmill and outdoor running) I think I’m almost at the point to declare that I cannot imagine myself wearing any other shoes. Although I think I should have gone a half size bigger; fortunately, with RoadRunnerSports membership I can have them exchanged…but I’ll decide after a few more miles with them.

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I just registered online for my first half-marathon for the fall.

Yikes.

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I’ve been reading about Newton shoes all over the intarwebs since I took running everyday seriously some 1.5 years ago…A lot of runners swear by them but for the longest time I couldn’t get over the sticker shock: almost twice the price of a “regular” pair of running shoes.

Over that short span of time, I’ve learned quite a lot about running…and during this short span of time, spent a deal of dough in pursuit of the perfect running shoes.

Over the last few months–while trying to get accustomed with midfoot/forefoot running–I’ve settled on the Nike Free series…while running with the Vibram Classics from time to time.  I’ve suffered from ITBS from time to time, but with these shoes, I rarely deal with the symptoms of the pain.

Until, of course, I had the embarrassing first 10K run.  ITBS came back with a vengeance.

So I broke down and finally bought a pair of Gravitas.  Fortunately, I bought this through a local RoadRunnerSports store…with the membership and some coupons, it sort of eased up the blow of the sticker price.

When I tried it out on the store, I knew the shoes were different…it had a beefy midsole…and I was a bit skeptical.  The store offered that I try it on a treadmill, but I didn’t have much time…plus I wasn’t too keen on the idea of running on a treadmill while somebody looks at me as if I’m some kind of rodent on a spinning wheel for a science experiment.

They did say I could return the shoes within 60 days if I’m not satisfied.  SOLD!

Now I’m writing this after my first 2-mile run on a treadmill, and here are my impressions:

• With the Frees, I have to be conscious of making sure I run the proper form and land on my mid/forefoot.  With the Gravitas, I can’t land on my heels without feeling awkward; I can actually forget about having to be conscious about my running form.
• NO PAIN.  I know this is probably some kind of Placebo effect, but I did not feel any form of numbness or pain like I would occasionally feel with the Frees or the Vibrams.
• Not too excited about the electric blue color (with bright red-orange laces!).  I really wish Newton would offer a bit of more subdued colors in the future…heck, I would settle for another color.  Perhaps I’m being picky, but I really don’t wont to be noticed when running…and with this color, people can see me from a mile away with their peripheral vision.

So…in conclusion (so far), it’s worth every penny.   That may change in 60 days…We’ll see.

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Yesterday was a first for me on a few things:

- Run and finish my first 10K.
- Cover a distance of more than 3.5 miles in one run
- Finally reach my ideal weight after about 1.5 yrs.

I celebrated by eating a large bowl of pho, a large cup of ice cream, and a large cheeseburger and fries. I probably gained 10 lbs back. :-/

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I did terribly on the 10K because I did not prepare for it…partly because I was too preoccupied with a home renovation project and partly because I got too cocky…because I wasn’t doing so bad on 5Ks.

I paid the price for not preparing for the race: by mile 2, my ITBS started to rear its ugly head…by then my pacing already dropped to about 10 minute mile…fortunately it went away for a while but by mile 4 the pain came back…and by the last mile my left knee was so stiff I felt like running on stilts.

One thing’s certain, though: I will be attending this race every year.

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