October 13, 2023 - Training Serendipity (Or How I Learned To Throw My AlphaFly 1s In The Trash)

Yesterday I used this space to lament the weather I was facing as I prepared for a long tempo run yesterday evening. And the evening's weather did not disappoint. 92 degrees warm with a dew point of 77 degrees as I began my run. Earlier in the day, I really didn't want to do the run. Dreaded it even. But I had gotten past my frustration, and had approached that run with in a good headspace ready to do the best I could targeting the expected stress of the tempo run. I was going to run by heartrate instead of pace. 

And I headed out the door and did exactly that. A mile warm up, then into the 15 kilometers at marathon effort (not pace.) I set my heart rate range to 70%-85% of max heart rate. I would try to stay closer to the 70-75% range for the first 10k, then let things drift higher as heat stress built. And the run was going just as intended for the first mile, even feeling a bit easy with a pace near target marathon pace yet my heart rate below the range I had set. But the heat stress hadn't hit yet and I expected that to change quickly.

The second mile continued well. A gradual increase in heart rate at a level pace, more heat stress building, me having to do some work just as desired. But something was going on. I had a hint of this. Even through the sounds of traffic and the podcast I was listening to, I could hear an odd noise coming from my right shoe. I was wearing a pair of Nike AlphaFly 1s, which always make a lot of noise, so I ignored it and continued.

I have a weird relationship with Nike AlphaFly 1s. On the one hand, they seem to work extremely well for me, with my paces almost always being much faster than the effort would suggest. The upper feels wonderful. They seem like an ideal shoe. But they're not. The carbon plate as it runs along the arch of the shoe runs sharply across the arch of my foot. I wouldn't call it a knife running across the bottom of my foot, but it's serious discomfort after a mile or two. I'll even have a sharp red line across my feet where this interaction is happening. This isn't as pronounced when I'm moving at paces around 7 minute per mile and under as I get more on my toes and less on my heels. But it's always there. I can only run 10-12 miles in them before the discomfort becomes too severe. So I've reserved them for very sporadic use, when I know I'll be running fast enough to prevent the worst of the discomfort and will have time for the soles of my feet to heel a bit. I have owned this pair (as always, purchased on significant discount) for over a year, but only had 180 miles on them. Yesterday's tempo was exactly the kind of run I look to use them in. Relatively fast. Under 12 miles. Looking for high efficiency and quick muscular recovery, but no long or hard run for a couple days afterward.

Somewhere around the half way point of the second mile at tempo, whatever was going on with my shoe was no longer just a weird sound, but also a weird sensation on my foot. Not the arch issue I always deal with. Not even something really causing a problem, but something felt off. I continued my run, but that off-ness became more and more pronounced. Finally, right around the end of that second mile, I had to stop for a traffic light. And I took a look at the bottom of the shoe. It had, well, just kind of exploded on me. The air pods on the right shoe had come completely off the midsole and were just hanging on by a thin strip of rubber. Now, I've seen some photos of AlphaFlys failing. A nail goes through the outsole into the air pod and pops it. The Zoom X foam tearing at a glue point. The air pod losing air simply because the outsole has been run through with many miles. They're not the most durable shoe made. But the glue holding the air pods to the midsole just giving up the ghost? That was new to me. 

The traffic light changed, and I tried to continue my run for a little bit longer. But the problem was rapidly increasing and the state of the shoe rapidly deteriorating. I could feel the pod flopping around and even folding under my foot. The run was a bust. A little over two miles at target pace instead of the planned 9.33. I stopped the watch and turned around to make the walk home. As I walked home, I decided to heed this message from the Universe. Today, I was not meant to do this run. I thought about calling my wife to pick me up, then throwing on some other shoes and finishing the planned run. But I instead accepted the serendipity of the moment. These shoes exploded on this day for a reason. Yes, it is entirely random, yet also exactly what was needed in the moment. I felt total comfort deciding to just bail on the day's workout, stroll home awkwardly in these busted shoes, then take my dog for a mile jog around the neighborhood.

Today, as is true of almost every Friday, is supposed to be my recovery day. Generally, that means a really gentle four mile jog. Instead, I'll make up yesterday's missed miles today. But not the tempo pace. I'll just go run the 11 miles that were planned at a nice, comfortable, conversational pace.

I accept the Universe's response to my lament yesterday. I accept that yesterdays tempo run was not supposed to be, that it was not for me. I even celebrate this occurrence. 

I think I'll even just toss these shoes in the trash and not bother with trying to make a manufacturing defect claim with Nike. (The shoes are beyond the two year manufacturing date warranty period anyway, so Nike would likely not do anything, but Nike does have a reputation of great customer service when it comes to manufacturing defects.)

And maybe next week I'll get more favorable weather for my tempo run. In a different pair of shoes.