Review: Sof Sole premium inserts

Recently I had the opportunity to try out two different Sof Sole insert products: The Adapt and Stability.  I used them in place of my factory insoles in my Nike Air Equalion +2's and Saucony Hurricanes.
"Adapt" overall: 4.5 / 5 stars
The Adapt is a heat-moldable insert (225-degrees in oven for 2 minutes then wear in shoe for several minutes while cools) that provides a lot of cushion and support in the heel.  I really liked this one because it kept the toebox wide while really hugging my heel.  This really felt like a custom insert.  After doing a few 10K training runs with it I was very pleased to note that I never "noticed" my feet - exactly what we should be shooting for.  Impossible to say whether this heal support and cushion will pay off in the long run but it sure seems like it.  These inserts also good for just walking and standing a lot - I wore them several days to work and in the operating room.  Again, I did notice how they really support the heel, but absolutely no complaints.  Will plan on keeping these in until shoes are dead, and will likely buy them again after my next factory insoles start getting a bit flat.
"Stability" overall: 4 / 5 stars
These are ready-to-use out of box with no heat-moldable action.  I did notice they give a lot of medial foot/heel support to prevent pronation, and they work quite well to that end.  Similar to the Adapt, after running/walking/standing on these for several days I have no complaints.  They most certainly brought new life back to my 14-month old Saucony's.  When running I do tend to notice that anti-pronation support a bit more than the Adapt but this did not cause any problems during my 2-week trial.  I think these inserts are excellent premium replacements but personally I favored the Adapt a bit more.
For sizing both of these they come in a range of shoe sizes that then require trimming.  I simply used my factory insoles as a template to cut the Sof Sole inserts with heavy scissors.  I can see how messing up the trimming could botch these as they would either be too big and crowd in areas or too small and slip around. 
It is important to note that I wasn't really considering buying insoles, but was given these on a promotion to try.  I had thought of getting some for my older shoes to get more mileage out of them, but had gotten no further than the grocery store foot pharmacy in my quest.  At $30 a pair these are probably most valuable to the person with slightly worn shoes, rather than brand-new.  Of course for specific problems like over pronatation (despite a stability-class shoe) or heel issues these may be worth a look earlier.

Available at these retailers, among others:
Sports Authority
Rack Room Shoes
DSW Shoe Warehouse
Athlete's Foot
City Sports
Finish Line

Lazy Runner

Running Lately:

10.5 miles sunday afternoon (cool and clear).

last week did two 6-milers at 6am at Peidmont Park (yikes COLD!, around 25 and 30 degrees, add some wind).

 

was planning a medium length run tomorrow but looks like the rain will stop me...

Turkey Runs

A couple of chilly runs lately.  First was Thanksgiving morning in Florida with a cold high-30s run down some old dirt roads.  Ground was a bit damp still but that had the advantage of keeping dust out of the air.

 

Next was not until today back home in Atlanta when I agreed (stupidly) to a 5:45am Piedmont Park run.  Did about 6 miles via 3 progressively smaller loops (spiralling inward).  Took a full 2 miles to get "unchilled" in the mid-30s high-wind weather.

 

Winter is coming quickly.  Finding the time and weather to run gets difficult.  The Elliptical looks better and better by the degree...

The [Douchey] Doctors

Wow disturbed to catch on daytime TV yesterday a show called "The Doctors" hosted by that ER guy Stork who was on Bachelor a lifetime ago.

 

What a crappy show, but I guess speaks something about the stay-at-home moms still finding blonde young docs hot.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEJMZ51vwuc

Second Review of Sole E35 Elliptical

Please refer to my first early review of my new elliptical machine.  I now write a brief followup to that review after about 6 months of use.

 

Price: $1299 at www.soletreadmills.com, includes shipping.

Pros: price, quiet, very sturdy/heavy duty feel, adjustable "pedal" angles, multiple workouts, remembers my weight/age

Cons: remote HR monitor requires a hairless chest and even then its iffy

Weird: The calorie calculator consistently reads about half the calories of a similar workout on a LifeFitness or Precor, the fan is so weak you can barely detect its on, there is audio input & small speakers & audio output (the output is pointless)

Sound bite: A durable high quality low-frills machine at a good price, much less than its competitors.

Would I buy again: YES!

 

I admit I haven't used it as much as I had hoped.  I used the machine quite a bit in the heat of summer to get a run in here or there, probably averaging twice a week.  We have sort-of built a little home-gym around the elliptical featuring a TV, iPod stereo, wood floors, some inspirational posters and a towel rack.

 

One place this has really helped is with my IT Band problems.  This elliptical does not quite take your knee through 30-degrees of motion (at least for me), so even when my knee is flaring up I can run on this with very little problem.

 

After using only this elliptical for a while then getting back on the LifeFitness at the gym I must say I like the Sole E35 a lot better.  It has a much smoother "running feel" with what seems like less "up and down".  I didn't think that would be true with a front-flywheel but it is definitely noticeable.

 

The near-silence of the machine is huge plus.  After a couple months I noticed a "rubbing" noise like there was some extra friction going on somewhere.  Turns out the plastic/rubber guides in the back were not really lubricated (I never lubed them).  I used the supplied "elliptical lube" and put a couple drops on the guides and voila! Silence.  Now when I work out my wife usually just hears my huffing and puffing and not the machine at all.

 

Our home gym is on the second story of our wood-framed home.  I was a little worried that using the elliptical would make the whole house shake or vibrate (like the washer does sometimes).  But no, no such problems.  Unless immediately below the elliptical downstairs you can't tell anything is going on at all.

 

One recommendation I definitely make is to put your machine on some kind of hard flooring.  Since this is my house and not the gym I definitely notice that I make a virtual sea of sweat when I work out more than 30 minutes.  It is disgusting to think that if this were on carpet all that sweat would get soaked in.  On the wood floors I just wipe it up with a towel (and of course do regular floor cleaning).  BTW I have the machine on top of a cheap WalMart 3/8" rubber mat; no damage or denting noted to the bamboo floors yet.

 

Anyway if you are thinking about a machine I think this is a great alternative to the high-prices Precor or LifeFitness, and far better than the department store cheap-o's.  You can try out some models in person at Dick's Sporting Goods, they are an authorized retailer but I went with the factory store to save money on sales tax.

Looking for a Place to Run

Wintertime blues.  Just when I'm feeling motivated and have a little break at work I see the race schedule for Atlanta in December is BLEAK.  I was hoping for a nice little wintertime 10K or maybe even 13.1 (I will be gone Thanksgiving) but only the Hillgrove Holiday Classic (a small race at a highschool with only 50 finishers last year).  What I see is a host of 5K's, and a Braselton 8K.  Is there anything I'm missing, or am I destined to do my long winter race alone?

 

December 08 Atlanta-area races:

ATC December Cross Country 5K Marietta 12/6

Mistletoe Run 5K Alpharetta 12/6

Run for Reading 8K Braselton 12/6

Run to the Star 5K Douglasville 12/6

WCA 5K Monroe 12/6
Hillgrove Holiday Classic 10K Powder Springs 12/6

Optimistic Flapjack Fun Run Jasper 12/6

Sleighbells on the Square 5K Marietta 12/13

Jingle Jog 5K Loganville 12/13

Jungle Jog 5K Atlanta 12/13

Viginia Highlands 5K Atlanta 12/20

Flashlight 5K Lawrenceville 12/31

No Sweat No Run 5K Kennesaw 1/1

Yikes the knee!

Admittedly I've been lazy since the marathon about running.  This morning I headed out for what I hoped would be a long run.  Atlanta was beautiful today - clear, 50-degrees and breezy.  Very nice for running.  At about mile 4 I felt my left, then my right, IT band acting up at my lateral knee.  I tried to be careful about my mechanics and stay on smooth asphalt but finally at about mile 5 I had to stop.  The pain was too much and I was worried I would hurt myself further.

Turns out my right IT band was the worser.  I walked the next mile-and-a-half home.  Defeated.

Being my hard-headed self I then went out to try my new Bike for a road test.  All I've really done so far is tool around the neighborhood getting used to the gearing and adjusting the seat.  Why should I let a bum knee hold me up?

So I headed for a ride over to Decatur (about 16 miles round trip).  The bike went great. I had to adjust the seat again, actually higher than I liked but made for better pedalling.  Only at about mile 15 did I start to get a twinge of the knee pain again.  It was actually quite funny to see how (relatively) fast I did this trip cycling as it seems like it takes forever to run it. :)  The other "funny" thing was to see my cheap-o Bell bicycle computer go flying off the handlebars at 20mph and skip into some bushes... Nowhere to be found.  It's only funny because I do actually have a sense of humor.

My knee now OK but will rest it some this week.  Will also try some stretches to get the IT band loosened up.

I thought about reinventing the wheel and devoting a blog to IT band treatments but there are plenty of other sites out there that do already.  Here's One.

Stretch on!