Some new gear, and a shoe rant

First off, I'm sort of in the process of crafting a "2010 in review" standard post...but it's most likely going to take a while so I figured I would tide you over with some brief and useless ramblings....

I had a delightful Christmas break in Wisconsin, which involved a mildly sprained ankle, 3 runs during the entire week I was home, an absurd amount of beer and food, and some running-related Christmas goodies! Behold, my new most favorite piece of running apparel:

You see, I have greatly benefited from the new visibility trend because my very favorite color is orange.  When I opened this jacket, my sister told me that it looked like it was meant to go hunting...in all seriousness though, it is a GREAT jacket...nicely fitted, lots of pockets, wind/water resistant, fun little LED light that can be recharged by sticking it in a USB port, and perfect for my night running habit.

I also received my 5th pair of Nike Tempo shorts (best. shorts. EVER.) as well as some running gloves, some sports bras, and a running log.  Yay for Christmas...thanks parents!

However, something that I'm less thrilled about? This:
[warning...rant ahead]

One of these things is not like the other...
I've been running in the Mizuno Wave Inspires for the past 6 years and have LOVED them.  The updates from 4 to 5 to 6 were pretty minimal aesthetically and fit-wise, and I've been especially happy with the 6's which fit me really well and have got me through the two hardest/highest mileage training cycles of my life thus far with zero injuries.  So it was with great unhappiness that I saw the 6's go on closeout on runningwarehouse, which could only mean one thing...a dreaded 'update'.  I anxiously awaited the release of the new shoe, hoping that I would see on the page something that looked just like my beloved shoes.  And then I see these yellow monstrosities, and my heart sinks.  To be fair, the basic outline of the shoe doesn't look THAT different.  But first off, they're ugly! Second, and perhaps most important to me, they are half an ounce heavier than their predecessors. One of the things that actually drew me to the Inspires in the first place was how light they were, even though they were somewhat of a stability shoe, so the fact that after all these years they decided to add some (obviously unnecessary) weight is frustrating to me.

And then I hunted down a couple of reviews of the new shoe, which all pretty much have the same theme among people who happily ran in the 5's and 6's...a) they feel cheap, b) they fit poorly and come up too high on the ankle, c) they feel nothing like either of the previous shoes.  People, I am FURIOUS! If there's one thing I hate it's trying to find a shoe that really fits me well and I've been so happy with these shoes for so many things that I figured Mizuno would know they had a good thing going.  So now I'm going to have to go back out on a quest for a shoe I like...and I already know that I don't like the Asics model that is supposed to be similar to these because it feels clunky and heavy...and I don't think after running in a really lightweight model for 6 years that I'm going to be able to switch to anything heavier. Grr...Mizuno...you're on my shit list. For now, I'm going to keep buying the 6's while they still exist and wait for you to realize that you effed up and change them back when you come out with the 8's.

[end rant]

Sigh.  That's all for now.  I have 102 posts in my Google Reader, which I suppose is what I get for dropping off the internet for a little over a week.  2010 in review will be appearing sometime before January 6 I would imagine...my projected mileage total for 2010 is ~2233 MILES [currently sitting at 2220, and planning on ~8   today and 5 tomorrow]...that's 378 miles more than last year which I would say is pretty significant.  Happy new year to all, and you had all better be cheering for the BADGERS in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day. :)