30th August: Time for a change.

There comes a time of darkness and sorrow that befalls all of our lives. A time for reflection, a time to remember, a time to mourn.

Yes, it's time to do an 'Old Yeller' on a much loved and faithful servant of a pair of trainers.

I've had my pair of Asics Gel Trail Lahar's since before I embarked on this trail marathon odyssey and like the aforementioned hound, they have served me well but now need to be put out of their misery... Unlike the dog, at least my footwear isn't rabid, even if it does smell like it might be on occasion.

The trainers have been warm, comfortable and the fact they are Gore-Tex has been a curse and a blessing: When you run through mud and a tiny bit of water then you know you will stay dry, but if you go through a depth where the water comes over the top of the shoe, the water comes in and just stays in the shoe without draining, held there by the Gore-Tex that is so effective at holding it out.

The fabric on the tongue is now fraying and the grips are wearing down to be similar to road shoes, so they're no longer much kop on the trails (not that the grips were good enough for hardcore muddy slippery trail running in the first place, as I found to my cost on my first organised marathon), as I can now feel every stone under the balls of my feet, leading to a sharp intake of breath and a wince every now and again when I tread on a pointy pebble.

I've been so happy with them as my 'light' trail shoes that I've decided to replace them with a newer pair of Asics, the 'Gel Trail Tambora 4', so aside from dispensing with the Gore-Tex they are essentially a like-for-like replacement.

The new trainers :)

Fingers crossed for many happy miles to come in these bad-boys... Once I've been out and about in them a few times then I'll be posting a review as to how they fare... I will not be canning the Lahar's just yet though, I'll be keeping them for any pavement pounding to be done when it's raining or there's puddles on the ground.

Eat pies.
Drink beer.
Run far.