It's the last day in February (and random fact, also my half birthday) and I can't I'm sad to see this month go.

February was not very nice to me.

For such a short month, it managed to wreck a lot of havoc on my wallet.

Between an expensive computer repair, my two lovely car repairs and sizeable car insurance payment (I only pay every six months), I will be so, so happy to see March roll around tomorrow and have all my budget numbers refresh.

(No worries budget conscious friends, I did not put myself in any sort of debt fixing said problems. They still stressed me out a crap ton though.)

February was also crappy on the training front. The weather made me not want to run outside at all. So I didn't really. A few times here or there, but I mostly just ignored running.



I did CrossFit a few times a week in the beginning of the month, but then last week things were just too crazy and I didn't work out once.



This month has just made me feel bleh and I'm ready for a new month and a fresh start.

We change the clocks in March so we'll get some more daylight back in our lives, which will hopefully make me more cheery. Plus I'm hoping the weather will start to warm up (or at least be less dreary) soon.

Perhaps it's not actually February I hate, but more the fact that winter is dragging on and on, and I'm over it.

Either way, peace out February, I will not miss you at all.

When minimalist shoes became all the rage in the running world several years ago, I didn't really get it. I loved my Mizuno Wave Inspires for the support they gave me on runs, and I couldn't imagine sacrificing that.



But then I saw more and more people wearing the Vibram Five Fingers and I was curious and wanted to know why everyone thought they were so awesome. About two years ago, Vibram sent me a pair to test and review. If you've been reading that long you may remember the video series I made as I tested them out.

The Vibrams were fun and different, but I really struggled to build my mileage in them. (I think the longest I ever did was one mile.) I eventually gave up on the minimalist thing because I wanted to be able to run longer distances in something more comfortable.

Fast forward to today, and I'm mostly back to ignoring the whole minimalist thing and still running quite happily in my Wave Inspires.



But then I heard about the Saucony Virratas -- a minimalist shoes with some cushioning to protect your feet. I was intrigued.

Through FitFlulential, Saucony hooked me up with a pair to try out.



Can we talk about how amazing this color scheme is?

Here's the deal with these shoes. You get the 0mm drop of traditional minimalist shoes, but you also get 18mm of cushiony foam under your foot for an added level of protection. (If you want more in-depth details on the shoe's construction, Saucony has a great blog post breaking it down.)

Despite that cushioning, these shoes are extremely lightweight, which I loved.

I tried them out first at my CrossFit classes, where the coaches preach a lot about the awesomeness of minimalist shoes. I got a ton of compliments and really loved the way these held up during the workouts.


Also, look how much the shoes pop in this group shot.

My first run in the shoes was a quick and easy three miler. I loved how light the shoe felt on my foot, and I could barely tell I was running in a minimalist shoe. None of that traditional ankle/calf tightness I've experienced before.



Since the first run went so well, I might have gotten a little bit cocky, and might have forgotten that even though they didn't feel like it, the Virratas are still a minimalist shoe. On my second run in them I decided to tackle five miles.

Bad choice.

On this run, I could definitely feel some of the familiar tightness in my calves and ankles. It wasn't bad, but I did stop to stretch out around the 2.5 mile mark. I also decided not to be stupid and cut the run short. I did 3.5 miles instead.



What I love about these shoes, besides the awesome color, is that I could put them on and still go out on a three-mile run. I didn't have to worry about slowly building my mileage and working my way up to a three miler. I could just go out the door and do it, something I wasn't able to do in other minimalist shoes I've tried.

Now this doesn't mean I'm going to go jump on the minimalist shoe bandwagon and abandon my Inspires. They've done too many great things for me over the years. But I will be working the Virratas in to my routine especially on my shorter runs, and I certainly see them becoming my go-to CrossFit shoe.

What's your take on the minimalist shoe trend? Love them, hate them?

Remember back a few months ago when I was a long distance runner, and I used to blog about long runs and training plans and marathons and half marathons.

I was all "OMG yay running! It's just the best!"



Well I still think running is just the best, but man, winter has sapped all motivation to run anything longer than a few miles at a time.

I figured I'd bounce back from my foot injury and be all excited to start building my mileage again. But that didn't happen.

Who wants to spend hours outside in the bitter cold and wind?



Not me. That's for sure.

But, you might recall back in December how thrilled I was to get accepted in the lottery for the Nike Women's Half Marathon in DC.



Well friends, that race is slowly creeping up on us. I believe we're about two months out at this point, and my longest run since my foot injury has been a whopping five miles.

That's not really going to cut it to get me across the finish line in April.

So I think it's time to dust off some training plans, break out the Gatorade and Gu, and start getting back into a training groove.



I'm running Nike just for fun, so I'm not concerned about times. My training plan will probably be on the lighter side.

I have a lot on my plate right now between my real job, my teaching gig, CrossFit and several other commitments, so I need a training plan that can accommodate all that. I'm not going to set myself up for failure by tackling some super ambitious plan.

I'm thinking three days of running per week with two days of CrossFit should give me the fitness base I need to cross the finish line feeling good.

I haven't finalized the details of the training plan yet, but I'm hoping to do that this week, and then I'll make sure to share it.

Does winter sap your motivation to run long distances?