The following video, which can also be found on the Saucony web site, highlights the main features of the Kinvara and explains the technology behind the shoe. You can also read more about Saucony’s latest offering over at the DailyMile Community Blog, where good friend and fellow DailyMiler Thomas Neuberger and I compare the Kinvara with another of our favorite shoes, the Newton Gravitas. Click the link below to read the full review:

Running Shoe Review – Saucony ProGrid Kinvara vs Newton Gravitas

The Newton line-up is now more comprehensive than ever and includes the Sir & Lady Isaac, Motion All Weather, Gravitas, Motus, Distancia and Distancia S.

Click the image above to view their complete range.

To get started I did my usual 5 minute walk/1 mile run (7:22) but to mix things up a little decided to run a few “brisk” miles. The first one was a 7:08 which (a) really surprised me and (b) sent a wave of adrenaline through my body. At 6:35, mile two surprised me even more and from this point on my confidence only grew. I finished up with a 6:24 and walked back to the car with a big grin on my face.

It’s nice to be getting back into the groove, although I’m totally aware of the need to not push too hard. Too much too soon will probably set me back a long way. However, today was an excellent one and definitely another step in the right direction. Will be good to take tomorrow off and run/walk some more on Wednesday…..

An easy 4 miler that somehow morphed into a progressive 6 miler. Would have run more, but ran out of time before work. Temperature was almost perfect and the morning breeze made the run a real pleasure.

Splits: 8:06 7:37 7:31 7:26 7:08 6:44 – 6.2 miles in 46 minutes.

Afternoon:

Nice relaxed 2nd run of the day. No Garmin Virtual Partner, but planned to average 7 minute miles for the best part of an hour.

Splits: 7:05 6:53 7:04 6:58 6:56 6:56 6:58 6:54 – 8 miles in 55:47

Humidity much higher than this morning and it looks like it’s going to storm [again].

Feeling pretty good despite 14 Newton miles for the day. Looking forward to the Ed Lowery XC 5k in the morning, but as I posted yesterday, I’m not really expecting anything special. Definitely not a priority race for me….

Newton Running claim that their shoes should last as long as a regular training shoe. For me, that equates to about 400 miles and means there’s still plenty of forefoot running left in the orange and yellow shoes. My only question would be I wonder how I’ll “know” when they’re done? Anyone have any input on this?

In case you haven’t got the message from previous blog posts, I simply love wearing the Newtons. They’re so comfortable that out on the road they almost feel like a carpet slipper. In fact, they are so comfy, quite often I’ll forget I’m wearing an actual training shoe and not a minimalistic racing flat.

As for training, now that I’ve totally found and experienced the “Newton Sweet Spot”, I’m able to run longer and faster and am confident I’ll be able to wear them with great success at the Richmond Marathon in November. Last Wednesday’s longish run was a prime example: just over 13 miles in 1 hour 26 minutes – a time that would have put me in the top 80 at last years Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach! Actually, now that I think about it, it wasn’t too many years ago that I was struggling to break 1:30:00 in a half marathon, so to go out in training and run this fast is pretty sweet.

Thank you Newton Running for the boost! Coupled with the motivation and inspiration I’m taking from DailyMile.com at the moment, I predict the second half of 2009 is going to be even better than the first half! Here’s to a couple of hundred more miles in the ’08 Gravitas, and then onto the next pair. And the next. And the next…..

Anyway, onto the workout:

Moderate warm up, 5x400m each one with 2:30 recovery, 400m recovery, 5x400m each with a 2:30 recovery, cool down

I took advantage of the warm up to measure out a couple of quarter mile sections of Sportsplex parking lot. The local high school track was busy, the grassy soccer fields recently aerated, so parking lot it was to be.

The first couple of quarters were all about finding my pace. A stray dog didn’t help the first one (83 seconds) – thanks lady in the Subaru! The second quarter was a bit quicker, but still too slow – 78 seconds. Finally, on the third one, I found my Newton groove! 75 seconds and it felt comfortable. I followed up with a 74 and 73 and then “enjoyed” a 400m jog recovery.

I was determined to run quicker in the second set (after all, I didn’t want to let the dailymilers down, did I?) and clicked out some quick quarters – 73, 73, 73, 72 and a 71 to finish. I won’t say they were easy, but I’m confident I can run a little quicker next time, especially if the 400s are on a track.

I finished off with an easy couple of miles and used The Stick for about 10 minutes to help roll out a few knots. The Newton Gravitas and Newton Racer both performed very well, and the new Newton socks were surprisingly comfortable too. Good workout! What’s up for tomorrow?

Splits: 6:55 6:52 6:45 6:52 6:51 6:40 6:45 6:38 6:32 6:29 6:23 6:12 6:09 for a total time of 1:26:10 and average 6:36 per mile pace.

The Newton Gravitas were definitely a huge factor. As I’ve posted before, it’s hard not to run fast in the Newtons. Once you find the sweet spot, there’s no turning back. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever run a faster 13 mile training run….ever!

Also, tonight was the first run with a new Amphipod handheld bottle, The 20oz of melon flavored HEED definitely kept me going. Worked a treat!

Now I’m looking forward to a couple of easy days (and I mean easy!) before Saturday’s CHKD RunWalk for the Kids 8k. My 8k PR is 28:59 (set at the 2006 Neptune Festival) and I think it’s time for a new one. Besides, I rather fancy a celebratory Saturday night Samichlaus….

You may remember on Saturday I posted about the “Tweet 5k” – an online event to benefit Athletes for the Cure which is a program of the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Well, surprise, surprise, I found out this morning that my 17:39 from the Run for Independence 5k was good enough to win the weekend competition. My prize? A brand new pair of Newton running shoes! Tremendous news!!

(If you know what Twitter is all about and you’re interested in taking part, be sure to visit the tweet5k web site for more details. The event runs through the end of the month and there are still some great prizes to be won. Of course, you’ll also be supporting a great cause too!)

Back to my run. It took a while to pick up a good GPS signal – probably due to the cloud cover and steady rain – but eventually the black progress bar disappeared and I was able to start running. Compared to my perceived pace, the first mile seemed a little slow (7:43) – in fact, now that I look at the Garmin Connect details, the initial GPS signal wasn’t a good one and it has me starting the run in the water behind the house!

The 2nd mile was a 7:08 and by now I’d settled into a great rhythm in my Newton Gravitas which is the slightly heavier training shoe model. Mile 3 and 4 were very even paced at 6:42 and 6:41 and with the rain now lashing down, I decided to speed up a bit more.

Mile 5 felt great with a steady tailwind pushing me along (6:18) but the sixth mile was tougher as I changed direction and ran into the wind (6:22). The Newtons were performing well and I realized it was the first time I’d worn them in the rain. I had wondered how well the four forefoot lugs would grip the road, but to be honest they handled tremendously. No problems whatsoever.

With a couple of miles to go I decided to maintain pace and stay strong until I got back to the house and with a 6:17 and 6:18 last two miles, finished off the run for eight miles at 6:41 pace – not too bad at all for a Monday run. Most enjoyable!

Early training runs in the Newtons were fast, but looking back, I was probably more focused on landing on the toes than was necessary. However, during Wednesday’s run, my feet were landing on the forefoot (which contain the external actuator lugs of the Newton running shoe), which in turn helped to propel me forwards with a lever-like action. Once you find the sweetspot, there’s definitely no turning back!

You can read more about the Newton Land Lever Lift principles here or watch the following video in which Danny Abshire, co-founder of Newton Running, describes the technique to build better running form and have greater efficiency and less injuries.

The 2009 Newton range of running shoes contains both a neutral and stability trainer (men’s and women’s), neutral and stability racer (men’s and women’s) and also a new-for-2009 limited edition women’s pink universal racer, which was created to support prostate cancer research.

Professional athlete and official spokesperson for Athletes for a Cure, Michellie Jones, is fighting the fight with Newton who this year will donate 1 percent of all footwear sales to help find better treatments and a potential cure for prostate cancer.

By the way, if the price is still putting you off, Newton Running offers a unique 30-day satisfaction guaranteed return policy, which is designed to let you slowly test the shoes. If you are not completely satisfied with the shoes, simply contact Newton right away and let them know why you would like to return the shoes. Can’t say fairer than that can you?!

I ended up running a tremendous 10 miler with the Newtons really on fire tonight! I started with an 8:20 first mile (which was actually slightly long as I had a few Garmin issues just after I left the house), but quickened to a 7:11 second mile.

By this time all thoughts of skipping the run were out of my mind and I pressed on thinking I’d run 4 or maybe 5 miles. I ended up running 10 and the remaining splits were as follows:

7:06 6:59 6:48 6:39 6:35 6:27 6:16 5:57

As you can see, each mile was progressively faster than the previous one, and it felt so natural. Half of me wishes the Frederick Marathon was this coming weekend as I’m not sure I can hold this form for another 12 days, but the other half is looking forward to a nice taper.

At the risk of repeating myself, I’m thoroughly enjoying the Newton running shoes and honestly feel they are going to take me to a whole new level.