He Speaks: 5k's and Virrata

Hey Folks,

If you have been following Jen's blog for a while I am sure you have seen her post about Project X.

Let me introduce myself. I am Casey, otherwise known as Jen's husband and the subject in Project X.
For years, I had zero interest in this craziness of running (or any of that other stuff SHE does) but this fall I had a wake up call, an epiphany if you will. Now, I get it. I understand the hours of training, the quest to the finish line, the thrill that comes with challenging yourself and testing your limits. Now I am happily by her side and along for ride. I have my own journey and I am just happy that we can do this together!

Not only is Jen my wife, but she is also my Coach and has helped me shed 50lbs and go from a 40" pant size down to a 30! Jen is teaching me about the right way to train and race (and I think she picks on me the most out of all of her athletes).

When an opportunity came up to review a pair of men's running shoes from Saucony, I happily volunteered to be the guinea pig. I have been running in Saucony shoes since I started running and have been happy with the fit and comfort that the shoe provides. I started running in the Guide and recently tried the Fastwitch, a much lighter shoe. When I read the specs on the Virrata, I was very intrigued.

• very light and weighing in at 6.5 oz
• ZERO drop
• bright colors 

The bit of information that was of most interest to me was this-
Built on a 0mm offset, this shoe lets your feet do the work while providing plenty of protection from the road.

photo from saucony.com

I have been looking to gain more speed with my running and as I learned more about run mechanics and shoes (and still being a fairly new runner), it was important to me to have some cushion and protection yet a shoes that would allow me to run with the most efficient form.

I had a 5k coming up on the schedule and the Virrata arrived just in time, giving me a few days to get out and run before racing in a new shoe. The shoe immediately felt great-very comfortable like it had already been broken in to fit my foot. On my test run (5.6 miles) I could appreciate how light and springy they were! There was a sufficient amount of cushioning and I liked the way my feet just rolled along the road. I did notice a bit a calf tenderness after this first run but I was told by Jen that this was normal since I was moving into a more minimal shoe that I have been running in.

My second run in them was a short, easy run (Coach Jen had me on a mini-taper to get ready to race!) and they felt even better this second run. I had no other discomfort and liked the shoe even more.

Today was race day, it was a cold and windy day for sure. We got in some warm up miles before lining up and it was time to GO!

At the start line, we were all talking about new shoes and there was a guy next to me wearing the same exact Virrata's! We both agreed that we really, really liked this shoe!

At the race start, Im in blue (left, #946) running next to Jen in Rev3 blue (right, #947).
This was our first race running together!

My legs were warmed up and ready to run. Honestly, I could not even feel my shoes during the run they were so light and comfortable. I ran my way to 1 minute and 30 second PR today.

Thank you to Saucony for the chance to participate in this review.
Thank you Coach Jen for guiding me and being my cheerleader.



DISCLOSURE: All opinions expressed in this blog review are those of Casey and not Jen. The Saucony Virrata shoes were provided at no charge in exchange for Casey's honest evaluation of this running shoe.  All opinions expressed here are his own.