New running shoes!!!

Yupz... finally decided to get a new pair of running shoes. When I first changed to the Asics Kayano running shoes, it felt a bit hard for my liking and I thought it was because it was new. As the days went by, I got kinda used to the hardness of the cushion and kept on running. These pair of shoes are not cheap by any standards... Retails would set you back around $265 but if you got it over at Queensway shopping center, you can get it for about $165. A very good deal...

Of late, my knees have been giving me problems and the pain mostly comes from the right knee. This is a pretty common thing for runners but I always thought that if you had the right pair of shoes, the chances of this happening would be reduced. Well... since the Kayano, this was not the case and it might even be the one that accelerated the injury. I had my current pair of Kayano's for about 2 years now... it has followed me thru my full marathon which I did in 2003 and a few other 10km runs. I guess it's finally time to get a new pair.

Some options for new shoes came to mind was the latest incarnation of the Kayano series.. think they are up to Kayano 11 now. (I have the Kayano 9) and with the knee injury, I was seriously contemplating switching back to Adidas. The main problem with Adidas was design.. mainly in their sporting line of shoes. I can't seem to find a decent pair that is nice looking... but they occasionally do have a few decent looking ones.

I finally decided on getting Adidas and zoned in on the AdiStar Cushion. As you can see from the name itself, it provides for more cushion (I hope.. if not I just went for another damn marketing thingy) and hopefully won't cause more injury to my knee. Retail price is $189 but I got it for $130. Adidas running shoes are generally cheap unless you got the super high-tech version of their microchip running shoes... too expensive if you ask me. Haha.

Anyway.. I'll be taking my IPPT next week and hopefully I get some money from that to offset my new pair of shoes.

Zap the mouse...

Yupz.. I just bought a laser mouse. Before that, I was using a Microsoft Intellimouse Optical mouse which worked pretty well on most textured surfaces until you encounter a very smooth surface like glass or something that was very reflective. That's when the optical mouse starts losing points when compared to it's elder brother the ball-based mouse. Enter the laser mouse, instead of using optical led to bounce light off the surface, it uses laser.... yes, say it like in the Austin Power "Laser". I tested it so far on my office newest meeting room tables and it worked like a charm. Yeah... it may be an overkill for just a mouse.. but heck. ;-)