The Great Purge
I have trouble getting rid of stuff.
This includes stuff that is no longer of practical use, like my dozens of old Kinvaras that I’ve worn down with 500+ miles each.
But there are too many old pairs in the house; they’re really starting to clutter up the back room where Pepper’s litter box is (and the recycling bins and the furnace and the water heater), so I finally (with a lot of prompting by Nate) had to get rid of them today.
Here is a picture of them all before the purge:
That’s 45 pairs of shoes. You can see Pepper sitting next to the pile for scale, haha.
Now it’s time to start a new pile!
Kinvara Shoe Grave: Party Hard
Look at this madness.
LOOK AT IT.
I can’t remember when I got rid of all my older burned-through Kinvaras, but this is the newest graveyard. They fill up a whole recycling bin.
I have a problem.
Let’s Do the Time Warp Agaaaaaaaain!
HEYOOOOO so I’ve been in a nostalgic mood lately (what else is new?) and wanted to re-live the Old Tubes via early YouTube videos and AlbinoBlackSheep.
So here were are. Let’s reminisce.
The ultimate oldie. I had a friend in high school who looked just like this dude.
Another classic oldie.
AlbinoBlackSheep was a fantastic website for Flash animations like this. “OHIOOOOOOOOOO!”
Can’t forget this one, either.
GOD, WE ARE OLD
I have this song. I can’t unhear these lyrics.
Maddie, how often did we quote from this when we were at U of I? I still say “let’s get ‘em” in my head when I’m buying something expensive.
This one too, oh my god. Benny Lava is a legend.
So energetic.
I think Aaron found this one. We were shouting “WHAT?!?!?!” at each other for months after we first watched this.
Al Gore getting murdered by earths is the funniest thing in this whole video.
The Beetis.
This was another one we quoted a lot in the house. “DON’TYOUFUCKINGLOOKATME!”
I still love this so much.
Yayz.
New Kinvaras!
NEW SHOES, YO!
I burn through Kinvaras so quickly (every month and a half) that all the employees at the Running Room know who I am, haha. I went in there to get these and one of the guys was like, “you’re back here already? Didn’t I sell you shoes like six weeks ago?”
Party time.
(Sorry, there’s not much going on and I’m stressed about getting through the rest of this semester.)
Today, I did something I’ve never done before:
I sized down in shoes.
Ya, I know. DAFUQ.
My current Kinvaras are worn down as hell (because, you know, it’s been a month and a half since I bought them) so I dragged Nate down to the Running Room on our walk to get a new pair.
They didn’t have my size 9 in the Kinvara 9’s and I was kind of scared to try the new Kinvara 10’s, but the lady brought me a size 8.5 in the Kinvara 9’s and they seemed to fit fine.
So I got ‘em.
I’m going to know every employee in that store by the end of the year, I’m sure.
OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW (sorta)
Hello there.
So it’s the start of a new month today! That means trading out a few of the old things that I’ve been using for a while and starting with some new.
1. New backpack.
This actually isn’t something I’m just starting to use today, but that’s only because the old one was literally unable to be used in its final state and I needed some sort of backpack before today. But it’s new enough, so I’m counting it.
2. New shoes.
Look at these gorgeous Kinvaras! They’re so bright and festive and soon-to-be-demolished-by-my-walking.
3. New iPod!
The iPod I’ve had since February 2012 is finally to the point where it won’t hold a charge long enough to last one of my walks. It’s also to the point where its storage is completely full of music. So I got a new one with double the storage and a new healthy battery. I was also able to find an owl case for it, so that’s really good.
WOO!
Oh my god, shoes.
I AM THE KINVARA QUEEN
And this isn’t even all of them, holy hell. I have issues.
I’m completely under Saucony’s thumb and I don’t even care
Ayyyyyyy, so today I broke in my third pair of shoes this year. As far as my previous pair goes, here are some stats, all cumulative since March 20th:
Distance: 839.96 miles
Steps: 1,815,832
Average speed: 4.54 mph
Total time spent walking: 189 hours and 20 minutes (that’s like 7.8 days of walking, haha)
Hooray for a new pair of shoes!
Edit: blister party 2k17!
Edit 2: blister party 2k17, it is now 4:00 in the morning and I’m calling the cops. Please stop.
Edit 3: the blisters have bought the downstairs condo and are partying 24/7. Send help.
Shoe-In
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE KINVARA 8’s!
They’re so pretty! And new!
That won’t last long.
I’ll break them in on Saturday, because Saturday marks 2 months since I got my current pair of shoes. By then, I should have close to 850 miles on them. WOO!
Edit: Remember when I did that project where I took a picture of the soles of my shoes every 50 miles to document the wear? Nate gave me the idea to take a picture of the soles of these new shoes every day, because that would basically be increments of approximately 15 miles. It’ll be a lot of pictures, but it’ll also look super cool when I .gif them all together. (Edit 2: LAWL, THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN)
The Changing of the Shoes
Woah, the first two minutes of this song gives me goosebumps, holy hell. Was not expecting that from Deadmau5.
Anyway.
Today is the three month anniversary of my walking shoes. It’s also time to switch them out, as I’ve gone over 1,000 miles on them (1,061.52, to be exact) and they’re just starting to get holey on the bottoms. I think these have taken a longer time to wear out than my previous two pairs because I’ve done a fair amount of my miles by running rather than walking in these shoes, and I definitely drag my heels less when I’m running versus when I’m walking.
As far as a mileage update goes, I’ve gone a total of 3,186.41 miles since January 1st, so I should hopefully hit 3,500 for the year pretty easily.
Hopefully.
Though I’ve heard we’re supposed to get a death winter, so who knows.
Oh my god, shoes.
KINVARA HAUL!
Tri-State happened to have three pair in my size (two of the pairs were the new Kinvara 7s!), so I did what I had to do.
I’m not ashamed.
(Hopefully these will last me the rest of the year at least.)
SOMEONE NEEDS NEW SHOES
(Hint: it’s me.)
I’ve gone a little over 1,400 miles in these, so giant holes in the soles are no fault of the shoes themselves. And in case you’re curious as to what my socks look like:
Yeah.
And yes, I was in a bathroom stall taking pictures of my shoes and socks. Deal with it.
Oof.
Hahahaha, look what I did to these shoes, man.
If I ever let my shoes get as chewed up as these and refuse to get a new pair until a certain number of miles have been reached and/or a new month starts, one of you needs to forcibly drag me to a store that sells Kinvaras and then make me buy a new pair, ‘cause these new shoes are making me feel like I’m walking on air.
I have learned my lesson, feet. Many apologies to you.
In This Blog: Claudia Ruins Another Pair of Shoes
In news that is likely quite shocking: 1,450 miles of walking will murder a pair of shoes.
I’ve had my Kinvara 5’s since September 8, 2014. Since then, I’ve walked 1,450 miles in them while up here in Calgary. Have some walking stats!
Total distance: 1,450.28 miles (2,334 kilometers)
Total steps: 3,062,328 steps
Total time: 370 hours (15.41 days)
Most mileage in a single day: 22.9 miles (April 29)
Least (non-zero) mileage in a single day: 0.37 miles (April 11) (We just walked from Nate’s place to the new condo and back)
Boxplots!
1,450 miles is approximately the distance from Vancouver, BC to Winnipeg, MB. Or, if you want to go north-south, it’s approximately the distance from Milwaukee, WI to Miami, FL.
Pretty snazzy.
So unless I die or something, I’m pretty sure I’ll hit 1,500 miles by the end of the year (which was my goal). If I can get to 2,000, I’d be super happy.
WOO! My Kinvara 5’s can now retire. It’s time for the new ones to earn their stay.
KINVARAAAAAAAAAS!
I got my new shoes today!
(Picture from website because I can’t find the picture I took of the ones I bought)
These are the Kinvara 6’s. I actually had to buy a size 8 (which I’ve never done; I’m usually a size 6 in most shoes or, in the Kinvaras, a size 7.5) because the 6’s are narrower than the 5’s and my feet are like freaking flippers.
But no holes in the soles!
Can’t wear them until Friday, though. Those are the rules.
Also, from the Canada Revenue Agency: “On April 24, the CRA issued a communication to some Canadians that referred to an incorrect filing deadline for 2014 income tax and benefit returns of May 5, 2015, rather than April 30, 2015….As a result, and at Minister Findlay’s request, 2014 income tax and benefit returns filed by midnight on May 5, 2015, will not incur interest or penalties.”
Hahaha.
i’m in ur country, walkin ur cities
HEEEEEEEEEEEEEY, guess who hit 1,000 miles on her pair of shoes?
*points at self*
Nate and I went on a very nice 11-mile walk this afternoon (which included getting poutine and candy), which put me above 1,000 miles on my shoes. Check them out!
So that’s 1,000 miles since I moved to Calgary, which was September 1st of last year (though I guess I didn’t wear those shoes until the 8th, but whatevs). I’m going to try to get to 1,500 miles on them before I break down and get a new pair (mainly because I want to wait until the Kinvara 6’s come out), but no promises. The heels, as you can see, are really starting to wear through.
Here are some stats:
Miles: 1,029.41
Time: 265 hours, 44 minutes, 43 seconds (that’s like 11 days)
Steps: 2,173,614
Woo!
ALSO: we watched Guardians of the Galaxy last night, so now I’m all caught up for Age of Ultron in May. I’d have to say my three favorite movies were, in order, The Avengers, Thor, and Iron Man 3. Thor: The Dark World had the best soundtrack, though.
ALSO ALSO: rainbow sprinkle pretzels. Is there a better candy to represent me? I think not.
LET’S GET ‘EM
I HAVE HAD
THIS SONG
STUCK IN MY HEAD ALL DAMN DAY
Remember when we’d just randomly quote parts of this?
This blog sponsored by…
I’m going to shamelessly plug some products/brands in this blog. Because I want to.
Actually, this was brought on by buying like seven pairs of headphones at the Moscow Walmart because they don’t have these headphones in Canada and they’re my absolute favorite.
So let’s start with those!
Claudia-Endorsed Product #1: Koss Headphones
Everyone knows (or at least you do now!) that I listen to music when I walk. I wear on-ear headphones because the little in-ear buds hurt after about 10 minutes and I can never get them placed in my ears so that they stay put when I’m moving around. I have a really good and expensive pair of on-ear Bose headphones back at home—they’re soft and noise reducing and have great sound—but I don’t usually like to wear them during my walks because I’m super rough on headphones and don’t want to break those.
Instead, I wear these:
Not only do these headphones only cost $4.88 at Walmart, but they have really, really good sound. They don’t sound like $5 headphones. They sound more like the Bose ones. Sure, they’re not nearly as durable and thus break more frequently (though I guess “frequently” is a relative term; I go through about 3 or 4 of these a year because I’m rough on headphones), but they’re cheap to replace. If you like on-ear headphones and don’t want to spend like $50+ on a good set, I’d recommend these, since the sound is still really, really good despite the low price. You can also order them from the Koss website.
Claudia-Endorsed Product #2: Saucony Kinvara Shoes
You knew my shoes had to be on here. I love my Kinvaras. Not only are they very comfortable (at least for my feet), but they are very, very durable little shoes. Note that I don’t run in them, I just walk, but I’d suspect that they’d endure running pretty well, too.
Here is my current Kinvara 5 pair next to my original Kinvara 3 pair. They both look holey and ratty as hell, right? That’s because I have at least 750 miles on the newer ones and 1,500 miles on the older ones.
The older ones are still technically wearable, too. I bet I could go another 400 at least before the soles actually start wearing all the way through, haha. If you walk a lot or just want a pair of shoes that will last you a long time, try these out.
Claudia-Endorsed Product #3: L.L. Bean backpacks
I think I’ve gone through a total of four of these backpacks, and I’ve been using them ever since I was in first grade. Not only are they durable (I think I might be even harder on my backpacks than I am on my headphones), but they can hold a LOT of stuff and they’re pretty waterproof, too. Plus, you can get one in lime green. What’s not to like?
I had like five other things in mind, but I got distracted by R and now I can’t remember any of them.
OOH! R!
Claudia-Endorsed Product #4: R
I don’t know if this even counts as a product, but whatevs. R is a great statistical software package because a) it’s free, and b) it’s like SAS’s little brother who wants to be just like big brother SAS, but cheaper, because c) it’s free. So if you’re ever in need of some statistical analysis software and aren’t afraid of a little coding, go here and download R.
Boots: Claudia Style
Today I shall show you how to go walking in the snow/rain when you’re an idiot like me and live in Canada but haven’t bought boots yet.
READY?
Supplies:
- Two plastic bags (or two large Ziplock baggies)
- Pair of knee-high socks
- Pair of knee-high socks that you don’t mind stretching a bit
- Shoes
- Feet (not pictured).
Step 1: insert feet into pair of knee-high socks.
Step 2: put baggies over socks as shown.
Step 3: put other pair of knee-high socks over baggied feet.
Step 3.5: MAXIMUM CANKLE
Step 4: put on pants and shoes.
Step 5: ???
Step 6: PROFIT! Or go walking, either one.
What I lack in common sense I make up for in…um…interesting ways to compensate for my lack of common sense.
EDIT: WELL THAT WAS A SUCKY WALK. Even with plastic protection, I was NOT going to walk through five blocks of flooded sidewalk. Nope nope nope. Also my iPod pedometer app had a flip-out moment so I lost half my mileage.
I’m frustrated now.
SHOE PARTY
So remember way back when I got my new shoes? I promised I’d take a picture of the bottoms and tops of them every 50 miles to get a progressive representation of how they wear. I was hoping to do this until the new shoes were as worn as my old Kinvaras. However, I’m going to stop at 600 miles for a few reasons:
- I think these shoes are wearing considerably faster than the previous pair. They’re probably 80% as worn as the old ones and have only been worn for 600 miles, not 1,300-ish.
- I’ve been trying to keep the background of the photos consistent across all of them. Since I had to move out of my office (where I’d been taking the photos), I can’t do that anymore. And that jump in consistency would bother the hell out of me.
BUT ANYWAY. Here are gifs of the top and bottom, a picture for each 50 miles between 0 and 600 miles.
Here’s slower, too.
Yeah, I was bored today.
YouTube Throwback
So I logged into my old YouTube account this afternoon—the one I made back in 2007 and pretty much stopped using by 2009. My old “Favorites” list is still posted there…
A The Brave Little Toaster trailer created as if it was a horror film.
This is appropriate for this time of year.
Oh my god, shoes.
Older than old, but still great.
And saving the best for last:
If you haven’t seen Benny Lava, you need to watch it now!
Oh My God, Shoes.
Check out the new footwear, yo:
Okay, this time I promise to take progress pics of the soles every 50 miles. I really think it would be a cool thing to show the gradual wear-down rather than just the “these are new!” and the “these are hardly wearable anymore!” pics.
1,000 more miles, here I come!
1,000-Mile Shoes
I’ve walked 1,000 in my Sauconys since March!
Okay, well, technically, I hit the 1,000-mile mark on Tuesday, but I wanted to reach 1,200 total miles for the year before I posted anything. ‘Cause I’m like that.
Now, pictures!
4 miles’ worth of wear:
1,000 miles’ worth of wear:
A gif!
Pardon how messy my desk is in the “after” shot. I’d just drawn a bunch of crap so there were pencils/shavings everywhere.
Anyway. If anyone’s in the market for some durable running/walking shoes, I highly recommend Saucony Kinvaras. They’ve only just started to become unwearable after 1,000 miles—mainly because there’s a huge hole in the heel of one of them—but they’re still ridiculously comfortable. Also, did you see how brightly colored they are?? Awesome. Always a plus.
NEW SHOES TOMORROW! Stay tuned.
Do you think I need new shoes?
Yeah, me too.
Well, I got some!
If there are shoes on this planet more suited to my style of dress than these, please let me know.
Edit: 16 miles, no pain. These shoes fit perfectly.
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