(They're so purty with their sparkly laces.)They feel comfortable on my feet, and they're noticeably lighter than the Supernova Sequence, though that didn't translate into a faster pace.
On the negative side, they're noticeably less cushioned. I definitely feel the road more than I do in the Sequence 4's. It's been so long since I ran in anything besides a heavier stability shoe (the Sequence 2 or 4), that I can't really tell if that's a good thing or a bad thing...it's just different. At a few points during my run, I felt some twinges in my knee, but it's too early to tell if these things are inviting my ITBS back into my life or if it was nothing. My knees feel fine now.
It's hard to evaluate shoes right now, because my calves are just a mess. I had tightness and soreness in both of them, although neither one is as sore as the right one was on Tuesday. The Tempos aren't the magic elixir that is going to swiftly revive my running career, it seems, but I'm going to use them in the 8k and then try to put another 3-5 miles on them on the boardwalk on Monday morning. If I hate them after that, or feel that they're going to shred my IT band or ruin my calves (even worse) I'll probably return them.
I do have a known option, though. It turns out Charm City Run had ordered a a pair Sequences for me (I misunderstood and was under the impression they'd call if they could place the order), and they arrived at the store today. I could exchange the Tempos if I don't like them, or I could keep both pairs and do most training the stability shoes and save the lighter shoes for shorter training runs and races. Hopefully I'll have a better idea by Monday morning.
Update? I currently run in the Sequence and was thinking of going to the Tempos.
ReplyDeleteThe Tempo is a good shoe, light, supportive, breathable, and comfortable. What it's not is supportive, though.
DeleteI've run two races in my Tempos, an 8K and a 10K, both of which I got some new PRs that were faster than what I thought I was currently capable of. I feel faster in them than I did the Sequence.
All that said, I also have a new pair of Brooks Adrenaline that seem to be winning the "shoe war". They have more support than the Tempos but are considerably lighter than the Supernova Sequence.
I've had good runs and bad runs in both pairs, I just the Adrenaline have been a better match for me...kind of the best of both worlds of lightness and support. If you need a stability shoe, I recommend the Adrenaline. If you don't, I think the Tempo is considerably more breathable and a little lighter. When I had my ITBS flare-up, my Dr. recommended a stability shoe. I feel like the Tempo doesn't have enough stability for me...my ankles are rolling more in them. I still want to run some long runs in the Tempos and some short, fast runs in the Adrenaline, but my overall plan is to use the Adrenaline as my primary long-run/training shoe and the Tempos as my short race shoe. I'll try to keep the mileages roughly equal and write more updates if my opinion changes.