Unsolicited Product Review

I thought I'd give you an opinion on several new products I've tried lately. As you can probably imagine, my opinion is completely unsolicited. Sadly, companies are not inundating me with products begging for my bloggy review. I guess the two of you who read my blog are not at the top of the target market list. Nonetheless, here are my thoughts anyway!

Crest introduced a bunch of new toothpaste flavors over the last year or so, and I've been compelled to try them. Mainly because they were on sale. My first experience with Vanilla Mint was pretty tasty but alas Scouter was not a fan. Then I tried Green Tea Mint. And I have to say, who puts mint in green tea? It is not a good combination. We managed to choke through the entire tube though never to be purchased again.

Our current flavor is Lemon Ice. It is by far the worst and tastes like stale lemon meringue pie without any sugar. And I really hate lemon meringue pie. Even Scouter who likes all things lemon does not like this one.

Who sells toothpaste that results in making you want to brush your teeth with a different flavor of toothpaste? I'm going back to my old standby Cool Mint flavor, even when it's not on sale.

Oh wait... this blog is supposed to be triathlon related. No worries! I can work that in!

Recently, I purchased a pair of Newton running shoes. Because, you know, all the cool kids are wearing them. At least my feet can be cool. Newtons are constructed in such a way that you run on the balls of your feet, simulating barefoot running. The theory is, at least as I understand it, that your foot strike is faster resulting in faster turnover and thus faster times. And they are awesome - I feel fast in them and have actually clocked some pretty decent times for me.

Alas, my feet are not so happy with the change ~ they can't in fact be cool. I originally started wearing New Balance running shoes with inserts a few years ago on the advice of my doctor because I was having recurring ankle problems. With the plantar fasciitis that invaded both feet last winter, I upgraded to custom inserts. And I've been doing pretty well, at least until I got the bright idea to switch shoes. Now my arches are hurting again and my right ankle, which hasn't bothered me for ages, is constantly aching.

I'm going to start alternating the Newtons with the New Balance shoes with more usage of the NBs during training and the Newtons when racing. Hopefully that will work out. Otherwise, I will be wearing an expensive pair of very brightly colored running shoes to my kids' soccer and baseball games.

Maybe the other moms will think I'm cool. Even if my breathe smells like stale lemon merangue pie.