Last run of the year

I took to opportunity of the Christmas break to go and buy some new running shoes as my main pair have got about 200 miles on them and my alternate pair have more or less reached the end of their useful life. As there hasn't been any problems with either make of shoe I knew I was going to buy one of the same again, but which one? I really like my Wave Creations, they are light and comfortable but I have a nagging suspicion about them for really long runs 12 miles+. The Asic Nimbus are at the other side, they are heavier and give a very comfortable ride but I don't feel at my fastest with them on. I had a chat with the shop assistant and she agreed with me. The Mizuno are lighter but are not as durable as the Asic Nimbus. In the end I thought about the kind of running I was going to do in the shoes - this pair is to grind out the miles on the long weekend runs but not for the shorter sharper stuff so the Asics it was. If I just use them at the weekend I may have even just bought my Marathon shoes.
Tomorrow is my rest day for the week, which made this mornings run the last run of the year. It wasn't particularly long but it was a tempo run with 3 miles at Half Marathon/10 Mile racing pace with a warmup/down mile either side. This was a tougher than I was expecting and was quite relieved when I reached the end of the tempo part. The odd thing is despite the run being tough I enjoyed.
Looking back at my running log since I started training at the end of September I have covered 393 miles - that's an average of just over 28 miles per week. Not bad considering I've had to rebuild my base fitness from scratch. The new year will start off tough with a 16 mile run on New Years Day. No late night revelry for me!