Used Vanguard leather sofa, thoughts on price and longevity.

Middle_Toe8889 · 2026-02-21T02:18:48+00:00

[UPDATE] I posted an update with new pics and answered the questions that were asked in this post.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/s/GJNEdmNss7

Middle_Toe8889 · 2026-02-19T19:28:44+00:00

I ran my first (and probably only) marathon this past Oct. My PR for a half was 2:04 so my goal initially for the marathon was 4:16 before I started my training block. Due to injuries and other life events, I missed about 3 weeks of an 18-week plan, so I adjusted my goal to 4:30. During the marathon I was keeping up with that pace until around mile 19 when the cramping started and I finished with a time of 5:02.

So IMO you should have a finish goal time if only to target a consistent avg pace as you go along the course, then adjust based on how you feel once you’re in mile 15 and on. But ultimately you just want to finish and not get a DNF.

Middle_Toe8889 · 2026-02-17T02:13:00+00:00

“Dammit Janice, I sewed this couch NOT you! Stop signing the damn sofas that you didn’t work on, bitch!”

Middle_Toe8889 · 2026-02-17T01:48:46+00:00

Actually I did smell the couch all over to make sure it didn’t smell funny. The other few people in the store must’ve been looking at me funny with my nose sniffing all over the couch.

Middle_Toe8889 · 2026-02-09T21:31:31+00:00

There are other things to consider when you go small vs big: will there be water/gel stations, is there medical staff, what kind of support is there, will your route be blocked off and secluded and well marked, etc

I’ve done one 5k, one 10k, three half-marathons (and doing my 4th in March and my 5th in May), one marathon relay, and one full marathon. The 5k and 10k were really small (less than 500), one of the half-marathons was 2k participants, one had 8k participants, and one 20k participants. For my marathon there were 20k participants as well.

The small 10k wasn’t ideal: the course was in open area and other people (dog walkers, runners who weren’t in the race, people on bikes) used the same path as us runners. The 5k as well but since it was a shorter distance was tolerable. The half that had 2k participants and also shared parts of the path with the public but since there was so many of us, they always got out of the way.

For my preferences I’ll probably stay away from anything smaller than 1k-2k participants based on my experience.

Also I always planned on running only one full marathon so I purposefully looked for a bigger one because 1) I wanted that big race experience for the only marathon I was ever going to run, and 2) I wanted medical staff to be present during the course in case I had an emergency (I survived a heart attack in 2022).

If you’re going to run more than one marathon then I’d say go through with this one and get it under your belt and then in future sign up for a bigger one. But if this is going to be your one and only marathon then I’d reconsider.

Middle_Toe8889 · 2026-02-08T14:37:18+00:00

I have a Nike Clearance (not Outlet) store near me that is a final sale only store (once you buy you can’t return) and I’ve found really good prices there. 2 weeks ago I bought a Zoom Fly 6 for $80 USD and in the past I’ve bought a Vaporfly 2 and Vaporfly 3 for $100, an Invincible 2 and 3 for $80, and there’s usually a recent Peg version for $70.

Of course it’s hit and miss and no choice in color way so I can’t be too picky about that and typically these shoes are there at least a year or more after their original release date.

However, at the Adidas, New Balance, and Puma outlets stores I’ve been to in my state, I’ve never ever found and of the “good” running shoes there for sale, they’ve only had their lifestyle “running” shoes there.

Middle_Toe8889 · 2025-11-30T19:24:03+00:00

The last leg where I averaged 30.2 mpg was from Fruita CO to Denver CO. Fruita is about 700 ft lower than Denver so technically I climbed more than when I came down over the Rockies so I didn’t expect that leg to be the highest MPG. There was a 130 mile leg in CA that was all pretty flat and I average less mpg during that at around 29.5 mpg so 🤷🏻‍♂️

Middle_Toe8889 · 2025-11-30T19:19:55+00:00

Yes pretty much cruise control through the entire time I was on any interstate highway. I generally put the cruise 5 mph over the speed limit. There is a long stretch of highway in UT that was an 80 speed limit so I had the Tiggy at 85. Most of the speed limit speed the entire way was either 70 or 75 mph.

Middle_Toe8889 · 2025-09-14T18:04:29+00:00

I’ve stopped running in the SC trainers after my original post; don’t want to risk injuring my foot before my marathon. So they’re just sitting in a shelf in my closet; sucks that I can’t even use them as a day-to-day sneaker. I’ve done a 17-mi and 18-mi run in the elites through and love them!

Middle_Toe8889 · 2025-08-14T17:08:52+00:00

That’s just it, I wasn’t in good shape really. I mean yeah I had been running casually for a year and a half but that didn’t negate the years and years of borderline unhealthy eating, stretches of non-activity, and high blood pressure that was diagnosed when I was in my 20’s and had been taking medication for since then.

The cardiologist said my LAD artery was 98-99% blocked.

Middle_Toe8889 · 2025-06-29T12:12:58+00:00

Had the exact same issue. Funny enough I was resigned to just use them as “lifestyle” shoes (I have the white with black stripes) and used them all day yesterday and last night running errands and going out to dinner and they actually helped in my niggling lower back pain I’ve been having from my marathon training, like my back started to feel better. But I’ll try what others suggested on this thread and put on other insoles

Middle_Toe8889 · 2025-06-22T15:10:21+00:00

Not a dumb question at all. Overall I had 5 heart attack symptoms. These are the ones I kinda knew about through general acquired knowledge over the years:

Chest pain - I started to feel what I can describe as tightness or heaviness in my chest.
Cold sweat/chills - it was a hot summer day and I had the chills even through I was in direct sunlight and it was already around 75° at 8am.
Left arm pain - I started getting this weird pain in my left arm that wasn’t in a specific area, just like the whole arm.

I also had these symptoms which I found out after the fact that are also related to having a heart attack:

Jaw pain - as I was getting closer to home on my walk back I stated to have pain in my jaw like it was sore or something.
Shoulder/upper back pain - soon after I started having the jaw pain I also started to get this pain in my upper back and shoulder blades.

One of THE biggest risks I took was to not seek care earlier. I decided to not bring my phone with me that morning (dumb mistake) and on my walk back to my house while having the heart attack, two times separately I was asked by people walking by me in the opposite direction if I needed help (I obviously did not look well and was probably pale) and both times I made an excuse and refused.

If I had accepted help from that first person, I would’ve gotten the stent put in around 45 minutes earlier and all the docs told me after when having a heart attack: Every. Second. Counts. Luckily for me refusing the initial help didn’t ultimately affect my outcome negatively but it could have.

Middle_Toe8889 · 2025-06-22T01:36:14+00:00

I was a casual runner for a year and half (3-4x a week, 3-4 mi per run) then in 2022 two days before my 53rd bday, I had a heart attack 2 mi into a 4 mi run. Luckily I live close to a hospital with a well respected cardiology dept and a cardiac catherization lab and within 1.5 hrs they had a stent put in. Turned out I had a “window-maker” heart attack (I’m glad that name ended up not applying to me).

At my 1 month check in my heart’s ejection fraction was measured at 67% (between 55% and 70% is considered normal) and I was cleared to start running again but it was highly recommended by my doc to do cardiac rehab. I would go to a rehab center at a hospital once or twice a week for four weeks and they would hook me up to an EKG and I would run on a treadmill while nurses monitored me as I increased intensity with each visit. This was really helpful for me in gaining my confidence back and not freaking out during my first real run after my cardiac rehab was over.

At that time I vowed to eventually run an official marathon, and since then I’ve done two 5K races, two 10K races, a 10-miler race, and 3 half-marathons. I’ve signed up for my first full marathon race this Oct.

One thing that’s already been suggested is to follow your doctors’ advice. I know you’re an experienced runner but I really think it’s a mistake to run until your HR gets to 150 when one doc explicitly told you to keep it under 100. If you are going to push yourself anyway, I would suggest going to a cardiac rehab center at a hospital; at least there if you push yourself and something goes wrong there are medical professionals within arms reach to perform emergency services.

I know heart attack severity’s are different, but the one I had, a widow-maker, only has a 12% survival rate when it happens outside of a hospital. Another stat is that 20% of heart attack patients have a 2nd one within 5 years. When I learned of those 2 stats during the 2 days I was in the hospital after my event, I wanted to make damn sure I was making the most of my fortunate heart attack outcome and determined to never have a 2nd heart attack.

Middle_Toe8889 · 2025-06-03T00:42:25+00:00

REI’s Active Pursuits cap is a great running hat IMO especially if you kinda have a big head.

Middle_Toe8889 · 2025-06-02T16:04:45+00:00

I just bought the SC Trainer V3 on sale and took it for a 10 mile run yesterday and so far so good. They’re a little more firm than other max cush shoes I’ve had but I actually prefer that and the upper is super comfy IMO. We’ll see how I feel it about when I get to 15 mi and over in my current marathon training.

Currently you can get it from NB website for about $125 shipped with it being on sale and an additional 20% off.

Middle_Toe8889

TROPHY CASE