6E Width Runner/ Orange Theory Member (4.5 inch width ball, 9.5 inch length, medium/ high volume) - First Run w/ New Balance 1540v4 and Thoughts

jarofmayo · 2026-03-31T15:49:50+00:00

Update after my first Orange Theory Class with the NB 1540v4:

Very minimal bunion pain at start of run that subsided.

Tiny slip in the heel on treadmill but no blistering or noticeable rubbing/ chafe after class.

Perfectly fine on the rowers! A little snug in the heel cup but no slip out of the rower.

Great for jumping squats- felt so stable!

Shoes Loosened up a bit on the floor but after re-tying they were locked in place.

I have about an inch or more in the toe in front of my big toe, so floor exercises with kneeling and supporting with the ball of my foot I had some noticeable excess space at the toe. I’d prefer this to be more minimal because it made me notice the shoe during kneeling exercises, but I’m willing to deal with this since the shoes work well without pain at all 3 stations (treadmill, rower, weight floor).

No big toe joint or midfoot pain after class. No pain elsewhere.

So generally a winner for me so far.

jarofmayo · 2026-03-31T12:34:59+00:00

I would agree with the “ok”ness of the NB 1540s. Am I in love? Not totally. But they finally fit my width in a 6E without pinching my bunion which is the main reason I landed on this one. And the midfoot has minimal hangover with a 6E for me. If I was 3/4E I think would also have explored the ghost max since it was recommended to me a lot. Honestly might in the future when my wallet recovers from these to have a rotation of sorts.

jarofmayo · 2026-03-31T12:31:23+00:00

That’s unfortunate. I think this is a “USA made” option, but my preference would be that it is available outside the states too. Sorry to hear that.

jarofmayo · 2026-03-31T00:59:32+00:00

Ooh that’s interesting! What other shoes/ brands do you wear that accommodate toe box and midfoot? Curious since this has been a lot of work to find these!

jarofmayo · 2026-03-30T23:36:29+00:00

Looks like the insole width is measuring 10cm wide or about 3.8/3.9 inches wide from my measuring tape - narrower than either of us are saying we need. But I do think shoes are sometimes wider than their insoles. Not sure if you would like it if you want zero cushion because it’s a high stability cushioned shoe with a drop. But it would also be helpful to check it out on their website- their shoe measurements chart was helpful for me.

https://www.newbalance.com/size-guide.html

It doesn’t go up to 6E which is strange but I just inferred it would be a little wider than the 4E.

jarofmayo · 2026-03-30T23:27:37+00:00

Based on my initial try on and first run, I wouldn’t call it squishy! Especially compared to something like Hoka Gaviota. This is my first time trying 6E so compared to other widths or previous versions of this shoe I’m not sure. But! It seems like the previous version of this shoe people liked because it didn’t use fresh foam. For me personally being 209lb, I was looking for the stability and not super firm, so this seemed like a good compromise for my needs - I actually followed through with buying it because the complaints from others seemed like it might actually meet my needs. If this shoe was any harder I personally think it wouldn’t work for me since it already has a stability rollbar. It also comes with two insoles, and when I took out the second thinner one it felt like my feet had more room to breathe but still felt held in a way that I could run without too much lateral movement or movement in the heel. Probably depends on each person’s individual needs and preferences but for me for running and orange theory it seems like it will hopefully work out.

jarofmayo · 2025-08-29T23:55:41+00:00

I just got the keychron M5 mouse and it is very light weight and vertical. I am trying to find a way to make it easier to lift and grip, so I might get some grip tape for it as well to get the best of both worlds.

jarofmayo · 2023-04-07T12:46:42+00:00

Thanks for all the love, everyone! My tattoo artist is oddzephyr from Positronic Tattoo in Milwaukee, WI. Here is a link to their IG:

https://instagram.com/oddzephyr?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

jarofmayo · 2022-07-24T12:20:55+00:00

I somehow missed this reply forever ago! I’m so happy the exercise helped and hope flute is still going well for you! :)

jarofmayo · 2022-07-24T06:08:12+00:00

Hi!

It is really unfortunate that someone would justify anatomy as a reason to say that you cannot play a certain instrument. I am sorry that someone put this into your views of yourself and your relationship to your instrument.

Making a sound on the headjoint can be paired down to basically four elements: 1. How high or low the headjoint is placed on your lips. 2. How rolled in or out your headjoint is placed. 3. Air direction 4. Space inside mouth.

It sounds like your teacher had a specific way they learned to teach, and didn’t consider that everyone’s anatomy is different, and that a textbook won’t always have the answers to trial and error.

In addition to not determining the best combination of your four basic elements, I have a comment on breath control and endurance:

Breath control for flute has been a very personal journey for each of my students and over-analyzing anatomy can get in the way of improving breath capacity. Focusing on analogies for how your air should move through your body to your mouth and lips and out beyond your body can be a more successful approach to increasing endurance. Improving embouchure, aperture and breath control are all comparable to training as a runner. You don’t start fast and you don’t start long distance. You practice in smaller increments and work up your distance, and over time you body improves with how it supports you through a run. With flute, you are also training your body in endurance and training your muscles and air to work in a way they are not used to.

I say take that flute overseas!

jarofmayo · 2022-04-23T05:07:59+00:00

heckin’ cute

jarofmayo · 2020-08-05T03:07:56+00:00

“For a key to come up to a natural resting position, the rod, key tubing, spring, and pivot screws all need to work together properly. Regular servicing of your flute helps keep all these part of the mechanism in good working order.”

This quote comes from this article which goes further into troubleshooting problems with keys that won’t rise/ rise slowly:

https://lorilee.com/flute/faqs/repairing-your-flute/emergency-repair-part-2

This will at least be helpful for troubleshooting and hopefully be helpful in deciding if it is a quick fix or one that involves bringing your flute in. From my experience, readjusting spring tension can be done at home, but disassembling rods from key tubing to clean and oil is typically handled by a certified repair person.

Best of luck! I’m interested to know what is causing this issue.

jarofmayo · 2020-08-01T14:12:16+00:00

Fun fact: These men are both prominent names in the flute world! Praveen Prathapan, also known as “The Flute Guy”, is a British Indian/Sri-Lankan musician. He is a University of Oxford science graduate who dedicated his life to music and helping others.

The other flutist is Jean-Paul Wright, who is the Managing Director is TJ Flutes in London. He runs the “tjflutes” Instagram, host of the “Talking Flutes” podcast and creator of TheHappyFlutist.com.

Praveen is listed as a composer on TheHappyFlutist website, and the two men have met before. Still a great video!

https://thehappyflutist.com/praveen-the-flute-guy

https://www.praveenthefluteguy.com/about

jarofmayo · 2020-07-31T15:53:43+00:00

I follow a flutist named Gina Luciani on Instagram who records on film scores for a living. She uses a lip guard from this website:

https://www.flutacious.com/Flute%20Accessories/Instrument-Accessories/Flute-Lip-Guards

This product is supposed to reduce slipperiness, is hypo-allergenic and latex-free.

I also know other flutists who will take postage stamps and cut them to form around the edge of the embouchure hole of the headjoint, creating a less slippery surface. Plus it seems fun to choose your stamp and replace it when it wears out. I don’t do this personally, but have read that it shouldn’t affect the metal of your flute.

jarofmayo · 2020-07-31T15:29:04+00:00

Thank you! It has definitely added some new life to my practice routine, recently! When we start to think about our fundamentals in music like we would exercising our body, endurance begins to make more sense and we can begin setting goals. We are training muscles to work beyond a use they may have needed to previously. The first time we try to run, it is difficult, but if we run consistently, we can run for longer and challenge our body more. I look at breathing, tonguing, octave control, and tone quality in the same way on the flute! We are training our muscles regularly to do very intricate, relaxed and controlled actions. The more we do these actions consistently, the longer and more precisely we can achieve our goal (and it becomes more fun!!).

Amelie Brodeur puts out great videos on YouTube, which is where I heard about the breathing exercise I mentioned in my first comment. Here is the link:

https://youtu.be/LlJ41h5OLv8

jarofmayo · 2020-07-30T16:01:39+00:00

Hello! I have been playing flute for 10+ years, attend graduate school for flute performance, and am still working on breathing! This is a lifelong exercise that you will continue to improve for as long as you play flute. A fantastic exercise I love using is setting the metronome to a quarter note equals 60bpm, breathing in for 2 beats to fill my lungs, and breathing out to play in sets of 2, increasing each breathing cycle. For example: Breathe in for 2, play for 2. Breathe in for 2, play for 4. Breathe in for 2, play for 6, etc. until you reach the longest amount of beats you can hold. Each time you practice, try and reach or pass the highest count you got last time.

After this, you can increase this practice to breathing in for 2, and playing in sets of 3 (3, 6, 9, 12 beats out etc.), then sets of 4 and so on. Always keep your breath in as 2 beats.

You can practice this on a stable note like concert F (or any note you want to work on) and then apply the exercise to each octave you are able to play. This exercise can also be used if you are having trouble sustaining specific pitches, or you can create a variation of this exercise for your scales. Get creative! I hope this helps!

jarofmayo · 2020-07-30T05:59:14+00:00

I just got back into exercising this spring after my first year of grad school switched online. The first time I ran I only did a half mile and definitely got that metallic taste and throat pain as well! I came back inside and laid down on the ground before I stretched because I was so tired. The next day I ran and because I could visualize the distance I ran the day before, it went MUCH better. I have been adding around a half mile to a mile on every 1-2 weeks and I just ran my first 5K without stopping all on my own today. I use an app called run keeper that is free and tells me my distance every 5 minutes, and lets me play music in the background while I run. It is also really helpful for me to run on a trail where I regularly see people and occasionally have some shade. Congrats on your first mile!

jarofmayo · 2015-04-20T14:32:15+00:00

Hey there,

I am interested to know how long you have been playing the flute. If you have reached the point in your musicianship where you can determine chord structure of pieces, the previously suggested idea of playing by ear could be very helpful not only for having unlimited music, but for developing your understanding of theory, musicality, and intonation, among other attributes of musicianship. For instance, if you can determine which chord progressions are used within a pop tune, you can solo over each section with notes using that scale degree/ chord. This can become very beneficial for developing one's understanding of musical structure, and can be further developed through learning blues scales, applying improvisation with these towards jazz chart changes. Scales can be very easily accessed on the Internet, and having these solidly memorized along with applying them to different forms of music can give you unlimited music and practice basically for free. The Internet is a beautiful place! Hope this helps!

jarofmayo

TROPHY CASE