Hi friends! How's the week going? Is it just me or is it actually dragging for once? Oyyyeee. I guess I should embrace it since most weeks seem to zip-zip-zip on by. Right? Right!

Anyway, last Wednesday New Balance hooked a bunch of us Boston bloggers and media folks up with the opportunity to try the new Fresh Foam 1080s at the brand spankin' new MyStryde in the North End. I was a tad bit nervous at first because the thought of hitting the treadmill for a full 45 minutes seemed a little intimidating. I'm more of an outdoor runner than a treadmill runner but, I must say that the 45 minutes went by pretty fast and with all the hills, sprints, and slow-downs.. it made it a lot more fun (ah, and challenging).

MyStryde is situated at the end of Hanover Street in the North End... closer to the waterfront. Great location with an adorable studio. The front check-in area is warm and inviting with some apparel for sale off to the side.

Sorry for the poor picture quality but, this is the setup of the room. Not pictured on the right is another set of 4-5 treadmills. The one with the lights around it in the middle is the instructor's treadmill.

And these, well these are the foamiest, loveliest little pair of Fresh Foams I've ever put on my feet. Between the full, solid layer of foam and the Woodway treadmills, it felt like I was running on puffy little clouds. If you've been following fff for a while, you know that I love the Fresh Foam family of sneakers so I knew I'd really like these, as well. The team from NB explained that these are engineered by studying runners' biomechanics, force patterns and wear tendencies. It has a substantial midsole with an inherently stable footprint, and a careful attention to the areas of flex. It is designed to accommodate various instep heights and foot volumes to wrap the foot securely. In simple terms... "so comfortable and stable".

Also, see those pants? Those are the most comfortable pair of running pants/yoga pants/workout pants that I have EVER put on my body. Not kidding, I could sleep in them. They are part of the new Trinamic Collection and are designed to support dynamic movements. It's super-duper soft and there are breathable holes in the "hottest" areas. A few members of the New Balance product development/engineering team provided all the info on our gear and when they asked if we had any questions, I raised my hand like a dork to make the statement that the pants are the most comfortable of my career. The Trinamic Collection will launch this Spring so keep your eye out for this collection! (The shirt was just as comfy as the pants, I am just extremely picky about pants so they stood out to me)

That's Becca! She's been dreaming up MyStryde for four years now and she made her passion project happen. The class was awesome and never got boring. We had little cards that helped explain how we should treat the different levels in the class (3=jogging/outdoor run pace, 4=little more strenuous/harder to have a convo, etc). She moved us through different songs that took us up hills, through sprints, and in between. Before we knew it, the 45 minutes were up and we were dripping in sweat.

Another perk to this class? Getting see my girls Athena and Monique! It was so fun to have these girls by my side during the duration of the class... we had a lot to catch up on and it is always motivating to do these types of classes together!