Royal Fashion: Kate Middleton's shoes for Pippa's wedding

Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton may have gotten all the attention for keeping the bridal party filled with children, a common occurrence at British royal weddings, quiet, but I could not help but wonder what shoes she would wear.

True to British royal tradition, Middleton did not want to upstage sister, Pippa and went with very classic pumps.

According to Footwear News, Middleton wore Gianvito Rossi 105 suede pumps, which retail for $675.

The shoes are a very classic choice, although she gets credit for working with children in 4 inch pumps.

Pippa Middleton gets married...what shoes did she wear?

Pippa Middleton walked down the isle in a beautiful high-neck lace gown by Giles Deacon, but I could't help but wonder, what shoes were under the beautiful dress.

Middleton, the sister of Duchess of Cambridge, Kate, married James Matthews, a finance exec and former race car driver, in the English countryside. The reception was at her parent's house.

But what shoes did she wear?

According to the Telegraph, Middleton wore white satin Manolo Blahnik shoes with pearl details. They say they were a customized version of the Seneca Bridal shoes, which retail for $925.

Did Nike's sneakers lead to the fastest marathon ever?

26 seconds...that's how close Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya came to sub 2 hour marathon. Instead he finished in 2:00:25, just over a second too slow per mile.

But first...thank you for your support. Through the Sole had a record breaking April, over 8,200 pageviews!

Now back to the sub 2 hour marathon. In March, I wrote about Nike's attempt to break the 2 hour mark in the marathon, including with specially designed sneakers.

Nike decided the conditions were right and had the 3 selected runners try this weekend at the Formula One track in Monza in Italy, selected for having low wind, good oxygen, and being relatively flat with modest turns, according to Runner's World.

At 5:45am on Saturday, the 3 selected runners, Kipchoge, Eritrean Zersenay Tadese, and Ethiopian Lelisa Desisa set off in hat was deemed to be perfect weather. They had pacers in front of them in an arrow formation to block wind, according to Runner's World.

In the end, Kipchoge ran must faster than his previous record, 2:03:05 in the London Marathon. Tadese is the record holder in the half marathon and Desisa won the Boston Marathon twice, according to FiveThrityEight.

Tadese finished in 2:06:51 and Desisa in 2:14:10. The event was three years in the making and used science to try to engineer the sub 2 feat.

The current world record for a marathon is Kenyan Dennis Kimetto 2:02:57 at the 2014 Berlin Marathon. This attempt did not change that, according to Runner's World, because of practices involving pacers that are not allowed by the running governing body.

In addition to the specially designed sneakers that were customized for each runner, they also wore clothing that was designed to be aerodynamic.

It's hard to say how much came down to the sneakers and how much to other factors, but those are some fast times.

Hillary Clinton models Katy Perry designed shoes

Secretary Hillary Clinton's new role: shoe model?

A post not related to running... As I have gotten into running, many of my recent posts have been related. But I want to keep my non-runner readers happy and continue to use shoes as a lens to view the world.

The great news is that Through the Sole has been breaking records. Already this month, there have been over 7,600 pageviews!  Thank you for all your support.

But back to Secretary Clinton's shoes...

⚡️POWER PUMP⚡️your way over to katyperrycollections.com for the last few hours of the spring 25% sale❗@HillaryClinton is wearing #TheHillary (OMG I LOVE HER SO MUCH)

A post shared by KATY PERRY (@katyperry) on Apr 10, 2017 at 6:15pm PDT

Singer Katy Perry launched a shoe line in February, according to People, naming many of the shoes for famous women, including Clinton, whom she campaigned for.

The Hillary shoe came in a light pink, now often referred to as millennial pink, or seafoam green and had a 3.5 inch clear heel with moons and stars floating inside, according to the New York Times. It retailed for $139.

Katy Perry Collection's The Hillary

Last week, the singer posted a picture of the former presidential candidate wearing the shoes on instagram with information on how to buy them (see above) and Internet controversy ensued. 

Conservative news websites ran headlines like, "Hillary Clinton Reduced to Modeling Shoes for Katy Perry" (Breitbart), and "Hillary Clinton Now Hawking Katy Perry Shoes On Instagram," (Daily Caller).

Other pointed out that Perry and Clinton have a long relationship. Clinton recently made a surprise appearance at the Unicef Snowflake Ball to present the singer with the Audrey Hepburn Humanitarian Award, according to the NY Times.

However, this was the first time the two connected on fashion. 

For the shoe brand, the results were great, the shoes began to quickly sell and appear now to be unavailable.

Clinton has not benefited in anyway from the shoes.

Trying a new kind of sole on running sneakers

I just crossed another finish line and this time in a new pair of sneakers from a new brand, the Brooks Neuro.

These shows look unusual and even heavy, but the sole is actually made of propulsion pods, very lightweight and responsive.

But before we get into more, let's do an update.

Prior to trying out the Brooks Neuro, I was continuing to run in the Asics Fuzex and Fuzex Lyte.

The Asics Fuzex (top) and Fuzex Lyte (bottom)

The Fuzex proved to have the right support for running distance without weighing me down. I ran the United Airlines NYC Half in March and shaved 4 minutes off my PR!

Nothing like running through Times Square and getting a PR! #unitednychalf @nyrr

A post shared by Through the Sole: A Shoe Blog (@throughthesole) on Mar 19, 2017 at 4:07pm PDT

I also wear the Fuzex Lite for shorter training runs and other workouts, like Zumba, but I am finding they are only slightly lighter and less supportive.

Never being totally satisfied and feeling like my sneakers were beginning to get worn out, I decided to start looking into other sneakers. 

I tried the Runner's World Shoe Finder and the Brooks Neuro was one of the top matches, so I decided to try them.

They may look unusual, but I like the feel. They are lightweight, but very cushioned and fairly supportive. I feel like they make it easier to run faster and get a quick turnover between steps.

The sole of the Brooks Neuro

About that sole: as I mentioned earlier, it's made of propulsion pods, BioMoGo DNA foam in rubber casing. The ring is supposed to bounce energy back to the runner. The pod placement is also designed to add flexibility. 

The shoe is for neutral pronation and speed.

For me, there has been an adjustment period. After adding them into my training and liking that I felt faster, I decided to run a 10k in them. Two issues for caution: a lower heel drop and the tongue.