Monkey Shake!

“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
- John 10:10 (New International Version)

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I know, I know - that’s a pretty ambitious quote attached to what’s essentially a review of milkshakes … but the scripture verse is at the heart of 10:10 Wellness's mission in the endurance sports community.

The company’s primary objective is to lead people into healthy lifestyles and activities they can get excited about. Their model is to recruit new athletes like Team in Training, give them guidance like an online coaching service, encourage and support them like a favorite running or tri-club, participate in races together like a group of friends, and provide them with good products like the best online vendors.

That last point is where today’s product comes in, as Monkey Shakes are the most notable offering from their (otherwise, somewhat limited) product line. 10:10 Wellness provided me with some of these shake mixes last month, and I’ve been enjoying them on a regular basis. They’re designed as a recovery drink to replenish the body after a tough workout. (However, they taste good enough that I had them on days when I hadn’t even worked out – I figured that wouldn’t disqualify me from doing the review.)


My shipment arrived with a nice handwritten note, and one other sweet touch: See that red thing in the picture?


It’s a monkey! From the old Barrel of Monkeys game, remember? Very retro-cool.


Aside from the monkey, there’s not much to the packaging for these things … or, as my wife asked, “You’re going to eat some mystery powder that a complete stranger from the Internet stuffed into a Ziploc bag?” I find it very hard to argue with her logic sometimes. She wasn’t even reassured by the little red monkey. At least I could claim that your money isn’t going to a fancy production process when you buy from 10:10 Wellness.

As far as what’s actually in the bags … that’s where things get complicated. Monkey shakes provide your body with all the macro nutrients you need - carbs, protein, and fat - plus vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and even some fiber. They are truly natural products without any artificial flavors or sweeteners.

Carbohydrates are in the form of 100% rolled oats, ground into a powder for a smooth base. The protein component is whey protein isolate which is easily digested and provides more nutritional bang for your buck than just about any other form. They also include another type of whey protein called RenewPro that is an antioxidant booster. Monkey Shakes come with a “secret weapon” in the form of chia seeds, a dietary staple of Southwest Native Americans. You probably know them better as the building blocks of Chia Pets, but these seeds have tremendous nutritional and medicinal properties.

Ch-ch-ch-Chia!

(By the way, if you want an extremely thorough look into the thought process behind selecting each of these ingredients, and the health-related benefits of each one, it’s right there on the 10:10 Wellness site. If you thought I was long-winded, you really need to check this out.)

So the resulting ingredient cocktail is chock full of wellness potential … but how does it taste?

There’s an information sheet in each shipment of Monkey Shakes, providing nutritional details and five recipes for different Monkey varieties. Most of the recipes call for peanut butter, which I only used once in fear of burning up my less-than-industrial grade blender. If you’ve read this blog for a while, you already know which flavor I tried first:


Strawberry Monkey: Frozen strawberries, frozen bananas, milk, and monkey shake mix. It was awesome. I also made a Blueberry Monkey and a Peach Monkey according the instruction sheet – very delicious as well.

I typically make fruit juice smoothies at home rather than milkshakes, so I also tried the Monkey Shake mix in one of my regular berry smoothie recipes, substituting a couple scoops of Monkey mix for the protein powder I normally use. It worked just fine in this regard as well, and this might be a way to make your supply of Monkey Shake ingredients last longer than the indicated usage.

It’s a point worth mentioning, because this Monkey stuff isn’t exactly dirt cheap. Under the normal recipe guidelines, a single Ziploc bag contains two servings, and a 15-bag (30 serving) case normally sells for $68.00 on the 10:10 Wellness site. That works out to about $2.25 a serving, which seems like a lot at first, but is still a lot cheaper than what you’d spend for something comparable at Jamba Juice. Considering the high quality ingredients, that seems like a pretty fair price. (Another option for a smaller order is 3 bags for $15.00, which is slightly more expensive on a per-unit basis.)

Actually, the bargain gets better for my blog readers: there’s a coupon code set up on the website for Monkey Shakes or anything else from the 10:10 Wellness site: if you enter "runningandrambling" (no quotes) into the discount/coupon box at checkout, you'll get a 10% discount.

So to summarize: Good company, great product, fantastic nutrition, and a pretty attractive deal to buy some. Maybe it’s time to bring a little monkey into your life.

See previous product reviews on sidebar at right. If you have a product you'd like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.

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The Barefoot Files: Training Update #1

* Series note: For this barefoot running series, my plan is to provide training updates like the one that follows at least every couple of weeks – I’m hoping that if I do them somewhat frequently, they won’t be quite as lengthy as this one. Additionally, since writing the introductory post, I’ve arranged for gear reviews of Nike Free and Vivo Barefoot shoes in addition to the Vibram Five Fingers. There’s lots more of this topic to come, obviously.

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“Free – ee – ee –
(Dontcha want to be) free – ee – ee
(From time to time a little) free – ee – ee
(Feels so good to be) free – ee – ee”
- Donavon Frankenreiter, “Free” (video after post)

If the journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step, making that journey while barefoot would start with an extremely tiny baby step.

That’s the mindset with which I’m treading into the world of barefoot running right now – and the intent of these training posts is to chronicle the buildup in case anyone else is intrigued enough to follow. Longtime readers here can attest that I almost never detail my daily workouts, weekly mileage, or other “raw data” from training – but The Barefoot Files will be the exception that proves the rule.

There’s an ulterior motive for this policy change as well: I’m terrified of screwing something up. I don’t want to force the progress too rapidly and end up injured and frustrated and wondering why the heck I even bothered trying this. Hopefully, being publicly accountable will prevent such a situation from developing. I don’t ever mind making an example of myself, but I generally prefer that it’s for the act of doing something correctly.

"It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others" - in this case, I hope not.

Without exception, the most common piece of advice that I’ve heard is to build up to barefoot running in very small doses; the activity is a shock that your musculoskeletal system is initially unprepared to deal with for more than a few minutes at a time. In light of that, and for the other reasons above, I’m doing something else that I gave up more than 10 years ago: keeping a training log of sorts.

I’m still not tracking my overall mileage or individual workouts, but I’m logging the amount of time I spend barefoot, and on what surfaces. If it works out well, feel free to copy the model for yourself. If it doesn’t … you can thank me later for the warning.

On that note, here’s what I’ve been doing for the past few weeks:


Week 1: 3 barefoot sessions: twice for 5-min each on asphalt, once for 5 minutes on dirt.

Each of these came after my regularly scheduled run; as soon as I finished, I stripped off my shoes and socks, and kept on going. The main goal was just to get a feel for being barefoot, see what my running pattern would feel like, and how the pain tolerance on the soles of my feet would be. I also started purposely walking barefoot around the house and yard more often, instead of instinctively slipping into sandals after work in the evening.

It’s almost shocking how immediately and thoroughly your running pattern changes once you kick off your shoes: Your foot strike flattens, your knees and hips flex to absorb more impact, and your stride length becomes ridiculously short. These are the baby steps that eventually turn you into a barefoot runner, but during those first few sessions, it will feel like you’re barely making forward progress.

Which brings up another point worth mentioning if you’re going to start running barefoot: you have to accept running slowly. Embarrassingly slow, in fact. So slow that, if you were to watch yourself from a distance, your altered gait pattern and minimal forward displacement wouldn’t resemble running as much as a Native American rain dance. Throw some feathers on your head, and chances are that nobody could tell the difference.


Week 2: 4 barefoot sessions: twice for 5 minutes on asphalt, once for 8 minutes on dirt, once for 3 minutes on asphalt.

This is the period when I almost overdid it: since we were on vacation in the Sierras, I figured that I’d tried to stay barefoot for entire days at a time. With my running, I did the same routine as above, tacking a few minutes onto the end of each run. (If you’re keeping track at home, the dirt session followed the run in Big Trees park from this post.)


Predictably, I developed some sore spots on my feet: not blisters, but mild pain at some pressure spots on the underside of my foot – primarily along the line of metatarsal heads (where the base of the toes connect with the rest of the foot). The discomfort was bad enough to make me cut the 4th run a few minutes shorter than I intended, and it got me back into a pair of sandals for most of the day again.

The good news is that after a few days off, I was able to resume without problems the next week. Which brings us to …


Week 3: 4 sessions: 8 minutes on asphalt, 20 minutes on grass, 10 minutes in Vibram Five Fingers, 5 minutes on dirt.

The asphalt run was the first after the layoff, and all seemed well again. I can feel the skin on my feet becoming calloused, but right now it’s still in the stage where those formative calluses are painful – so I was seeking a little more comfort for the next two runs.

Luckily, I live close to this place:

That’s Toro County Park, which I’ve detailed in two separate posts (see photo tours on right sidebar). There’s a grassly inlet at the entrance to the park almost a half-mile long; ironically, for years this has been the area that I dismissively skirt around on my way to the dirt trails on either side of the grass, heading toward the big hills beyond. Now I see myself logging a lot of time here over the next few months. During my first barefoot run here, I only had to double back twice to log 20 minutes.

Week 3 also saw my first run in Vibram Five Fingers, a protective coating which basically allows you to run barefoot without the pain of overly sensitive soles. I’m going to do an entire post devoted to this product; for now, suffice it to say that they’re amazing.

These last two runs – one in the grass, and one with the Vibram Five Fingers - also emphasized the element of barefoot training that I’m already finding intoxicating: the feeling of absolute freedom that you get by running around with nothing on your feet. The simplistic pleasure of leaving my shoes behind never fails to make me feel like a child – and by extension, it makes exercise feel like playtime. This phenomenon will also be the subject of its own post at some point.

In the meantime, I’ll summarize this first update by reporting that after three weeks, my progress is coming along nicely, and it feels quite good to be free.

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Music note: this song and its video sometimes make me question my decision to do the marriage-career-kids thing so early in life. Sometimes I really wish I had just smuggled myself onboard a ship to Hawaii and lived as a surf bum for five or ten years. Clearly, that time has passed ... but it still feels nice to get lost in music like this every now and then.

Donavon Frankenreiter, “Free” (click to play):

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Zen and the Art of Ultrarunning (Part 2)

Everyone in our family likes to get an early start on Lake Alpine – but not all for the same reason.

The kids pile into the boat with Grandpa to hunt down the catch of the day, while I lace up my running shoes for a lap around my favorite mountain lake.

(I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned here – but I HATE fishing. I’ll just leave it at that, and spare you the big long rant. That’s why I’m eternally indebted to Grandpa for teaching my kids, who for some inexplicable reason can’t get enough of drowning worms on a hook. I keep thinking they’ll grow out of it, but now I feel like time’s working against me: the more of these experiences they share, the more meaningful they’ll become, and the more reluctant they’ll be to ever give it up. And this development really distresses me. I’m not kidding.

As for my wife … sometimes she fishes, sometime she runs. She’s multi-talented that way - and not nearly as neurotic as me. Let’s just move on.)


My usual destination is the top of the ridgeline above the lake, known as Inspiration Point. I’ve written about this run before; it’s where I got my mojo back after the stomach punch of last summer’s Western States cancellation.


I looped around to the backside of the lake to pick up the main trail to the ridge. It’s not terribly long, but it’s steep and rocky enough to put a sting in your legs and a burning in your lungs as you scramble towards the top.


This is always one of my favorite sights: a groomed, narrow trail leading steadily upward, with the crest of the climb in sight, and a slight glimpse of the beautiful vista that awaits you there.


I simply love this view of Lake Alpine; I could probably stand here all day if there weren’t equally compelling sights on the other side of the ridge …


… such as this little hideaway called Duck Lake. It’s marshy, secluded, and only accessible by a long hike. In other words … it’s probably a great place to be a duck.


The entire ridge line of Inspiration Point is strewn with large rocks, and over the years, hikers have assembled them into formations that spell out initials, words, or clever designs. For example …


… this meditation spiral just seemed to call out - like it had been waiting for me all along – as I realized that I had never noticed it before. Was it here on my last visit? Is it brand new? Or has it been here for 100 years? I honestly had no idea.

There’s an ancient ritual of “circling to the center” by walking a spiral labyrinth, which is supposed to clear the mind, provide insight, and put your life in perspective. The spiral represents wholeness; it’s a place to seek healing of the mind, body or spirit, as well as a place to celebrate life. Its meandering but purposeful path symbolizes your life's journey, and walking the spiral in mindful awareness signifies a transforming journey to the center of your being and back out into the world again. In Zen philosophy, formations like this are often considered to be sacred ground.

Considering all that … how could I not take a trip inside?


So here I am, getting my Zen on at nearly 8000 feet. I’ll tell you one thing - it sure beats going fishing.


I’ve reached the center! Do I look different somehow? Perhaps more enlightened? Purposeful? Whole? I’d like to say it was a transformational experience … but what I mainly felt was a bit dizzy from walking in circles.


The return trip was full of the beauty and serenity I always encounter in this part of the Sierras. No matter how many times I run through here, I’m continually in awe of how wonderfully this landscape affects me.


Eventually I’m back at the boat ramp, listening to fish stories and getting ready for the rest of a day that involves swimming, kayaking, rock jumping, or just chilling in a beach chair to read a book on the shore. By this time, whichever direction the activities end up taking doesn’t really matter; I’ve already grabbed my peace with the day – and maybe a little bit of Zen as well – that awaits every morning at the top of a rocky, scenic trail.

*It's an unrelated story, but you can read my original Zen and the Art of Ultrarunning post here.

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Salomon XT Wings Shoe Review

You’ll forgive me if I used to consider Salomon primarily a ski company.

After all, most of its 60-year history has been dedicated to creating world-class gear for winter mounain sports. The brand was born in the heart of the French Alps, and Solomon would eventually become a worldwide leader in skis, boots, bindings, and high-tech apparel. Salomon’s own timeline traces their accomplishments and product developments through the years – a list that is essentially dominated by ski innovations for the first half-century. The first hiking shoe doesn’t appear until 1994; the first trail running shoe arrives in 2001.

However, whatever the company lacks in trail running experience, it more than makes up for with passionate involvement in all kinds of sports that don’t involve snow. They sponsor various race series all over the country, and support a team of ultra runners, Xterra triathletes, and adventure racers (including one guy whose apparent credentials are that he lives in a cabin and once rode a motorcycle to South America. Seriously.)

Just as they did for skiers, Salomon has created a very diverse product line for trail runners, from base layers and outerwear, to bags and packs, to a wide line of footwear. I’ve found the quality of their running apparel to be outstanding – in fact, I wore the same white Salomon shirt for both of my 100-mile races over the past year – so I guess it was only a matter of time before I took their shoes for a spin.


Chances are that you’ve already heard of the XT Wings: they’re something of the flagship model of the line, and they’ve been VERY heavily promoted in fitness magazines and running websites. (Anecdotally, Solomon also seems to be a brand that runners are very loyal towards: many people try this particular model and never go back to their previous shoes.) They’re billed as a balanced combination of cushioning and agility that perform equally well on roads and trails.

To accomplish this, the underside of the shoe is built with two integral components, called the Agile Chassis Skeleton and Agile Cell Muscle. The AC Skeleton is a plastic mold that controls lateral movement to improve stability on trails, and the AC Muscle provides cushioning for the road with a super-dense EVA foam that supposedly has twice the durability of average EVA material.


The upper is a combination of mesh nylon and synthetic leather that is fairly typical when it comes to ventilation; it didn’t feel as breezy as the La Sportivas (Wildcat and Crosslite) I reviewed, but about the same as the Montrail and Vasque models I frequently use. It also has thickened rubber for extra protection at vulnerable areas like the front toe cap.

One novel feature of the upper is the Quicklace system: a very thin, wire-like lacing mechanism that tightens the entire shoe in a single pull. The top of the wire can be quickly tucked away into a small flap on top of the tongue, so it doesn’t bounce around while running. Triathletes call these “speed laces”, and use them to get in and out of their shoes quickly in transition areas – I imagine the Xterra folks on Salomon’s roster had a lot of input into this aspect of the shoe.

Quicklace system

Given the intended duality of this shoe, I’ve used the XT Wings on both roads and trails, and wore them exclusively for all of my mountain running in the Sierras last month. From a comfort standpoint, they performed exactly as advertised – they felt just as nice during 90 minutes on asphalt as they did during two hours on single tracks. Overall weight of the shoe is 13 oz, which doesn’t feel particularly heavy on long runs. The fit and comfort are also enhanced by a feature called the Ortholite sockliner, which covers the forefoot and supports the heel in a thin, lightweight foam material.

The comfort aspect is probably what distinguishes the XT Wings from other brands of trail running shoes. These seem like a perfect shoe if you need to jog down the road a few miles to reach the trailhead, but still want a supportive ride on the dirt and rocks once you get there.

Some brief summary bullets:

Strengths
· Can be used comfortably as either a road or trail shoe.
· Quick lace system is perfect for triathletes - and everything else about this shoe makes it a great choice for Xterra races.

Drawbacks
· The outsole seems less “grippy” than other shoes I’ve reviewed, as I occasionally experienced some mild slipping on very steep, loose gravel sections of trail.
· The lacing system is great, but if you like to modify the tension of your laces asymmetrically, that might be hard with Quicklaces.
· Relatively high retail price -usually $120, but listed on some sites for as much as $130.

Let's be honest – it seems tough to justify spending 130 bucks on a shoe when there are plenty of equal or better quality trail models out there for under $100. One case where I could see spending this kind of money is if you don’t log a lot of weekly mileage and you’re looking for a single model to function as both your road and trail trainers.

A better alternative is to try finding a deal somewhere – and I can help in that regard as well. Between now and August 20th, Wilderness Running Company is selling the shoes at a $10 discount from their normal $120 list price – and if you enter coupon code R&R10, you’ll get an additional 10% off and a free pair of Bridgedale socks (normally $14-$16), plus free shipping. Your "out the door" price for everything dips below $100 - so if you’ve been waiting for an opportunity to try Salomon shoes, or if you’re looking for a very solid all-purpose shoe, this gives you a great chance.

See previous gear reviews on sidebar at right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.

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Calaveras Big Trees State Park

Each summer when our family makes a pilgrimage to the Sierras, I steal a morning to spend among the giant sequoias of Calaveras Big Trees State Park.


I’ve written about running in this majestic area before, but that was before I became a prolific photo-blogger – so I figured that an updated tour was in order.


The most popular routes from the main parking area are the North Grove and River Trails. The North Grove is a 1.5-mile stroll through the largest and most distinctive of the giant sequoias, and is the most heavily trafficked area of the park. The River Trail is the runner’s and hiker’s route, taking the path less traveled on more than 4 miles of mostly single track to the Stanislaus River.

Before you branch off the North Grove trail, you pass the remains of the Discovery Tree, around which the entire park was eventually created. Pictures don’t really do justice to how large this downed tree is - unless there’s something in the frame for a point of reference …


… such as a 6’2” man reaching up the outer section of the trunk, without even reaching the midway point of the 25’ diameter. It’s estimated that the tree was “only” 1200 years old when it was killed, which is relatively young for a giant sequoia. Its outermost growth rings were still large, meaning it was still growing rapidly at the time of its demise.

From an educational standpoint, Big Trees Park serves a dual purpose: instilling a sense of admiration about the trees, and serving as a reminder of the cruel destruction that humans have foolishly (and repeatedly) inflicted upon them over the years – and the Discovery Tree is a perfect example.

The story goes like this: in 1852, a hunter tracking a wounded bear through the wilderness came upon this tree of monstrous proportions. Initially, nobody believed his story, until he coaxed a group of men into the woods to see for themselves. Less than one year later, the tree was stripped of its bark and felled by speculators. Since there were no saws large enough for the job, they drilled a series of auger holes through the trunk (visible on the top section in the picture above) for more than 3 weeks before the tree was finally defeated.

In ensuing years, the remaining stump was sanded flat and used for various commercial enterprises, from a dance floor to a bowling alley to a hotel – which gives you a sense of just how large it is. It’s an absolutely horrible legacy, but it has one silver lining: as visitor traffic increased to the area, early environmentalists (including John Muir) started a movement to preserve the Calaveras Grove, as it was called – which eventually led to the creation of Big Trees State Park, and legal protection of the surrounding forest.

So there’s your history lesson for the day. Meanwhile, back on the run …


The River Trail only intersects the North Grove Trail for a few hundred yards, but there’s plenty to look at before you head away from the main loop. It’s difficult to emphasize just how small you feel running around the base of 30-foot diameter giants …


… whose limbs reach more than 300 feet in the air. To give another sense of scale, at a point 50 feet off the ground, some of these trunks are still more than 15 feet across. Did I mention that I felt very small?


Outside the tourist loop, the River Trail branches away and gently climbs through some run of the mill tall trees …


… before cresting onto a road for a few hundred yards, where you enjoy great views of the Stanislaus National Forest. From this point, the trail will descend about 1400’ over 2.75 miles towards the turnaround point at the river.


Parts of the trail look like any other forest single track …


… but there are constant reminders that this is no ordinary forest.


You develop an appreciation for how tricky it must have been to cut a trail through this area …


… and how difficult that trail must be to maintain from one season to the next as limbs and branches fall from winter snow or summer storms.


Eventually the trail reaches the Stanislaus River, where you occasionally find some fishermen looking to score their evening’s dinner …


… but if you get there early enough, you pretty much have the place to yourself. A couple of side notes about this picture:

* I’m wearing the North Face E-Race Boa hydration pack, which accompanied me for my whole week in the mountains, and which I reviewed in this post. When I say that I enjoy the field testing part of gear reviews, can you really blame me?

* I’m at a totally awkward angle on that rock, aren’t I? There wasn’t a flat place to sit, so taking this picture felt like one of those isometric wall squat exercises – especially when the first few attempts with the self-timer went bad. I really need to get more efficient at this someday.


Since you’re retracing your steps on the return trip, most of the 4 miles back to the North Grove are an uphill grind. It’s generally runable except for a few steep portions …


… and the scenery is just as pretty on the way back.


When you start seeing the giant sequoias more frequently, you know you’re approaching the North Grove again.


Another nice feature of the well-traveled visitor path in the North Grove is that it is wheelchair accessible, meaning the dirt is somewhat groomed inside the barricades. And since you’re getting close to your start/finish point in the main parking lot …


… it’s a nice place to kick off your shoes and cool down with a few minutes of barefoot running. If wandering among these trees under normal circumstances is humbling, doing so while barefoot makes you feel downright insignificant.

Honestly, it’s not such a bad feeling to take away from a nice long run – especially when it’s accompanied by a sense of awe and reverence at the wonders of this magnificent forest.

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The North Face E-Race Boa Hydration Pack Review

You may recall from my comprehensive hydration pack review that I had hoped to test a pack from The North Face, but the company told me that budget restraints prevented their participation. Honestly, I thought they were politely blowing me off – so I was very pleasantly surprised when they contacted me later on to offer a hydration pack for comparison to the others.

The timing was a bit poor, as I received the pack while tapering for Western States. I wasn’t in a place where I wanted to either 1) do high demand, multi-hour runs, or 2) fool around with trying new gear. Factor in a couple of weeks of recovery (i.e., sitting around on my butt while stuffing my pie hole), and a couple more weeks of ramping up the training again, and you have a much longer than appropriate delay in reviewing this product. So let’s file all these factors under “better late than never”, and just get on with the review …

I should probably preface this review with a disclaimer: I’m a huge fan of The North Face. Nearly all of my favorite running garments (shirts, pants, winter gear) are made by them, and I’ve used their trail running shoes from time to time over the past few years. They make high quality products across the board – from camping to backpacking to trail racing - and they’ve made a strong push into the world of ultrarunning over the past few years, most notably with a nationwide Endurance Challenge series featuring killer courses and cash prizes which draw elite and amateur trail runners alike.

As far as this specific product review goes, I could probably summarize it in one sentence: the North Face E-Race Boa is a racer’s hydration pack. It’s light and lean and employs a minimalist design for high performance trail running. But it’s also durable enough to be used as a day to day training pack – as I did during my recent week in the Sierras.

Being minimalist doesn’t mean this pack is simple – in fact, there are several technological features unique among the category of hydration packs I reviewed. First we’ll look at the features, then do an overall comparison with the packs that were reviewed before.

The Boa wiring system

One distinguishing feature of this pack is right in the name: the Boa Wiring system which crisscrosses the 50-oz hydration bladder, and can be tightened or loosened with a dial on the front vest shoulder. You click the dial clockwise to tighten the wire, which provides two benefits: it compresses the pack to keep the fluid from sloshing around, and it maintains pressure in the fluid reservoir to help push fluid through the tube without having to suck on the valve.

(This is good, because the valve doesn’t want to be sucked – it would much prefer that you bite it. Seriously … it says so right there on the end – see?:

There’s a little bit of North Face attitude for you. Doesn’t make the pack better or worse – just seemed like an interesting touch.)

Another unique design element is how the bite valve (or can we call it the Bite Me valve now?) attaches to the front of the harness: not by clips or straps, but by magnetism. A small magnet at the elbow of the valve latches onto its companion piece on the right vest strap, keeping it securely in place. The magnet sits on the opposite vest strap from the Boa dial, so if you happen to like your valve to sit on the left shoulder, you’re out of luck - but that feels like a minor complaint.

The harness attaches in front by something called an E-VAP system, which is a series of overlying Velcro attachments that all meet directly over the sternum. During my field testing, I found it to be remarkably stable: there was absolutely no movement of the harness, and it remained very comfortable throughout my longest trail runs.

The Boa dial at right, the magnet bite valve attachment at left, and the E-VAP harness system under the logo.

Below the main harness, two abdominal straps attach in front with Velcro; each strap has a small pocket that can slide forward or backward based on your preferred placement. And if you want to go completely bare bones, you can take the pockets off entirely and race with nothing but the fluid on your back.

The pockets are fairly small, and they represent the only real cargo storage of the E-Race Boa. I was able to fit my compact camera in one pocket, with a trail map and key in the other; there was probably room left over for one or two gel packs, but that’s about it.

All of these features bring me back to the summary sentence from earlier: this pack is made for racing. More specifically, it seems best suited for shorter distance (less than 50K) races where you want to carry some fluids, but as little extra weight as possible. The entire pack weighs 9.5 oz, so you won’t sacrifice speed in order to carry the bare necessities while gunning for a PR.

The minimalist aspect of the pack is something of a double-edged sword: if you’re planning to spend several hours on the trail, or if you like to pack a lot of gear with you, this pack might be on the small side. Even the hydration reservoir is scaled down in relation to other packs – which is a good jumping off point for some spec comparisons with the other models:

Hydration reservoir: 50 oz in the E-Race Boa compared to 70 oz for the others. Less fluid is lighter; lighter is faster. The twist-top opening is similar in size to the Nathan HPL 020, and somewhat smaller than the CamelBak, but can be easily opened and refilled without removing the reservoir from the harness.

Weight: 9.5 oz, which puts it on the low end of the grouping, but slightly above the 6-oz Nathan HPL 020. Remember: lighter is faster.

Cargo capacity: 95 cubic in, which is the second to smallest (behind the CamelBak). The E-Race Boa won’t carry much gear to weigh you down. Lighter is … well, you know.

Comfort: very high marks – this pack feels as stable and comfortable as any I reviewed.

Versatility: the E-Race Boa is pretty much a one-trick pony; it probably won’t serve you well for cross-purposes like hiking or cycling. Whether that’s a good thing or bad is up to you.

Price: on the high end in this category; see below.

The E-Race Boa sells for $99 at Amazon.com. The price is higher than other packs, but with The North Face products, you almost always get what you pay for.

If you’re a serious racer, or looking to carry a moderate volume of fluid on your regular training runs without sacrificing speed, the E-Race Boa is probably worth spending a few extra dollars.

See other product reviews on sidebar at right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.

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If There's a Heaven ...

... I hope it looks something like this:

Picture of Lake Alpine (elev. 7300'), taken from Inspiration Point (elev 7920') in the midst of a trail run earlier this week.

I've spent the past 8 days in one of my all-time favorite playgrounds: the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Alpine County, CA. Our family enjoys an annual summertime excursion here, and each time we visit, it feels harder to say goodbye.

This year, the trails above and around this lake also served as an ideal field testing laboratory for several pieces of gear which I'll review in upcoming weeks; throw that in with a couple of photo essays from the trip as well as the ongoing barefoot running experiment, and we're looking at a busy beginning of August in Running and Rambling Land.

I guess that means the vacation is officially over. They just never last long enough.

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