Life, Dreams ... and Mountains

"I'm heading for a land that's far away beside the crystal fountains -
So come with me we'll go and see the Big Rock Candy Mountain."
- Harry McClintock, "Big Rock Candy Mountain" (video in post)


This week’s review of the Brooks Cascadia 5 shoe led me to recall something that happened during the first year I had a website, which caused me to remember something else, which reminded me of a third thing … and you know how this stuff goes. I’ll try to keep it brief.

I’ve mentioned several times that I was a hack writer long before I had this website. Before my blog existed, my wife spent an unbelievably generous amount of time building a web page the old fashioned way: typing the code in manually, including link pages and photos, over and over again for every separate page under the domain. Needless to say, it was an enormous time drain that required the kind of patience and attention to detail that would have left me whimpering after about 10 minutes.

It went on this way for nearly two years. Even knowing how difficult the task was for her, the excitement of actually having a location on the Internet – open to the public!! – where people could read my (in hindsight, quite immature) ramblings was almost intoxicating. I had dreams of getting discovered by a major publisher who would demand that I quit my day job and accept a million-dollar advance for a collection of everything I had written to date. Or something like that.

The reality, of course, was far different. I think about 20 people purposely visited my website on a regular basis, and every now and then someone would stumble across it accidentally while looking for something else. It wasn’t going anywhere, and if it weren’t for the advent of idiot-proof Blogger websites, I’m certain that 99.9% of you would never have heard of me later.

One of the bright spots – and maybe the only one, come to think of it – was the day I got an e-mail from a Brooks rep, who said she liked my website, could tell that I had a passion for running, and would I please help her promote a video she helped produce. Someone found me! Someone in the industry! Who liked my website! Once again, the potential of my impending fame seemed limitless.

Eventually I realized that she was just a PR person doing her job – drawing as many eyeballs to her product as possible – and the dream of discovery died another death. However, I really did enjoy the video; it’s clever and funny, with a catchy little tune, and at some point in my life, I've been nearly every one of the characters involved - and it's probably only a matter of time before I become the rest of them. So I linked to it (rather, my wife did) and told all 20 of my readers to go check it out.

I had forgotten that video until doing my homework for the Brooks review this week – and thankfully, nowadays I can just embed the video here.

“Life”, by Brooks Sports (click to play):




Of course, seeing that video again reminded me of the follow-up piece that I liked even better; it was equally clever and funny, with just as catchy a tune, but captured more of the laid-back, limitless world of boundless energy and endlessly positive spirit that I was discovering in the world of trail running.

“Dream”, by Brooks Sports (click to play):




And finally, the folksy/perky tune and dream-like cartoon reminded me of one of my favorite songs of the 2000s: Harry McClintock’s timeless “Big Rock Candy Mountain”, written as a hopeful hobo's description of an imaginary faraway paradise. Originally recorded in the late 1920s, it was re-introduced to modern audiences by its inclusion on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. Watching the two videos back to back this week, it’s remarkable how similar they are in concept and style.

Harry McClintock, “Big Rock Candy Mountain” - video by Boulder Media (click to play):



I'm not quite a hobo, but I'm definitely an ultrarunning bum, and my Big Rock Candy Mountain is out there as well. It’s anyplace on the trail where I feel carefree; where I feel boundless optimism, dream big dreams, and celebrate life. Best of all, it's neither imaginary or faraway; all I have to do is lace up my shoes and head out the door, and I'm halfway there. It was a nice thing to be unexpectedly reminded of this week.

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Brooks Cascadia 5 Running Shoe Review

Shoe companies are somewhat notorious for discontinuing successful models, or revamping them to the point where they’re no longer attractive to the same runners who made them successful to begin with.

On the other hand, some companies know their audience, identify what works well for them, and have enough wisdom (and restraint – designers can be impulsive folks) to leave a good thing alone. One of those companies is Brooks.


Exhibit A in this discussion is the Cascadia 5, in which Brooks took one of its most beloved and award-winning models, and decided to just tinker a bit rather than overhaul the previous model. The majority of the shoe is identical to the Cascadia 4, with a few modifications for improved comfort and performance. In fact, I could probably condense this shoe review to one sentence: If you loved the Cascadia 4, you'll love the Cascadia 5 even more.

(But if you'd like to learn more, by all means, read on ... )

Cascadia’s ultrarunning “creds” come from none other than Scott Jurek, the 7-time Western States champion who works with the Brooks footwear design team on all steps of the design process from reviewing the first sketches to wear-testing the finished product. Jurek has had such a strong influence on the development of this model that the Cascadia 4 had the Western States course profile printed on its insole, along with Jurek’s course record time. They’ve replaced the design for the Cascadia 5, but the sentiment is still there.

(And this seems like decent enough justification to show this picture of me and Scott Jurek again. It really doesn't take much.)

Considering that the Cascadia 5 is more of a refresh than a reboot, let’s start the review with things that haven’t changed. In particular, the low profile midsole and outsole remain unchanged from the previous version, so the same ride and feel that users loved in the Cascadia 4 is preserved.


Cascadia’s midsole is 22mm thick in the heel, and 10mm in the forefoot. It features Hydroflow viscous fluid units in the heel and forefoot for cushioning and shock absorption, and a Ballistic Rock Shield of thermoplastic EVA that spreads out the impact distribution from sharp objects. A pivot posting system uses independent medial and lateral pivot points which enable the foot to stay in a neutral position on uneven surfaces.

The most attractive feature of the midsole is Brooks’s patented BioMoGo, the first-ever biodegradable running shoe midsole material. Introduced in 2008, BioMoGo is currently used in nearly all of Brooks’s performance running shoes, with the intent for 100% of their footwear to use this material in the near future.

I’ve turned the spotlight on eco-responsibility quite a bit over the past year, so it’s worth noting that Brooks was winning awards for environmentally sustainable innovations as far back as 2006. That commitment was the impetus for BioMoGo, a truly remarkable material that decomposes 50 times faster than traditional EVA. Biochemistry geeks will love the way this works: BioMoGo incorporates a non-toxic additive within the compound that encourages anaerobic microbes to feast upon the sole once it hits the landfill, causing degradation into reusable byproducts within 20 years.

Click to enlarge; medial and lateral pivot posts are also visible

The Cascadia’s environmental friendliness extends to the outsole, made of a compound called HPR (High Performance Rubber) Green that is derived from sand instead of petroleum. It’s also a very durable material that provides great wet-dry traction for skid resistance. It’s not as knobby as some other trail dogs, but I’ve worn these on some fairly muddy romps over the past several weeks, with very little noticeable slippage through sloppy patches.

To this point, I haven’t described anything new about the Cascadia 5 – so it’s time to look at the upper, where almost all of the updates from version 4 are apparent. Most noticeably, the midfoot wrap has been improved with a more snug overall feel, and a better connection between your foot and the midsole. This modification makes for greater stability on downhills and technical trail sections. Like the previous model, stability is also enhanced by an asymmetrical lacing system which allows the tightness of the forefoot to be relaxed for wider feet, or increased for narrower feet.


Cascadia’s mesh uppers are comfortably breathable and drain easily after puddle stomping or stream crossings. They feature Element hydrophobic microfibers for weather protection that also help pull moisture away from the foot for rapid drying time. In other words, there really aren’t any conditions this shoe can’t handle.

Apart from its technical highlights, I found the Cascadia to have a very soft, comfortable overall ride. At 12oz, it’s not the most lightweight shoe out there, and it doesn’t have the ground feel of the more minimalist shoes I’ve been trending towards recently, but there’s nothing about it that feels clumsy or cumbersome either. It would make a great all-conditions trail shoe regardless of your skill level – whether you’re a newbie or a Western States champion.

The Brooks Cascadia 5 retails for $100 from the Brooks website (link above) as well as from Amazon.com (with free shipping) and other online vendors.


*product provided by Brooks Sports, Inc.
**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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Hope and a Future

(Before today’s post, a reminder: if you haven’t done so already, point your clicker to this webpage to register for Wilderness Running Company’s Garmin 405 giveaway drawing, which will be awarded on Friday. Go ahead and do it now … I’ll be here when you get back.)

**

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
- Jeremiah 29:11 (New International Version)


I’m glad that someone has plans for me … because I’m sure having a hard time making them for myself.

For each of the past two years, my training and racing revolved around a solitary goal: finishing the Western States Endurance Run. Working backwards from the race date, the pieces fell into place fairly easily: build high mileage through February and March, do a killer ultra in April, another one in May, and show up at the start line in June.

This year, everything’s different. There’s no big goal race. No compulsion to build mileage at any particular time of year. No pressure to cross a specific task off my bucket list. And consequently … not much direction to making a schedule.

Most of this predicament was voluntary; I owed my family some time and attention that were long diverted while chasing the Western States dragon, and that compensation started during the last half of 2009. And as it turns out, I kind of like sleeping in on weekends or seeing my kids before they go to school in the morning – so I wasn’t exactly chomping at the bit to jump back into Crazytown right away. Lottery signups (most notably Western States and Miwok) came and went, and I felt no compulsion to take part. Races with rapid-fire signup lists opened and filled to capacity without a pang of regret.

Combine the above factors with an all-around busier schedule from career and church obligations (all of them good, but still), and it makes sense that even when I had the inkling to commit to a race several months down the road, the reality hit me that I’m not in a great position to do so. The longer all of this went on, the possibility of spending an entire season on the sideline grew, and I even started to have some peace with the idea.

And yet …

This is what I do. These events are what I love. This training reveals the person I am. So I’m not getting rid of it all so easily.

Where does that leave me in regards the race calendar? Nowhere specific, but I’ve got a few guidelines for my decision-making:

Short notice: I can barely tell you what my situation will be one week from now, let alone 5 or 6 months. I need to wait a bit longer than usual to sign up for races, to see if I can actually pull them off. However, I’ll definitely need to factor in some buildup time, because I also like to …

Go big: Apologies if this sounds smug, but here’s the thing: I’m perfectly happy to do 30-milers at home. I block out some time, load up my hydration pack, get myself lost somewhere in the hills of Monterey County, then grab a quick shower before getting on with the rest of the day. So if I’m going to pay entry fees and travel to a race, it needs to be something bigger than what I can do on my own. My goal isn’t to run every trail race in California; in fact, I’m making a concerted effort to …

Stay close to home: If I can’t drive there in a half-day or so, I’m not going. Fortunately, that still leaves me a lot of options in the Western Mecca of ultrarunning better known as Northern California.

And with that, we’ll see what happens. Of course, some of these conditions may change over the course of a year, but that’s where I’m at now. As far as specific races go, the only one on my radar right now is the Diablo 50M - which seems to be affected by the same uncertainty bug I’ve contracted, in that the April race date is still tentative. It’s truly an epic race; beautiful and fearsome, empowering and intimidating, exciting and terrifying all at once. For the past two years I’ve done it as a tune-up to gauge my Western States preparations; this year I’d like to appreciate it as a destination in itself.

So far, that’s the list. I’ll announce updates as warranted, with the hopes of grabbing myself a few more wonderful race experiences before the year is out. But if it doesn’t happen that way, that’s OK as well. At most other times in my life, it would have bugged the heck out of me to enter a year with no plans, but I recognize there are larger forces at play here. There’s always hope and a future out there for me, even when they’re not entirely visible.

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Cloudveil Run Don't Walk Vest Review

When you can’t decide whether to use an item of apparel as workout clothing or casual dress wear, I guess that’s not such a terrible problem to have.

That’s exactly the dilemma I’ve found myself considering with Cloudveil’s Run Don’t Walk vest – a top that’s built for high-performance activity, but is stylish and comfortable enough to use every day.


Cloudveil is a Jackson, Wyoming-based company who debuted in 1997 with apparel targeted specifically at the year-round mountain athlete. Founded by a pair of skiing aficionados, Cloudveil’s product line began with their signature soft shell jacket, and over the past decade has grown and diversified to accommodate a wide variety of activities, including warm-weather apparel and specialized garments for cold-weather endurance athletes.

The company now offers an entire product line called Run Don’t Walk, designed to combine high comfort with high performance. The vest is an ideal option for those workouts that aren’t quite cold enough for a full jacket, but too chilly for a single layer. Contributing heavily to both comfort and performance are two specialized fabrics: Polartec Power Stretch® on the front and back panels, and Polartec Power Dry on the sides.

Polartec’s Power Stretch material is probably one of the most versatile fabrics around. It’s a highly breathable 4-way stretch material with “touch points” on the inner surface to draw sweat away from the skin, then spreads moisture across the outer surface area for rapid evaporation. The Power Dry side panels are super-thin, but also highly effective at pulling moisture away from the skin.

Side view: Polartec Power Dry in triangle pattern, Polartec Power Stretch everywhere else.

These fabrics combine to provide an extra layer of insulation that feels extremely light and comfortable on top of a baselayer. The entire vest weighs just seven ounces, so you’re unlikely to get overheated if the temperature gets warmer during your run. The only unforeseen circumstance that would spoil your run is a heavy rainstorm, as the fleece material doesn’t have the water resistance of a soft shell fabric.

Truthfully, the vest is so comfortable that I’ve taken to wearing it around the house, or as a casual outerwear piece - it’s the kind of vest that you can wear all day long, and its design goes very easily with a pair of jeans or hiking pants. So that’s my decision point after taking it out of the wash each time: do I want to run in this right away, or wear it around the house for a few days first? The answer varies on different weeks, which I suppose is as good a compromise as I can hope for. Or maybe I’ll have to buy a second vest, so that I have one of each.

Cloudveil’s Run Don’t Walk vest retails for $75 from the company website, and select styles from the Run Don’t Walk collection are also available at Amazon.com (men's pullover jacket is linked).

*Product provided by Polartec
** 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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Indulgence

Wow, the New Year sure seems busy already. Between heading back to work (me) and school (my kids), looking at the race calendar (separate post coming soon), and attempting to ramp up my training while gradually recovering from my traditional holiday cookies-and-wine bender, the past 8 days or so are kind of a blur. So today’s post is short and sweet, and brings together a couple of ideas from separate items published earlier in the week.

On New Year’s Day, I embedded a video made by Matt Hart, featuring ultrarunners in all sorts of epic races, on majestic trails and spectacular mountain terrain. The point was to express some of the joy I get from trail running, as well as to give you a motivational nudge to start 2010 off right.

In 2007, a similar video was made featuring Anton Krupicka, one of ultrarunning’s top young guns, right in the midst of his rapid rise to the top of the sport. The 3-minute video below is actually a trailer for a full-length movie called Indulgence: 1000 Miles Under the Colorado Sky, which documents Krupicka’s training and philosophical approach to life in the same laid-back style of the classic surf or ski films of the 1970s and 80s.

I haven’t purchased the movie, so if anyone out there has watched it, please let us know in the comment box what you thought of it, and if it’s worth the purchase price. For example - and on a somewhat bizarre note - the soundtrack appears to be some sort of French rap music, which I didn’t even realize existed. It’s, um … interesting. After listening to the preview, I’m seriously wondering if I could sit through 90 minutes of it. I guess Eddie Vedder was out of the production crew’s price range.

Anyway, for those of us who haven’t seen the film, just enjoy this preview as another small dose of trail mojo to begin the year.

Also, I said this video brings together two previous posts … and the other one is my review of New Balance’s MT100 shoe. In that review, I described Krupicka’s reputation for carving normal running shoes apart to eliminate as much bulk and weight as possible – and if you didn’t quite believe me, pay attention to the first 40 seconds of the clip. I also mentioned that he runs as simplistically as possible: no water pack, often barefoot, usually no shirt, and for darn sure no GPS. You'll find that quality on prominent display in the video below.

Here's to running simply and joyously. And to keeping it rolling all throughout the year.

"Indulgence" trailer (click to play):

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CSI: Carmel Valley

(Admin note: a few weeks ago I showed a picture of animal bones on this page, and some folks commented that it made them squeamish. If you’re one of those, you might want to mark this one as read and check back next time. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.)

**

“Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.”
- From Chinatown (1974)

One of my favorite things to do during the holiday season is take a midweek day off work, allowing me a rare opportunity to enjoy a winter’s run without needing a headlamp to light my path. So on the morning of New Year’s Eve, a few of us headed towards my favorite hills in Carmel Valley, looking for a memorable way to conclude another year.


Unfortunately, the benefit of sunlight never seems to make the day’s first climb any easier, as it gains close to 2000 feet of elevation over about 3 miles. However, instead of the usual darkness and fog on the horizon, there are clouds and hillside vistas and, off in the distance, the outline of the Monterey Bay curving around towards Santa Cruz.


Near the top of the hill sits this junction with the aptly-named Cougar Ridge, a long connecting trail that traverses the back country of Carmel Valley into the most remote regions of Garland Park. And why is it aptly-named, you ask?


These tracks were less than 10 feet from the signpost above. One week prior, on the morning after a heavy rain, two friends and I followed these tracks for a good two miles in the midst of a long run. Actually, I should clarify that to say that my friends were following the tracks, with me following a few steps behind them. I mean … if you can’t use your training partners to run interference on deadly predators, what good are they?


Eventually the climb crests into a hilltop mesa that’s relatively indistinguishable from countless others in Carmel Valley. It was kind of hard to completely savor the view, however …


… given that we had passed a recent kill zone on the way up. Luckily for us, this had the looks of an older crime scene, as opposed to one that happened closer to our arrival. There’s really no way to know for sure …


… since the only witnesses were the trees. And they weren’t talking.

One thing that seemed obvious, however, was the identity of the guilty party …


… who left evidence all over the place. Mountain lions aren’t exactly the type to worry about covering up their work.

More difficult to confirm was the identity of the deceased. At first glance, the body looks to be the size and shape of a coyote, but that’s primarily because the remains are fairly spread out over a wide distribution. And with closer inspection of the bones …


Those look more like Bambi hooves than Wile E. paws, don’t they? I think we’ve got our Jane Doe. (Or Deer Doe? That’s kind of redundant, isn’t it? How about just Doe? Unless it’s a buck. This is getting complicated.)


Since there was no clear and present danger at the scene, and since I had not one ounce of interest to track down this specific perpetrator, there wasn’t much further work required to close the book on this particular case. The only thing left to do was head back down the hill, look out over the peaceful village below, and finish the remaining miles of the run.

You don’t want to dwell on death scenes like that for too long, so it’s best to just forget them. It’s Carmel Valley.

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Comparison Review: Black Diamond Sprinter, Spot, and Icon Headlamps

When I introduced my series of headlamp reviews in December, I mentioned that one lamp was something of a category changer. Since then, that particular outlier has also become one the favorite products I’ve tested this winter: the Black Diamond Sprinter.


Why is it a category changer? It doesn’t easily fit within the standard size/weight classifications, is versatile enough to replace two distinct varieties of headlamps, and has features that are unique among all of its peers.

Obviously, a full review is in order … so that’s just what I’ve written over at FeedTheHabit.com. After you read the review, check back here for a comparison of the Sprinter with other Black Diamond offerings, and well as a link to a discounted purchase offer for the Sprinter. See you later.

**

Did you read the review? It’s a pretty impressive little lamp, huh? You could make a strong case for the Sprinter to replace any other headlamp you’re currently using – but there are definitely some situations where you might prefer one of Black Diamond’s other offerings. To refresh your memory, the Spot is a compact lamp that gives you great bang for your buck, and the Icon is a very affordable external battery pack lamp that provides all the brightness you’ll need for technical trails.

With that as our starting point, let’s compare all three. However, instead of giving one lamp and “advantage” over another as in my other comparison posts, I’ll just include a general comment, and try to indicate the conditions where one would be preferable to another. Away we go!


Weight (with batteries):
Spot: 85g/3.0oz
Sprinter: 100g/3.5oz
Icon: 187g/6.6oz

Recommendation: Although the Sprinter is an external battery pack unit, its weight is remarkably low, and it sits on your head comfortably enough to hammer out some fast road miles. Compared to the Spot, you get a huge brightness boost for a very slight weight increase. How much more brightness, you ask? …


Brightness (high setting):
Spot: 47 lumens
Sprinter: 68 lumens
Icon: 100 lumens

Recommendation: If you’re a road runner, or stick to groomed trails, the Spot is perfectly adequate to light your way. The Sprinter is bright enough to give you some confidence over tricky footing – but if you’re taking on consistently technical terrain, I’d stick with the Icon for as much candle power as possible.


Beam Type:
Spot: spot and flood modes
Sprinter: flood, with rear LED
Icon: spot and flood modes

Recommendation: Here’s one of the Sprinter’s unique features that gives it a huge advantage: the rear blinking LED that alerts passing cars to your presence. Better still, the rear LED can be turned off manually, so if there’s a group of runners behind you, you won’t blind them after several miles. If safety on the roads is an issue for you (and it should be), the Sprinter is ideal.


Maximum beam distance (high setting):
Spot: 70m
Sprinter: 50m
Icon: 100m

Recommendation: The Sprinter comes up short here, primarily because it doesn’t have a spot mode like the other two lamps. If you shift from flood to spot mode a lot, pick one of the others.


Battery type and lifespan:
Spot: 3 AAA, 100 hours. Not compatible with rechargeable batteries per Black Diamond specs.
Sprinter: built-in lithium rechargeable battery, 5 hour burn time.
Icon: 3AA, 80 hour lifespan on high setting. Compatible with rechargeable batteries as well as the NRG rechargeable battery pack sold separately.

Recommendation: The Sprinter is the first - and to this point, the only - runner’s headlamp powered exclusively by a rechargeable battery pack. It’s the greenest headlamp available, although its battery life at full power is quite short, so you have to remember to dock it after each run. Almost equally impressive is the Icon with the rechargeable NRG battery pack, which gives you a much longer lifespan between charges.


Price:
Spot: $40 from Wilderness Running Company (currently out of stock, but available shortly).
Sprinter: $80 from WRC
Icon: $60 from WRC, with $30 NRG rechargeable battery pack sold separately.
(*all of the above items are available at a 10% discount with coupon code R&R10 – but you knew that already.)

Recommended: if you grabbed the Icon when WRC gave away the NRG pack for free, congratulations - you made off with the best possible bargain. At this point, the Sprinter is the most expensive of the trio, but if you shell out for the Icon’s NRG pack (typically $30), the Sprinter is a relative bargain. However, the Icon is still priced quite competitively, and the extra money you spend for rechargeable batteries with either model will quickly be made up in saved batteries.

*
So which one is best for you? If you’re on a budget and need something basic and dependable, the Spot can’t be beat. If you need something with extra safety features for the road that is bright enough for basic trails, lightweight enough for fast running, and eco-friendly enough to make your inner tree hugger smile, the Sprinter excels in all of these aspects. If you need maximal brightness for technical trails and don’t mind lugging a bit more weight around, the Icon is an outstanding choice.

Regardless of your selection, these are all very solid offerings from Black Diamond. If there’s any comparison info you’d like explained further, leave a comment below and I’ll follow up in reply.


*Sprinter headlamp provided by Black Diamond
**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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