Declaration of Dependence

It appears as if I spoke a bit too soon this week.

Just as I was commenting about how the prevailing wisdom on barefoot running from shoe industry executives was becoming one of cautioned acceptance rather than condescending ridicule, the CEO of a major retailer proved me spectacularly wrong.

Mike Golfredson, CEO (and “Chief Runner”) of Road Runner Sports - no, I’m not linking to them, purely out of spite – has taken a stand against barefoot running that, by comparison, makes the Brooks CEO look positively enlightened. The Chief Road Runner recently felt compelled to send the following out to his e-mail subscriber list:

Click to enlarge

I don’t have nearly enough time to go into the remarkable levels of ignorance this declaration demonstrates – and honestly, I can’t figure out which analogy best suits him. Part of me wants to compare him to an ostrich with his head in the sand, and another keeps thinking of some flunky deputy giving us the “Nothing to see here, folks, move along” speech as the house behind him is engulfed in flames. The statement also has a hint fear to it, an “Earth is flat!” kind of desperate insistence in response to ships leaving the shore in search of a wondrous New World.

(And those are just the first few analogies that came to mind. Believe me, there are plenty more.)

I’ve decided to treat this as I would a carnival barker or town crier, and casually disregard Chief Runner Golfredson while continuing on my merry way. If you want a more in-depth breakdown, Running Quest has an interesting analysis of why this fear-mongering is bad not only from a PR standpoint, but a business one. After all, even barefoot runners buy clothes and visors and watches and water packs – but I suspect that many of them will be buying from someplace other than Road Runner Sports for a while.

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Brooks CEO Jim Weber on Barefoot Running

In the preface to a Monterey Herald article posted here last August, I wondered aloud whether barefoot running would ever be considered mainstream. While I still find it unlikely that a barefoot revolution will completely overtake the sport, one thing is becoming clear: the notion is certainly closer to mainstream acceptance now than it has ever been.

It seems that not a week goes by anymore without some newspaper or magazine discussing the great shod/unshod debate. Thankfully, most of these articles appear to be trending away from the “these people are crazy!” angle, and presenting the rationale for both points of view – usually with anecdotal support from one or more vocal proponents on either side. (See a good example here from the February 2010 issue of Runner's World.)

The most recent skirmish takes place in a particularly interesting venue: on the website of a major running shoe manufacturer, in response to an open letter written by its Chief Executive Officer. Brooks President and CEO Jim Weber has offered his company’s official position in the public dialogue on barefoot running, and invited readers to enter the discussion, which has made for a very active comments board over the past two days. (Predictably, the Runner’s World Barefoot Forum has moved into battle position on its own website, and the discussion there is an interesting read as well – link is below.)

Brooks CEO Jim Weber

As you’d expect, there’s inherent bias – some of it acknowledged, some not – from the standpoint of a shoe company CEO, but maybe not as much as you’d think. The larger message may be that the CEO of Brooks is actually willing to engage in an ongoing dialogue about the merits of barefoot running, and that the company is actively listening to what its current and potential customers have to say on the matter.

It’s an implicit validation that maybe this whole movement isn’t so crazy after all – and hopefully, it may lead to footwear developments that embrace the benefits of barefoot running rather than callously dismissing them. Ideally, Brooks and other companies would do what ECCO VP David Halter discussed with me several months ago, and just create a separate category of minimalist or "natural" footwear in its product line right alongside stability shoes or cushioned trainers.

There’s obviously no “correct” position on this issue, and I’ve already shown my cards in regards to my own involvement in the barefoot running movement – so rather than trying to preach right or wrong to anybody, I prefer to sit back and watch the feathers fly in these situations. You can do the same, or feel free to weigh in with your own opinion, in one of the discussions linked below.


Brooks Blog: Barefoot Running: An Open Letter from Brooks CEO Jim Weber

Runner’s World Barefoot Forum: response to Brooks CEO letter

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And finally ... since the Grammys are coming up, and since I've been waiting a while for a decent reason to show this pic: Ladies and Gentlemen ...

... Taylor Swift - a barefooter!

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SmartWool Arm Warmer and Sock Review

In some ways, the athletic apparel industry is coming full circle in its approach to fabrics.

It wasn’t that long ago when conventional wisdom held that man-made materials were far superior to anything Mother Earth could provide on her own. Natural fibers were considered old-school in comparison to synthetic innovations that came down the pipeline with astonishing frequency over the past two decades.

However, a funny thing happened in our rush to improve what nature created: several companies realized that those original materials could work just as effectively – better, in many cases - as anything built in the lab. And in the era of increasing eco-awareness, using natural materials is not only a quality measure, but the responsible thing to do. (Thankfully, many lab geeks have turned their focus to utilizing post-consumer content in their clothes - which is equally great news, but not necessarily pertinent to the topic at hand.)

That’s why we’re seeing companies incorporate a remarkable variety of sustainable materials – bamboo or hemp or coconut fibers or crustacean shells, just to name a few – into their apparel, and that’s also why we’re seeing a resurgence in good old-fashioned wool. However, there’s one caveat to the modern wool phenomena: performance fabrics can’t use regular old wool; their wool has to be smarter.


That’s where the story of SmartWool begins – or rather, where it began 15 years ago, after a pair of New England ski instructors struggled for years to perfect a process of manufacturing that would preserve wool’s natural benefits - insulation, moisture-wicking, and odor-resistance chief among them – in a style that was also comfortable (wool is notorious for being itchy), durable, and easy to care for.

In the mid-1990s, this was a difficult sell, but the business grew by individual product testers and word-of-mouth recommendations (just imagine if there were bloggers back then!) until larger magazines and vendors began to take notice. Since then, they’ve won numerous awards, gained worldwide distribution, and expanded their product line to include socks and apparel for runners, skiers, cyclists, climbers, hikers and any outdoor endurance athletes.

To assure maximal comfort and performance, SmartWool committed to using only the finest wool in the world, from New Zealand’s merino sheep. I’ve reviewed other products that use this fabric, which is the softest, strongest, most dynamic and odor-resistant wool on the planet. This winter I had the opportunity to try two items from the SmartWool line, as detailed below.

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SmartWool arm warmers

These are constructed with a blend of 63% merino wool, 32% nylon, 5% elastic, and with seamless construction so you don’t have to worry about lining up the hems along your skin. A 1”x1” rib at the top and bottom openings keeps the warmers in place.

SmartWool’s warmers provide great temperature control when you’re starting off in cool conditions, and great breathability when it gets warm later. They’re very comfortable against your skin, much more so than traditional lycra or nylon fabrics.*

(*I’d like to attest to these claims personally, but in truth they were provided by my wife, who started using the arm warmers about 3 days after I received them, and has yet to return them to me. She’s either extremely impressed, or bucking for a promotion to become an Associate Product Tester for Running and Rambling. Probably both.)

SmartWool arm warmers retail for $25 from the company website (link above) as well as other online vendors.

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SoftWool PhD Running Micro Socks

“Micro” refers to the height of the sock - this gets a bit confusing, as they offer micro mini, micro crew, and mini crew, among others – and this sock is designed as a low-profile mild weather trail runner. It’s built with something called WOW (wool on wool) technology in high density impact zones, which makes the sock more abrasion resistant and increases its overall durability. A 4-Degree Fit System keeps the sock in place with bands across the arch, ankle, and two along the instep. Mesh ventilation zones further enhance the merino wool’s natural moisture-wicking properties for extra temperature and odor management.


For me, the sock performance bar has been set pretty high by Drymax, and while Smartwool’s offering is comfortable, I wouldn’t use them in place of my regular Drymax trail runners for a long outing. However, if you like the same comfortable feel of merino wool on your feet as well as the rest of your body, they might be worth a try. There are a lot of styles and colors to choose from on the Smartwool site.

SmartWool PhD Running Micro socks retail for $14 from the company website (link above) as well as other vendors.


*Products 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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The Mensch of Malden Mills

This weekend’s video post is only tangentially related to material that came before it - but as you should know by now, that’s never stopped me before.

I’ve been fortunate to review several products supplied by Polartec recently – such as this Cloudveil vest and this Marmot shirt, and an amazing Patagonia jacket I reviewed on FeedTheHabit. In researching the company a bit, I came across this little tidbit on the "About Us” page:

The company acquired the assets of Malden Mills Industries, Inc, providing employment to its workforce and continuing the tradition of fabric innovation for performance apparel and accessories.

It was the former company’s name that rang a particular bell in my mind: Malden Mills … Malden Mills … of course – the Mensch!

Several years ago, 60 Minutes documented the incredible generosity of Aaron Feuerstein, former President and Chairman of Malden Mills, the company that invented Polartec fabric. After a devastating fire leveled his factory in 1995, Feuerstein financially sustained his entire workforce – more than 3,000 employees – with full salary and benefits for the six months that it took to rebuild the factory.

Although it was amazingly uplifting, the story of Malden Mills didn't have a fairy tale ending: Feuerstein’s out of pocket losses, combined with the huge debt incurred to rebuild the factory and the predictable cash flow problems in the wake of essentially starting the business from scratch again, eventually resulted in bankruptcy in 2001. One of the first orders of business by the new creditors was to force Feuerstein to step down. However, this saga took place during roughly the same time frame as the Enron collapse and other shocking examples of Corporate American greed, so Feuerstein became something of a folk hero among blue collar workers for placing his workers' welfare over personal gain.

From time to time in the midst of our country’s current economic meltdown, I’ve wondered if any modern-day captains of industry would have the same kind of integrity and courage under fire (a bad choice of words, perhaps … but sort of fitting as well) that Feuerstein demonstrated. I've also wondered if the long-term prosperity of those employees was preserved by his gesture, or if he merely spent $25 million of his own money to briefly postpone the inevitable tragedy of layoffs for most of his workers.

Since all of this took place nearly 15 years ago, it’s uncertain how many former Malden Mills employees persevered to its modern reincarnation as Polartec, which has emerged as one of the most dominant players in the athletic apparel industry. For their sake - and because I like to cheer for happy endings - I hope that a lot of them made it to better days.


"The Mensch of Malden Mills", from 60 Minutes, revised by ARTzeinu (click to play):




And finally, a glimpse of the modern-day company that rose from the ashes of Malden Mills ...

"We Make It Possible" by Polartec (click to play):

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Cat Stories

The following stories are true – but unfortunately, I have much better documentation for one than the other.

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Part 1 (the part I can prove): While my son and I were changing clothes and gearing up for our weekly mountain bike ride, we had the following exchange …

Son: Dad, why do you always bring your camera on these rides?

Me: Just because … you never know what you might see out here.

So we headed off to the trails, where I took some pictures very much like the vast majority that I take: shots of him from a distance, with a bit of landscape in the background.

Click to enlarge ... and don’t let his shirt give you the wrong idea – we’re still in California. He picked it up during this vacation last summer.

As luck would have it, later in the ride we saw this guy crossing our trail:

A pretty good-sized bobcat walking softly through the brush, quietly stalking some little snack. Almost immediately after I snapped this photo, he pounced into the nearby bush, but came up empty. He briefly glanced our way as if to shrug off the missed opportunity, then continued ahead in search of the next one.

The photo quality is pretty bad, but it’s the first bobcat I’ve ever captured on film. As for my son, it was the first one he had ever seen in person – so I’m glad I had the camera to remember the moment. Because you never know what you might see.

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Part 2 (the part you have to take my word for): While I was doing one of my customary 6-mile loops through Carmel Valley two mornings ago, I saw this guy crossing my trail:

Photo from National Geographic

OK, so that’s not an actual photograph I took – think of it as more of a dramatization. It was dark (at about 5:30 AM) and raining heavily, so I left the camera at home … but I sure-as-shooting saw a full-grown mountain lion; he was walking across the path ahead of me when I caught a glimpse of him in my headlamp beam. He stopped in his tracks and stared at me, and we stood there face to face for about 10 seconds. And since we’re doing dramatizations, here’s a good depiction of what was going through my mind right about then:

The Scream, by Edward Munch

Fortunately, the lion wasn’t overly interested in me, and I finally remembered the conventional survival wisdom to wave my arms and make some noise to discourage any aggression. He finally decided I wasn’t worth his trouble, and shrugged me off to return into the bushes. (Maybe he chose to wait for the next runner.)

In all the years I’ve been running these roads and trails, I’ve only seen two mountain lions in person. Both times, I’ve come away with an almost electric charge at what awesome creatures they are, as well as a strange feeling of thankfulness at the opportunity to glimpse one up close. Of course, “close” is a relative term, and I certainly wouldn’t like to be any nearer than the distance of my headlamp beam for future feline encounters like this one.

However, I might rethink leaving my camera at home on these pre-dawn runs of mine – because you never know what you might see.

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Dimensions of Compatibility

If I may ask a personal question … have you found your perfect partner in life? Someone who completes you - the yin to your yang, the cheese to your macaroni – and makes you whole? Or are you still seeking that special someone to share your future with?

In either case, last week’s Monterey Herald column is for you. Maybe you’re currently involved with someone, but still holding out hope that a Prince (or Princess) Charming will come and sweep you off your feet. Maybe you think you’re happy, but you wouldn’t know any better because you’ve never tried anybody else, and you don’t really know what the criteria would be for making a long-term commitment anyway. Maybe you don’t even know what you’re looking for to begin with.

However, before you get the wrong idea about all this: yes, we’re talking about running ... because anything else would be WAY too complicated.

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Running Life 01/14/10 “Dimensions of Compatibility”

Don’t laugh when we say this, but picking a running partner is nearly as important to your overall wellbeing as picking a spouse. (Well, maybe you can laugh a little bit.) Accordingly, we’ve developed a runner’s “eHarmony” test to rate your potential running mates.

For the sake of brevity, we’ll assume that you can handle the logistics of meeting times and locations. The rest of the profile gets more subjective, and that’s where the rating system comes into play. So get out your scorecard, and let’s get started!

Timeliness: Is your partner always a few minutes early for the meeting time? Score 10. Always on time, score 5. Always late, score 0. Unpredictable -sometimes early, sometimes late - minus 5.

Pace: The best partners help you become a better runner. If your partner’s comfortable pace is slightly faster than yours, score 10. Same pace, score 5. Slightly slower, score 0. Significantly slower, minus 5.

Versatility: Give your partner 5 points for each type of running terrain they enjoy: Roads. Trails. Track. Adjacent treadmills. 20 possible points.

Attitude: If your partner has a positive and enthusiastic demeanor, score 10. If it seems like he (or she) is just logging the mileage, score 5. If he frequently talks about his injuries, score 0. If he’s a constant whiner, complainer, and a downer, minus 5.

Reliability: Will your partner show up when the weather is nasty? For a partner who’s never intimidated by foul weather, score 10. For someone who takes on anything short of a hail storm or typhoon, score 5. For one who says he’ll show up only if it’s not raining, score 0. If he bails whenever there’s a 30% chance of rain, minus 5.

Low maintenance: If your partner knows all the roads and trails in the area, and always comes prepared with the right gear, score 10. If he knows where to show up to meet the group every morning, score 5. If he always asks for toilet paper or a sip of your Gatorade, score 0. If he calls you late every evening to ask you what’s going on tomorrow – minus 5.

Sense of Humor: If your partner brings new jokes and laughs at yours, score 10. If he tells the same funny jokes a lot, score 5. If he tells jokes that aren’t funny, score 0. If he tells the same unfunny jokes a lot, minus 5.

Worldly: Does he or she watch the news and know about current events? Score 10. If he likes to discuss other topics besides running, score 5. If ALL he talks about is running, score 0. If he’s overbearingly political, religious, or dogmatic, minus 5.

Running Life Fans: If they mention a Running Life column during a run, score 10. If they know we write a running column, score 5. If they’ve never heard of us, score 0. If they’ve written a nasty letter to the editor about us, minus 5.

OK, maybe that last category was self serving … but it’s time for the results! Check your compatibility score and place it in one of the following groups:

80 to 100: As good as it gets. Let’s grow old together.
65 to 79: I’m mostly happy, but it feels like I’m settling.
50 to 64: This is OK for now, but I’d still like to see other people.
40 to 49: We need to talk. This isn’t working out.
Under 40: Have a nice life. Maybe you should get a dog.

Best wishes to everyone in seeking the ideal running partner.


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Postscript: the day after this article ran in the paper, I met my two primary running partners for an early morning trail run. One of them arrived 5 minutes late, the other forgot his headlamp, and my own headlamp battery died halfway through the run. I guess that means we deserve each other.

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Marmot Lightweight Long Sleeve Crew Top Review

Considering the product that is the focus of this review, it feels a little awkward to say this … but for me, the first thing that comes to mind when someone says “marmot” is the critter, not the company.

Marmots are big fat squirrels that live abundantly throughout the Sierra Nevada Mountains. They are especially prevalent in Yosemite National Park, and have absolutely no inhibition about approaching you, whether you’re strolling through the valley floor or grabbing a snack atop some rocky outpost in the midst of a 10-mile hike. They’re so bold and persistent that they’ll practically tug on your socks if you're slow to offer a piece of sandwich crust or trail mix - and as my wife can attest, they're almost never content to get just a single bite. They inhabit one of the most beautiful places in the world, and never have to work a day in their lives for food; if ever there was a member of the rodent family who seems to have the Good Life figured out, it’s the marmot.


So I guess it makes sense that an outdoor clothing and equipment company would use as its namesake a critter who is completely at home in the mountains – because Marmot's mission is for its customers to feel exactly the same way. The company was founded by two UC Santa Cruz students who started a “Marmot Club” of members who had climbed glaciated peaks together. They also created prototypes of apparel and equipment that would eventually be sold as the initial offerings of the Marmot Company in 1974.

After the founders made an early connection with the developers of Gore-Tex material, Marmot became one of the first adopters of Gore-Tex in the outdoor equipment industry. They are also heavy proponents of Polartec performance fabrics, one of which is the primary material in the baselayer top I’ve been testing this winter.

Marmot's Lightweight Long Sleeve Crew is made from Polartec’s Power Dry fabric, a super-thin material that is highly effective at pulling moisture away from your skin. (And if the name sounds familiar, that’s because the same material is used as a secondary component in the Cloudveil vest I reviewed last week.) It’s a normal-fitting (not form-fit) top with a tag-free neckline, and the Polartec fabric has a 4-way stretch capability for improved comfort and fit. All the seams are made with flat-lock construction, but this was the source of the only drawback I experienced in field testing: the seams of the shirt felt slightly rough on the exterior when wiping sweat off my face. Comfort against my skin wasn’t an issue, so when I wore this shirt under a full jacket, the seams weren’t a problem at all – but under a vest, I had to be a bit careful.

The Power Dry material also features Cocona technology: coconut shell carbons embedded into the fabric for improved wicking ability and natural odor control. Cocona technology is becoming more prevalent lately, with a handful of manufacturers now incorporating it in their apparel construction. From personal experience, the odor control aspect may be slightly overbilled – it’s nowhere near as effective as merino wool, for example – but the “funk factor” after a hard workout is somewhat diminished compared to old-school tech shirts that I own.

Overall, this long sleeve crew provided nice insulation for its weight, and would be a good baselayer for a variety of outdoor activities. It retails for $42 from the company website, with a good selection of colors and sizes discounted to $30 at REI.com.


*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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