All right, monkeys ... the weekend's starting off on a good note for five lucky winners of the Monkey Shake giveaway.
As I mentioned, my 6-year-old daughter sat on the selection panel, and the first four places were unanimous: they went to Dug Deep, Mike, Spokane Al, and Shel. The final spot was a three-way dead heat, so I let my girl cast the deciding vote for Josh. Send your addresses to me at info@runningandrambling.com, and I'll get you on the list to receive your six-pack of Monkey Shakes.
Congrats to all the winners, and thanks to everyone who played. That was fun. And special thanks to 10:10 Wellness for providing such a cool giveaway opportunity.
An administrative reminder before today’s post: you’ve got one more day to leave a monkey-themed comment on my Monkey Shake post for a chance to win a free six-pack of shake mix. So far the volume of entries isn’t overwhelming, but the quality is pretty impressive – so bring your A game to the comments box. Yes, that’s a challenge.
As for today’s review, let’s begin with a question. How do you like your trail shorts: long or longer? No matter what your answer, GoLite has the ideal shorts for your preference in its Mesa Trail line, available in either 7” or 9” inseam lengths. (If your answer to the question was “none of the above”, they also have a 5” inseam version, but that’s a situation that taller guys – like, um, me - might find a little too revealing for their comfort.)
I’ve been testing both the 7” and 9” versions for a couple of months now, and I’m really happy with both of them, but for slightly different reasons. I’ll start with the 9” version, which was something of a pleasant surprise for me.
GoLite 9" Mesa Trail shorts
Although I tend to like my shorts a bit long, at first glance the 9” Mesa Trails felt a bit excessive, like I could pair them with a backwards ball cap to audition for a rap video. Another oddity was the liner, which goes a few inches down the thigh like a pair of boxer briefs instead of a traditional brief fit. I started by wearing them only for short distance runs, but soon found they were quite comfortable for longer distances as well.
The external panels are made of DriMove Lite fabric, which is quite thin and provides very effective moisture transfer and ventilation, and the internal brief features GoLite’s awesome Minerale, a microporous fabric derived from natural fibers that has outstanding moisture-wicking and odor control properties. The longer liner does a great job of preventing skin contact (thereby decreasing friction and chafing) in the upper thigh area, and is thin enough that it doesn’t feel bulky, with just enough compression to stay in place fairly well over a run of 2-3 hours.
Despite the dimensions of these shorts, they are fairly lightweight at 146g – just marginally heavier than the 7” version – and surprisingly comfortable. Between the increased thigh coverage and the extended brief liner, they ride slightly warmer than traditional running shorts, but not nearly as much as you'd think. I suspect I’ll be wearing these even more as the weather turns cooler in the fall, serving a similar purpose (from a warmth standpoint, not necessarily muscle performance) as a good pair of compression shorts.
Other nice features on the 9” shorts include a brushed comfort waistband, external waist drawstring, and a zippered hip pocket that’s big enough for a cell phone or mp3. The longer styling of these also makes them well-suited for hiking or for lounging around post-workout if you don’t have time to change into regular clothes.
Contrary to my first impressions of the 9” short, I knew right away that I’d like the 7” Mesa Trail shorts. The inseam length is right in my wheelhouse, the styling is fairly sharp, and the fit is super comfortable as soon as you slip them on. GoLite calls these the “ultimate training short”, and they’ve become my favorite shorts for long outings this summer, including the night I paced Gretchen at the TRT 100.
GoLite 7" Mesa Trail shorts
The 7” shorts have a classic brief liner with the same Minerale fabric as the 9” model, with the same DriMove external panels and brushed comfort waistband. They add two front pockets along with the zippered rear pocket, and have an internal drawstring. Overall weight is 140g, and these shorts ride very light and comfortably, even with my longest-distance runs.
This summer, the 7" Mesa Trails have steadily become my favorite everyday shorts, and I’ve found them durable enough to handle the longest days and nights I've thrown at them. More recently, I spent the past few weeks trying to find something to nitpick about these, but I honestly can’t think of anything. Sometimes the gear is just that good.
*Products provided by GoLite **See other product reviews on sidebar at right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.Read more...
“Love me baby, love me baby – Shake me like a monkey baby – And forever I’m yours, yours, yours, yeah!” - Dave Matthews Band, “Shake Me Like a Monkey” (video after post)
Even with the amount of new gear and products I’ve been fortunate enough to test over the past couple of years, sometimes it’s nice to keep going back to something that works for you. That’s exactly what happened after I reviewed a product called Monkey Shakes last year: I continued to purchase them after my free sample supply ran out, and I’ve gradually made my way through two more full shipments over the course of several months. It’s a product I’ve come to love – and this week, it’s also a product I’m thrilled to give away.
Monkey shakes!
If you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about, feel free to read my initial review, and I’ll give you a quick recap here. Monkey Shakes are all-natural high-protein recovery mixes featuring chia seeds, vitamins and antioxidants (for the super long explanation, click here) that you blend with milk, frozen fruit, juice, peanut butter, or any other ingredients you choose (recipe suggestions are included). They are sold in two-serving packets, but can also be scooped into your normal smoothies in place of regular protein powder.
So, yes … it’s basically a super-fancy milkshake, but I was also drawn to the 10:10 Wellness company, who manufactures the shakes, and who have a mission and values that I feel good about supporting. They encourage people to lead active, athletic lifestyles through training partnerships, and they openly promote the spiritual component of general wellness and healthy living.
Also, each of my shipments came with a hand-scribbled thank you note, and one of those little curvy-armed monkeys from the old Barrel of Monkeys game. Clearly this is a company that’s easy for me to identify with.
Monkey love
(And apparently the feeling is mutual, as I’ve recently been beknighted as a 10:10 Wellness SpokesMonkey. At least, I’m pretty sure that’s meant as an honor.)
When I reviewed them last year, the company was working on something of a shoestring, a point that was most apparent in the product packaging. I kind of teased them about this, and they responded by raising their game and providing factory closed resealable bags for all orders. They also expanded the product line to include Chocolate Monkeys. My preference is still for the vanilla flavor, because it goes best with the fruit smoothies I most frequently blend – but if you like a good chocolate milkshake every now and then, you can add a lot of nutritional value to it with a little bit of monkey mix.
Vanilla and chocolate monkeys
Monkey shakes come in 2-serving bags, and are priced at $15 for three bags, or $68 for a 15-bag (30 serving) case, with chocolate monkeys a few bucks more expensive than the regular vanilla flavor. Since I’m now a spokesmonkey, I get to pass along some monkey love to my readers: if you purchase them from the 10:10 Wellness site, enter coupon code monkeydonald (cute, huh?) into the coupon box for a 10% discount. (Note - this is a different coupon code than was used for my initial review. Use this new one, monkeys.)
However, if you’re lucky – and a bit creative - you can try some Monkey Shakes for free. The company has generously offered to provide a six-pack of either chocolate or vanilla flavor shakes to FIVE lucky winners chosen from the comments section below. However, since this giveaway is so cool, I’m tinkering with the normal rules a bit: instead of just drawing commenters at random, I’m going to be subjective about who wins.
I’m assembling a selection panel - likely to include at least one of the elementary school-aged girls I live with - and we’re awarding extra points for creativity, so your task is to dazzle us. Anything related to monkeys will score extra points. Jokes, witty remarks, goofy haiku, or anything else that makes us laugh will score extremely high. Remember, this is monkey business we’re talking about, so feel free to go bananas.
Good luck, have fun, and I’ll announce winners on Friday night!
* Speaking of fun and creative: one of my favorite tracks from the latest DMB disc seems more than appropriate here.
Dave Matthews Band, “Shake Me Like a Monkey” (click to play - and scroll through about 90 seconds of intro):
“I'd like to make myself believe – That Planet Earth turns slowly … “ - Owl City, “Fireflies” (video after post)
Continuing with a couple of themes I’ve touched upon recently – how quickly time is moving lately, and the therapeutic effect of riding bikes with my kids – today’s post is a collaboration of sorts: a story about riding with my son last month, which I meant to have posted a few weeks ago if I hadn’t been juggling about 10 other things simultaneously.
The occasion was somewhat nondescript, other than having a general sense of “Hey – it’s already July, and we haven’t done anything awesome yet this summer!”, but the destination was quite specific:
A rocky outcropping that stands as a ridgeline sentinel overlooking two adjacent canyons in the middle of the Fort Ord open space. Viewed from the proper angle, it cuts a pretty imposing figure above the surrounding landscape.
And that little person standing on top of it [click to enlarge] would be my 11-year-old son.
Visiting this spot – visible at right-center above - had been a goal of ours for a while, and requires a pretty challenging ride to reach. You either take the direct route through about five miles of Fort Ord’s steeply rolling terrain, or take a longer, more gradual climb to the adjacent ridge (on the left above) before doing a quick down-and-up to the outpost – and from either direction, there are uphill stretches that are mandatory dismount and push sections. There’s really no easy way to get there, but we opted for the longer, more gradual approach on our way out.
The top of the rock is fairly nondescript, as the only things to attract your attention are an old wind gauge …
… and some pretty views overlooking all the trails you took to get here.
You also get a nice sense of the geographic character of this area, and an appreciation of why it was such an ideal training ground for battlefield operations back in its US Army heyday. Rolling canyons, rocky bluffs, natural overlook towers ... this would certainly be a sweet place to play soldier for a while.
Nowadays, thanks to the Army base closure and the Bureau of Land Management's restoration efforts, it’s a very sweet place to run and ride bikes – and after playing around on top of the rock for a while, we had several miles of hilly terrain to cover before reaching the car again.
Since we took the gradual route coming out, we opted (well … I opted; he didn’t really have a choice) for the direct, steeper route home, which includes this asphalt section affectionately known as “Black Death” by locals. My son zigzagged back and forth across the steepest pitches like crazy, but managed to keep the wheels rolling all the way to the top; what he lacks in raw power he makes up in resolve.
From the top of Black Death, it’s a mostly downhill final 2 miles back to the neighborhood we started from, where we wrapped up the ride just like every other week. There wasn’t anything especially monumental or instructive about this outing; it was mainly an opportunity to check something off our to-do list that had been a long time coming.
Which, when you think about it, it what summer is all about.
* Postscript: Here’s another example of how quickly time is passing me by lately: since doing this ride last month, the 11-year-old boy in the pictures has become a 12-year-old. I’m afraid that the next time I sit down to write about him, he’ll be an 18-year-old young man who can’t wait to leave us. What I wouldn’t give to make the world turn more slowly sometimes.
"We've got to get right down to the sea - We've got to get to the sea ... " - Jack Johnson, "To the Sea" (song after post)
Given that last weekend’s post was a bit of a downer, I figured it was only fitting for me to report on a much happier Saturday at the sea, courtesy of a few bikes, two little girls, and a beautiful summer day along the ocean.
We saddled up the bikes and set out from Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey, which is always a beehive of activity on weekends, and also holds a special spot in my daughters’ heart for another reason, which I’ll explain shortly.
For the time being, though, we left the crowds behind for a while on the coastal recreation trail that stretches through historic Cannery Row and along the waterfront …
… including the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which is another favorite stop for our kids, but today was just a landmark on the way to a different destination.
Continuing past the Aquarium, the tourist crowds thin out a bit again, and from here to the town of Pacific Grove it’s pretty much smooth sailing …
… just ask this smooth sailboat.
Beyond Lover’s Point in Pacific Grove, the rec trail ends and the road opens up into a wide, smooth, gently rolling boulevard that hugs the coastline, unless you make a sharp left turn about a mile up the road …
… and head for the Point Pinos lighthouse, which is ironically one of the best-hidden little destinations on this tourist-crazy peninsula. It was built in 1855, and is the oldest continuously working lighthouse in the state.
If you’ve got a couple of curious little girls and a bit of free time on your hands, you can walk inside and explore the whole thing – which, of course, we did. We went upstairs and downstairs, looked at old beacon lights and touched the foghorn, and spoke with a woman who was a resident of the lighthouse for three years while her Coast Guard husband was stationed there. When you can throw a bit of education in with your exercise, it’s always a nice bonus.
The girls didn’t want to dally too long, though, because they were a bit anxious to return to Monterey …
… and visit my friend’s ice cream parlor on Fisherman's Wharf. Remember when I said how cool it was to have a friend who’s an orthopedic surgeon? As far as my daughters are concerned, the fact that another friend of mine has an ice cream parlor is at least 100 times cooler. Especially when said friend likes to give free ice cream away to charming little daughters of training partners. This is pretty much an automatic stop for us now on our rec trail outings.
There might be better ways to finish a bike ride than sitting on a wharf on a beautiful sunny day eating rainbow sherbet and watching the sea lions commandeer the shoreline … but if so, I’m not aware of them.
All that was left was to say goodbye to the wharf and roll back to the car, with a fresh reminder of all the wonderful things this area - not to mention this life of ours - has to offer.
It’s amazing how therapeutic a nice bike ride can be, and how restorative it is whenever I get to the sea.
** And since last weekend's post included a pretty mellow Jack song, this time around is more upbeat; it's the title track - and one of my favorite songs - from his new album.
When I was a kid, I sometimes imagined what life would be like as a spy - charged with keeping confidential secrets, only able to disclose carefully selected bits of information to certain people at predetermined times, knowing that one false move could result in disaster for me or the agency I’ve committed to serve.
About 30 years later, I’m finally getting a sense of it, from a handful of shoe manufacturers who protect their secrets as if lives depended upon it – the latest of which comes from a mainstream company who has been making strides towards minimalist footwear for quite some time now.
On that note, think of this post as a high-level intelligence briefing, where I’m authorized to divulge information solely on a need to know basis, and keeping some other details under lock and key until another day. The occasion for our meeting is to partially unmask a running shoe whose appearance has thus far remained strictly classified: the New Balance Minimus, scheduled for release in March 2011.
Actually, the cover of this shoe is about to be blown wide open in the very near future anyway, as it will be presented at the upcoming Outdoor Retailer trade show next week. New Balance will offer a whole collection of “barefoot inspired” footwear – including something called “wellness” models, which seem to directly target the everyday minimalist market currently occupied by VivoBarefoot and Soft Star, among others - and my NB contact was nice enough to pass along a bit of background information, and even a few dossier photos of the running model.
There’s a much more thorough portfolio of information available about the Minimus shoes, including some insight to the development of the collection, and what makes it different from existing minimalist footwear, here on the New Balance website. Otherwise, the company is intentionally telling the story slowly, and is officially only releasing snippets of images, which follow below:
A positive ID: That's our man - Special Agent Minimus
Along with his partner in crime, who goes by the code name Vibram
A thin mesh heel, and suspiciously FiveFingers-looking strap
And if you think I’m exaggerating this secrecy thing, it’s worth noting the e-mail exchange I had with the rep shortly after receiving the pictures:
Me: Those look cool – do you have any pictures of the whole shoe?
Her: For now we aren’t releasing full shoe shots … as soon as I have permission to release them, I’ll send them along.
In other words, once her agency lifts the security clearance, she’ll forward that intel to my agency, and we’ll have full disclosure on this elusive target. Until then, it’s still a bit of a cloak and dagger game – but I think I’ve learned enough about Special Agent Minimus to know that I’m very anxious to meet him in the flesh sometime.
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Every now and then something comes through my inbox that makes me wish I had a completely different life. Truth be told, it’s been happening more and more frequently lately … but that’s a separate story.
Anyway, the latest event to trigger such a reaction was the launch of a new microsite for the Vibram FiveFingers Bikila. It’s an intentionally provocative campaign called You Are the Technology, and it’s the kind of thing that makes me wish I had gone into computer programming or website design – because I’m 100% certain that the people who made this site had an absolute blast while building it.
Basically, the site features a fairly good-looking man and woman - Adam and Eve, presumably? - as naked as they were in the Garden of Eden … except, that is, for the pair of Bikilas on their feet. (My snap judgment is that the dude is a much hotter dude than the woman is a hot woman – but maybe I shouldn’t be saying that out loud.) They cleverly conceal their naughty parts - although trust me, the site is still fairly NSFW – and have writing scrawled over strategic parts of their bodies.
Adam?
Here’s where it gets fun: from the main splash page, you click on the male or female to zoom in and read the writing. Once zoomed in, you can scroll up or down, and there are several spots on the body where the arrow will turn into a hyperlink finger. Click those, and the models rotate and/or zoom in further so reveal a narrative about natural running. Click again to zoom back out, then pick another spot to zoom in again and repeat. And so on and so on.
Eve?
The narrative is told in a head-to-toe direction, and is generally the same on each model, but it’s worth clicking around both models just for the “wow” factor of it all. Here’s the thing, though – once you get started, the site is kind of a time magnet, so make sure you give yourself enough time and space to check it out from top to, er … bottom. I’ve already mentioned that it’s probably NSFW - and I can also attest from personal experience that if your six-year-old daughter happens to be looking over your shoulder just as you’re looking at a close-up hi-res shot of somebody’s butt, it will most likely send her into hysterics. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Sound interesting yet? If so, go check out YouAreTheTechnology.com for a while, then feel free to weigh in below to let me know what you think. Is it crazy? Cool? Maybe a little creepy? Is the dude hotter than the girl? Discuss.
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