Two brief items of interest before our regularly scheduled Random Shot of Beauty …
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I’m a little bit late with this announcement, but to help celebrate their new spring Barefoot line, Merrell is having a month’s worth of free giveaways throughout February. All you need to do is register a name and e-mail address and you’re entered in each day’s drawing of a barefoot gear gift pack, valued at $170. Head over to this Merrell page to enter, and good luck!
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I haven’t reviewed much apparel from The North Face, but their Apex ClimateBlock Jacket that I tested last year is still one of my favorite winter running garments. If you happen to be a big North Face fan and want to grab some discounted cold-weather items, Backcountry.com currently has their entire inventory of The North Face 2011 winter apparel on sale, in some cases up to 40% off. Check out the sale here or by clicking the banner below:
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On to this weekend’s Random Shot of Beauty, from another beautiful winter’s day in Monterey:
(click to enlarge)
Sailboats on the bay, as seen from Lover’s Point in Pacific Grove during an outing this afternoon with the kids on the coastal recreation trail. There was a fair amount of exercise involved for me, but it wasn’t running, hiking, biking, or even geocaching; I’ll explain more in an upcoming review post sometime.
Until then, whether you prefer powdery slopes or sunny seascapes, may your groundhog-mandated six more weeks of winter be enjoyable.
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One of the first e-mails I sent after signing up for Leadville was to Soft Star. I had a favor to ask … and I thought I knew what the answer would be, but for reasons I’ll explain shortly, I wasn’t 100% certain.
Last year, I hemmed and hawed and postponed making a decision about what footwear to use for my 100-mile trail run until virtually the last possible moment. This year, it’s one of the easiest decisions I’ve made; I want to run Leadville in Soft Star RunAmocs.
It’s only fitting to do the Race Across the Sky in a pair of minimalist shoes; after all, in many ways Leadville can be considered Ground Zero for the whole minimalist revolution. As chronicled in Born to Run, the Tarahumara dominated the race in the early 1990s wearing nothing more than old-school huarache sandals. An executive named Tony Post was at the 1994 race representing Rockport shoes, attempting an ill-fated sponsorship deal with the Tarahumara. That project fell through, but Post’s experience would ultimately lead to his joining a little company called Vibram, and eventually becoming its United States CEO.
Barefoot Ted at Leadville 2010; photo from Ted's website
Fast forward to the modern era, where Barefoot Ted McDonald – who figured prominently in the Born to Run story – debuted Vibram’s FiveFingers KSO Trek at the Leadville 100 in 2009. The following year he ran large portions of the course completely barefoot, and when he used footwear, it was his homemade Luna sandals. (He now markets Luna sandals to the public, and I have a pair I’m testing for review this spring.) One of his pacers was none other than Born to Run author Christopher McDougall, who wore his own pair of Lunas for his entire 4-hour night shift on the trails. Last summer Barefoot Ted and his pacers all completed the race again in Lunas.
Leadville is also the favorite proving ground of one Anton Krupicka, an ultrarunner of distinction who is known for his blazing speed and his minimalist lifestyle. He also has a longstanding habit of carving and slicing his running shoes until the platform is flattened and every ounce of unnecessary material is eliminated. Krupicka (as well as a roster of ultra studs) recently joined forces with New Balance, resulting in the most impressive lineup of reduced and minimalist high-performance trail shoes on the market today. (Before you ask: yes, I have the Minimus Trail Zero, and a review is coming soon.)
Leadville champion Anton Krupicka: minimalist style, maximal performance; photo from Leadville race website
The point of all this is to say that unlike some other ultras, showing up at Leadville in minimalist footwear isn’t going to strike anyone as particularly unusual. But it’s one thing for Anton Krupicka, Barefoot Ted, and the legendary Tarahumara to demonstrate that less is more … and completely another for some idiot from California to try doing the same. I have a few 100-milers under my belt, but I’m by no means an expert at this distance. I don’t have any experience at high altitude, and my prospects of getting any before race day are exceedingly slim. In other words, there’s a very real possibility that the whole thing could end badly.
That’s why I decided to e-mail Soft Star and run the sponsorship idea by them again. I figured that if I somehow ended up battered, broken, and passed out on a mountain trail somewhere, it wouldn’t exactly be a soaring endorsement of the company whose gear and logo I was wearing at the time of my demise.
But as I said at the top, I had a feeling about what their answer would be. Part of the Chief Elf’s reply to me went something like this: Leadville?!! That is a really exciting goal – it sounds just … well … COOL. And CRAZY. And if you want to run in RunAmocs, we would be honored to sponsor you.
Tahoe Rim Trail, summer 2011
So with that, Team Soft Star rides again in 2012! And if I manage to make it to the finish line in Leadville this August, it will be a privilege to add one more footnote to the ongoing saga of minimalist runners at one of the most challenging courses in the world. Between now and then, I’ve got a lot of training miles ahead of me – so if you happen to encounter a crazy-looking dude running down some remote trail in moccasins and a Soft Star shirt this spring or summer, feel free to say hi.
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One more note on Soft Star: effective tonight, they have a brand new website for your shopping enjoyment. It has a cleaner, more modern look to it, and is supposed to be faster to navigate. There are also some cool features like shoe comparisons (especially with their collection of RunAmocs), an easier Design Your Own interface (many Soft Star customers get pretty creative with colors), and lots of product details for every model.
The only bad news was that I had to re-do all of my links to their product pages – so please make it worth my while by heading over to the new Soft Star website to take a look around.
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"Being down in the open air -
Living life like we just don't care -
Just doing what we want to do -
Not doing what we're supposed to do -
It's gonna be a lovely day ... "
- Donavon Frankenreiter, "Lovely Day" (video after post)
Many parenting couples have a dynamic that goes something like this: one parent is the responsible one, who keeps things in line and sees that things get done when they’re supposed to. The other is more of a free spirit, equal parts playful and forgetful, who tries to keep day to day life from being mundane or predictable.
(Before you ask … yes, my own relationship is like this, and the intro quote should be all the evidence you need to guess which role I play.)
In an ideal world, the children of these couples acquire a nice combination of their parents’ personalities; they know how to mind their manners when it’s expected, but they’re able to cut loose and have a good time when the occasion presents itself.
Sanuk Donny Primo
What does any of this have to do with shoes? Think of Sanuk’s Donny Primo as the offspring of exactly the same parenting arrangement. The responsible one is Sanuk’s Boardroom, a super comfy and lightweight leather “sidewalk surfer” (to use Sanuk’s term) with a leather upper that’s stylish enough to pass muster in all but the most formal office settings. The free spirit is Sanuk’s flagship Donny, made for surfer / chill musician Donavon Frankenreiter, which has a laid-back beach vibe from top to bottom. Mama brings home the paycheck, and daddy blows it building a half-pipe in the backyard – or something like that.
Donny Primo on left, original Donny on right
Hybrid construction is most apparent in the Donny Primo uppers, which are made from stylish suede, but retain a bit of the artistic surfer flair. There’s a thin canvas lining that makes the uppers fairly comfortable against bare skin, and also adds a bit of insulation. Temperature regulation for the Donny Primo falls in the middle of the parental spectrum, as the suede uppers are less breathable and more insulating than the thin canvas Donnys, but more breathable and less insulating than the leather Boardroom.
Like all Sanuk sidewalk surfers, the midsole of the Donny Primo is a soft EVA with a standing height of approximately 15mm in the heel and 10mm in the forefoot. The bottom of your foot feels like it’s wearing a flip-flop, while the top of it is ready to go to a nice restaurant.
Elastic stretch panels on either side of the vamp (panel on top of the foot) make getting the Donny Primo on and off nearly as easy as slipping into a pair of thong sandals as well.
The midsole height is higher and has more heel-to-toe drop than I typically like in everyday shoes, but I’ve found that there’s significant settling of the midsole material after extended use, so that after a couple of months the functional position of your foot is much flatter and closer to the ground than when you first try them on.
Considering how much hype the natural footwear movement has generated over the past year, I’m actually kind of disappointed that Sanuk hasn’t become a bigger player in this category. The Donny Primo is completely flexible, very lightweight at just under 7oz, and wide enough through the forefoot to allow your toes to spread out and function almost as if they were shoeless.
Really, the only drawback I have about the Donny Primo is outsole traction, although you can’t really blame it, since neither of its parents have outstanding traction either. The Happy U grid is fine for dry conditions, but if it’s wet outside or if you’re on any sort of loose dirt or gravel, the traction can certainly be a bit lacking. I’d love to see Sanuk experiment with a slightly more grooved outsole or a grippier rubber compound, which shouldn’t detract too much from the beach sandal ground feel.
Overall, the Donny Primo is a shoe that should make its Mom and Dad proud: it maintains the mellow and fun feel of the Donny, with the class and dressiness of the Boardroom. It’s not currently available on the Sanuk website, but it retails for $60 from Amazon.com.
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Finally, a song by the shoe's namesake certainly seems in order ... but if you're stuck someplace that gets real winter weather, my apologies for this song; it's one of those that makes me want to do nothing more than head to the beach and watch the waves roll in. If you don't happen to live in California or someplace similar, this might make summer seem very far away.
Donavon Frankenreiter, "Lovely Day" (click to play):
*Product provided by Sanuk
**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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Before we get rolling this weekend, thanks very much to everyone who sent well-wishes for my 2012 Leadville adventure. I’m really looking forward to sharing the journey with anyone who wants to follow along, and there will probably be more than a few times along the way where I’ll rely on the support of others to get me there. So thanks for getting things off to a promising start. Now all I have to do is get ready to run 100 miles across the sky.
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Getting to the orders of business: first, apologies to anyone who tried to shop at the Patagonia fall clothing sale recently; shortly after that post went live, I was notified that the online shopping cart wasn’t working properly – which makes it hard to, you know, buy stuff online. Apparently the problem is resolved now, and when I checked this evening the cart seemed to be working fine. So you’ve still got through January 30 to take advantage of the deals, and the supply is still pretty good for most items left, since nobody else could buy stuff there last week either. Click here or use the banner link below to go to the sale:
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I’ve been fortunate to exchange several e-mails with David Sypniewski, CEO and founder of SKORA shoes, who has provided me a couple of pairs for testing and review. These shoes have been discussed, described, and anticipated for nearly three years, and they’re finally ready to debut on the market – but if you can’t wait long enough for some reviews to be published, they are now available for pre-ordering from the SKORA website.
SKORA BASE, available February 2012
The estimated release date is mid to late February, and they’re available in men’s sizes 8-12. Shipping is free to the lower 48 states, which is a good thing when the price tag of one of your models approaches 200 bucks (the one pictured above retails for $125). Will SKORA justify the cost and the anticipation? My verdict is still out, but if you want to decide for yourself, go check out the website to pre-order your own.
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Now for the winners of this week’s granola bar bonanza, who need to e-mail me their shipping addresses so I can pass them along to the company reps. The winner of the CLIF CRUNCH bars is Becca, and the winners of the NOW bars are Benjammin’ and Jim Hansen. Congrats to you, and thanks again to CLIF Bar and NOW Bar for sponsoring the giveaway. Let’s all meet back here on National Granola Bar Day 2013 and do it again, shall we?
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Finally, this weekend’s Random Shot of Beauty comes from a long overdue morning with my 13-year-old, whose regularly scheduled father/son bike ride has been bumped by poor weather and his dad’s crazy work schedule for the past few weeks. All the pieces fell into place today, so we took advantage of the occasion to test ourselves on one of the toughest climbs in Monterey County – and eventually we made it:
A boy and his bike, as seen from the top of Ollason Peak in Toro Park, with the Monterey Peninsula stretching into the bay far off in the distance (click photo to enlarge). Happy father not pictured … but he certainly doesn’t need to be.
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Before we get to today’s post, a quick announcement to help you grab some cool-weather apparel: from now through January 30, Patagonia is discounting its fall inventory to 30% off. They currently have plenty of options available – I picked up a nifty flannel shirt – and the timing is perfect to get some cozy goodies while it’s still chilly enough to put them to good use. So get going to the sale, then come back for my own little story that's been giving me chills.
** “How can you say you don’t want to know –
Don’t want to know the truth?”
- Sublime with Rome, “Panic” (video after post)
I don’t do this very often … but I’m actually going to make this post a lot shorter than I originally intended. (Usually, of course, it goes the other way.) Make no mistake, the subject is something of significance to me – but I’m just not sure I’m completely ready to talk about all the ramifications yet.
Have you ever been so excited about something that you’re hesitant to actually tell anybody about it, because doing so will trigger a whole lot of questions and discussions which make the whole thing that much more tangible, and you’re not quite sure you’re able to deal with those issues yet? If you’re a parent, think of that wonderfully head-spinning period in between the moment you found out you were expecting and the time when you finally announced the news to family and friends. It’s the time when you know the truth, but on some levels you don’t quite want to.
So I guess the best way to do this is to get straight to the point: a couple of weeks ago, I entered the Leadville Trail 100.
An old-school logo (courtesy of Wikipedia), but one of my favorites
And if you listen closely, that faint sound you hear through your computer screen would be me hyperventilating
The Race Across The Sky. The highest hundred in America. The 100-miler that’s second in age and prestige only to Western States – and many would argue that the prestige ranking should be reversed. In other words, it’s kind of a big deal.
Hope Pass above 12,000'; photo from race website
And, um … I think that’s all I’m able to say right now. Obviously there will be a lot of discussion about Leadville around these parts – and seeing as how I’ve already made the comparison to childbirth, the analogies are likely to get even crazier from there - but honestly, my head is still kind of spinning at the prospect of what I’ll be attempting this August. I know the truth, but I’m not sure I quite want to address all of the considerations yet.
Those discussions will play out in the weeks and months to come; in the meantime, it’s time for me to do a whole lot of training. And probably a little bit of panicking as well.
Sublime with Rome, “Panic” (click to play):
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In observance of the already-past and definitely overlooked occasion of National Granola Bar Day, today’s post is a celebration of granola bars. It also happens to be a celebration of two great companies who have each stepped up with cool giveaway offers for a few of my readers.
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The first company is no stranger to this website: I’m talking about CLIF Bar, whose products are longtime family favorites and whose business principles I admire tremendously. I’ve been fortunate to enjoy a partnership with them for a few years now, and every time I think they’ve run out of ways to impress me, they step up and toss another dose of healthy mojo my way.
This time, in honor of National Granola Bar Day, they’re providing four boxes of CLIF CRUNCH, the company’s crunchy granola bars that contain a full serving of organic whole grains in each bar. Their ingredient composition is 70% organic, and each bar contains 3 or 4 grams of protein depending on the flavor.
Last fall CLIF introduced two new flavors, blueberry crisp and chocolate peanut butter, making a total of six different varieties. My favorite is white chocolate macadamia, but one reader will get to sample four CRUNCH flavors and decide for him- or herself, because that’s the prize: four 10-bar boxes (there are 2 thin bars per pack) of CLIF CRUNCH, all for the cost of one lucky comment. I’ll pick the winner at random and announce the result this weekend.
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Today’s second company is a newcomer to my blog, and a relative newcomer to the sports nutrition game – and they’re the brainchild of a somewhat unexpected founder.
If you watch The Amazing Race, you’re familiar with host Phil Keoghan, who is a globetrotter and adventure athlete in his own right. In addition to The Amazing Race, Keoghan hosts a show in his home country of New Zealand called No Opportunity Wasted, which gives contestants 72 hours and $3000 to fulfill a long-held dream. (Apparently one of Keoghan's own dreams is to take Oprah skydiving, but that's neither here nor there.)
NOW Bars borrow the acronym from Keoghan’s show, and they reflect his desire to have a great-tasting energy bar to sustain him for long days of filming, travel, or endurance exploits such as his bike ride across America in 2009. They come in two flavors, and feature a secret ingredient of sorts: manuka honey, a naturally occurring product of New Zealand honeybees that provides unique flavor and potent nutritional benefits, and is even thought to have some medicinal properties.
Manuka honey has increased anti-inflammatory properties and higher antibacterial potency compared to regular honey, and has even been shown to accelerate wound healing. It’s as effective as glucose for replacement of carbohydrates during endurance exercise, and can also accelerate post-workout recovery. From a taste and texture standpoint, it makes NOW bars sweet, moist and chewy, and makes them more resistant to temperature extremes (i.e., they don’t freeze or melt very easily).
NOW Bars come in two flavors: Peanut with Caramel, and Honeycomb with Chia and Raisins. I’m not a huge caramel fan, but I really love the honeycomb flavor, both because of its taste, and because it includes chia seeds, which are a nutritional powerhouse all their own. The bars are pretty good-sized – each one is 2.5-oz, compared to the 1.5-oz CLIF CRUNCH – with 11oz of protein to help keep your hunger at bay for a while. Both flavors have all-natural ingredients and are completely gluten-free.
NOW Bars are available for purchase from Amazon.com as well as other online vendors, but in conjunction with today’s review (and National Granola Bar Day!), the company will provide 2 winners with a 12-count box of each flavor. We’ll go with the same rules for this one as for the CLIF giveaway.
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So in case you’re losing track, allow me to recap: I’ll randomly select a total of three winners from the comment box below. One winner will receive four 10-bar boxes of CLIF CRUNCH, and the other two will receive a box of each flavor of NOW Bars. Winners will be announced this Saturday night. Thanks very much to CLIF and NOW for sponsoring this contest, and good luck to everybody!
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It’s one of those wonderfully lazy days around Running and Rambling headquarters, so I’ll keep the posting brief in order to get back to doing nothing – because those opportunities seem fewer and farther inbetween all the time. So here we go …
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First, the winner of Ashish Mukharji’s barefoot running book: Jen Small, e-mail me your address – you’ve won! Thanks very much to all the ladies who entered, and remember that the book is currently available - to both men and women! – for $14 at Amazon.com.
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Were you aware that today is National Granola Bar Day? It’s true. Honestly, I wasn’t aware of it until just recently, but I’m hosting a belated celebration next week with not one, but two granola-bar related contests. And yes, the page I just linked to will be involved.
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In case you’re wondering why I’m in such a lazy mood, allow me to present this weekend’s Random Shot of Beauty:
The view across Carmel Valley from my deck after a morning rainfall, a harbinger of the first winter storms of the season in our area, bringing some long overdue precipitation to Monterey County. Sure, running in the rain is fun, but sleeping in and spending the day watching storms outside your window while doing puzzles, reading books, and taking catnaps is equally enticing. In fact, it’s probably the thing I like the best (from an admittedly short list) about winter.
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Finally, there’s this: Probably the coolest item I came across this week was a video from Chris McDougall’s website featuring Will Harlan and his experience with the Tarahumara, the indigenous people of Mexico’s Copper Canyons made famous by McDougall’s landmark Born to Run.
Upon watching the piece, I had had two immediate thoughts; 1) Will looks kind of odd when he runs, but 2) He is doing something absolutely inspiring.
Will clearly has a strong connection to the Tarahumara, and he has made it something of a mission to help support their way of life. In addition to being an immensely talented runner, he and his wife are certified organic farmers, and operate a nonprofit farm that provides fresh organic produce to low-income families in need. The farm also assists migrant workers in their home state of North Carolina as well as more remote areas like the Copper Canyons.
Barefoot Farm (great name, right?) is Will’s 501c3 which directly assists Tarahumara farmers by providing them with native maize seeds, basic tools, and assistance with water resources and land protection. He has spent many years with the Tarahumara, building relationships, learning their methods of farming, and assisting them with the necessities to continue their traditional subsistence.
Will is currently in Mexico dealing with what’s reportedly a significant drought situation, which is what triggered McDougall’s blog post. So watch the following video for your own dose of inspiration, then check out this link to assist Will in his remarkable humanitarian efforts.
"Copper Canyons Ultramarathon" from Being The Diablo (click to play):
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