Luna Leadville Sandal Review

Among all of the minimalist shoe companies out there, perhaps none has a more impressive pedigree than Luna Sandals.

The company is the brainchild of Barefoot Ted McDonald, one of the most experienced and accomplished barefoot runners in the word, who the vast majority of minimalist fans first met via Christopher McDougall's landmark Born to Run.  McDonald helped fuel Vibram's meteoric rise to success, introducing FiveFingers to the road running world at the 2006 Boston Marathon, and to the ultrarunning community a few years later (with KSO Treks this time) at the Leadville 100.

Barefoot Ted and Manuel Luna; photo by Luis Escobar, taken from Luna website

One interesting side note to the now-legendary pilgrimage described in Born to Run is that while in the Copper Canyons, Barefoot Ted spent a great deal of time with a Tarahumara elder named Manuel Luna, who taught him the art of making huarache sandals.  Upon his return to the United States, McDonald experimented combining Luna's old world design and craftsmanship with modern day materials - and the result was his own brand of footwear, named after his Tarahumara mentor.

I was initially somewhat hesitant to review a Luna product, because I've never really preferred running in huaraches over more conventionally styled minimalist footwear.  However, all it took to change my mind was one single word: Leadville.

Luna Leadville sandals

Leadville, as in the place where the Tarahumara showed up and provided the inspiration for the modern-day minimalist renaissance.  Leadville, as in the race where Barefoot Ted debuted his first pair of Luna sandals in 2010, and where no fewer than five members of the Luna team - who refer to themselves as "Luna Monkeys" - wore their huaraches during the event in 2011.  Leadville ... as in the 100-miler I'm going to attempt later this summer.  (I still get shivers whenever I type that, in case you're wondering.)

So when I learned that one of Luna's 2012 models was called the Leadville, and that the website describes it as a "rugged sandal designed for hardcore trails," I figured I pretty much had to give them a test run.  At the very least, I was running out of rational reasons to avoid them.

A short description of the Luna Leadville is that it's a modern-day huarache with just enough protection underfoot to use in rough trail conditions.  With a 10mm Vibram neoprene rubber platform, it actually has a higher stack height than FiveFingers, as well as the Soft StarRunAmocs I typically use for ultras.  There's more than enough thickness to take the sting out of sharp rocks, but enough flexibility to maintain outstanding ground feel.  You can also order an optional suede layer (as pictured on mine) that adds approximately 1 extra millimeter of height along with a significant amount of comfort.

The outsole features one of the most aggressive tread patterns I've seen on minimalist footwear (I wish my RunAmocs used this), and holds my foot in position quite well on most types of terrain.  This is a particularly critical point with huaraches, because ...

... for obvious reasons, there's not much structure on top to keep your foot from moving around.  I'd suspect that most huarache users will tell you the biggest challenge with any pair is getting the fit just right: making them tight enough to hold your foot in place, but not so constricting that they are uncomfortable.  There's a lot of customization in adjusting the tension over the top of the foot or the back of the heel, and it takes a lot of trial and error that can often times become frustrating.  

To help address this, Luna sandals can be ordered with three different lace styles: traditional leather straps like the Tarahumara use, elasticized laces that are easy to slip on and off after you get the right positions dialed in, or the company's new ATS (all terrain strapping) lacing system, which is a hybrid of elastic and nylon. 

My Leadville sandals came with the ATS system, and I initially had a lot of difficulty getting the heel tension just right; the strap kept sliding down off my heel, and when I tightened it enough to stay in place, my toes were pushed too far forward on the footbed.  One of the Luna Monkeys gave me some tips to try, and I eventually figured out a setting where the straps are comfortable and stay in place well - but if you'll notice on the picture above, I had to move the elasticized portions of the heel strap pretty far out of their standard neutral alignment to find the right balance.

I have my lace system dialed in well enough that there's very little separation of the footbed from the underside of my foot while running.  One of my pet peeves about running in sandals is when small pebbles get between your foot and the footbed, but once I figured out the best lacing system, this wasn't a big issue for me with my Leadvilles.  They also give me much better lateral stability than I've experienced with other huaraches, so that was a nice surprise. 

Toes creeping over the front edge

The fit issue did come into play again when running on downhills, where my toes slide forward on the footbed, at times to the point of contacting the ground.  I suspect this might be an inherent issue with any huaraches, but I'm still tinkering with mine a bit to see if I can improve the situation.  I'm also told that the footbed contours to your foot after extended use, but I haven't logged enough miles in my pair to attest to that.

One other point on the fit is that Luna sandals can be selected from "off the shelf" last sizes (although each pair is still hand-cut), or custom ordered based on your specific foot measurements.  I tried a standard last that is closest to my US shoe size, and it's a pretty accurate fit - I don't think I could have done any better by custom ordering.  However, since fit is such a crucial issue with huaraches, if you have any sort of size irregularities, you're probably better off doing a custom order. 

While I'm not entirely converted to using huaraches for my long-distance training, I have to say that I'm very impressed with the Luna Leadville.  They are more comfortable and protective than I anticipated, and they inspire a similar kind of primal feel that I love so much about my moccasins.  They would be a great option for someone like me who is considering building up to more frequent huarache use, as well as for experienced users seeking to push the limits of distance and terrain.

Luna's Leadville sandals retail for $85 from the company website.

*Product provided by Luna

**If you have a product you'd like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.

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New Balance Minimus Zero Trail Winners; GU Sampler Pack Winners; Random Shots of Beauty

Getting right to the point since I'm completely cooked from a long day on the trail ...

New Balance Minimus Zero Trail winners: Keith Gates and Louisa

GU Energy Performance Sampler Pack winners: Jacob and Pre Lives On.

To the winners: e-mail me your contact info and shoe size if necessary. To everyone else: thanks very much for your participation!

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 Our Random Shot of Beauty comes from the aforementioned long day on the trail:

Pardee Reservoir in Calaveras County, as seen during the Mokelumne 50-Mile Ultra. Full race report to follow this week.

One more photo from the day: we'll call this a Random Shot of "How the Heck Did This Happen?":

Team Soft Star gets the win! That would be me, holding my first place award. Just don't ask how many people were actually in the race.  Seriously ... Just. Don't.

Hopefully the race report will clear things up - assuming, that is, that I can make sense of it myself.




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Team Soft Star Heads to the Hills

Admin note: if you haven’t done so already, be sure to enter the two giveaway contests currently underway, for the New Balance Minimus Zero Trail, and the GU Energy sampler packs. Winners of both contests will be announced Saturday night, but not until late, because …

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 It’s race season! Somewhere in the midst of all those training miles, winter turned to spring – and spring brings with it the first major tests of the year. I have two of them coming up in short succession, beginning with a 50-miler on Saturday in the Sierra foothills. That’s why I was excited to see the following box arrive last week:

Team Soft Star gear! Actually, the brown slippers aren’t part of my sponsorship deal – they’re a replacement pair of insanely comfortable Roo slippers that my wife forced me to buy, because apparently after nearly three years of wearing a pair almost every single day (usually without socks) they start to develop an odor. Or something like that.

 As for the swag: the gray piece on the right is the first-of-its kind Team Soft Star jacket! Last year I did two ultras in pouring rain, so I didn’t get to “flash the logo” nearly as often as I wanted to – so the company responded by springing for a jacket I can wear in similar race conditions this year. Predictably, the weather for tomorrow’s race is supposed to be in the 90s, so I suspect the jacket may wait for another day.

 The other item, of course, is a race-ready pair of original RunAmoc Lites, which will most likely be my gear of choice for big events throughout the racing season. There’s nothing like the smell of new leather and the feel of a freshly knobbed outsole to get me excited about trail running. And if you’re wondering about the paper in the background:

Here’s what distinguishes companies like Soft Star and guys like me from the big-name players in ultrarunning. Real athletes are sponsored by companies like Montrail and The North Face, and have shoes named after them or glossy ad campaigns built around them. I get a handwritten good luck card from a workshop of Elves – and honestly, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.



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GU Roctane Energy Drink Review; GU Sampler Giveaway Contest

Before today’s giveaway post, a reminder that there’s another contest still going on, for a pair of New Balance Minimus Zero Trail shoes - so go sign up if you haven’t already.

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Now that spring is here and I’m ramping up my training mileage with some races on the horizon, I’m spending more time tinkering with fluid and calorie replacement issues out on the trail. Consequently, the timing of today’s giveaway was extremely fortunate, because it gave me a chance to try a new product from GU Energy, a company whose products have pulled me through countless tough miles.

Oh, and have I mentioned that there’s a giveaway involved? Not only that, but the prize is much better for you than it was for me: in addition to getting to try the product I was testing, you’ll also get a sampler of old and new GU products to fuel your endurance adventures this spring and summer. But before I get to the details, indulge me in a brief rundown of the product I tested.

You may recall that earlier this year I hosted a giveaway for GU Roctane Energy Drink before the product was even released – you may also recall that I didn’t get to actually test the stuff myself. (Not that I’m bitter – in fact, the whole thing ended in a cool way, with one devoted reader making a video that earned him the prize. I’m still impressed with that one.) Needless to say, I was happy for an opportunity to finally try the stuff myself after a sampler pack of all three flavors – Fruit Punch, Grape, and Lemon-Lime – arrived on my doorstep a few weeks ago.

GU Roctane Energy Drink

As I described it back in January, Roctane drink mix is to regular GU Brew sort of like Roctane gel is to regular GU. Each serving contains 240 calories of complex and simple carbs that are optimized for rapid absorption and accessibility, along with electrolytes and other supplements for sustained performance during long-duration aerobic activity.

Interestingly, the sodium and potassium levels in Roctane drink are lower than they are in regular GU Brew, although it’s tough to tell at first glance because the serving sizes of the two are different. However, it’s the additional ingredients that set Roctane drink apart: taurine to support heart and muscle performance, beta-alanine to improve muscle buffering capacity, branch chain amino acids to reduce muscle damage and delay fatigue, and histidine to help buffer pH during exercise.

Another upgrade from an ultrarunning standpoint is the addition of caffeine, which is absent from regular GU Brew. The grape Roctane drink flavor is caffeine-free, but the other two flavors have 35mg of caffeine per serving to keep your brain alert during long hot days or long dark nights. Combine the caffeine boost with the rest of the nutritional profile, and the Roctane drink would definitely be my preference on race day if it’s available.

From a taste standpoint, Roctane drink has a similarly mild flavor as GU Brew, which is one of the main reasons I’ve always preferred GU drinks over other brands. I typically dilute mine much thinner than the serving instructions, but even at full strength there isn’t an excessively sweet taste. Of course, taste is subjective, which is how we’ll segue to the part you’ve been waiting for: the big giveaway.

Two winners chosen at random from the comments below will receive a few packets of each GU Roctane Energy Drink mix flavor to try for yourselves – but to “sweeten” the deal, GU is throwing in a couple of other goodies. Each winner will also receive one of these:

A GU Performance Energy sampler pack with multiple flavors of regular GU and three flavors of GU Roctane gel, plus sample packets of GU Chomps, GU Electrolyte Brew and GU Recovery Brew. Pretty cool, huh? Now how much would you pay to enter? But wait, there’s more …

You’ll also receive samples of GU’s newly released Chocolate Smoothie Recovery Brew. This is another item that I’ve never tried myself, but two of my readers will get the privilege of testing them out.

We’ll do the regular “one comment, one entry” system on this one, with one small twist to help tilt the odds in favor of endurance athletes. If you’re signed up for a trail ultra or long-distance triathlon this spring or summer, tell me the name of the race in the comments below, and I’ll put your name in for an additional entry. Winners will be announced Saturday night, April 21st.

Thanks very much to GU Energy for sponsoring this contest, and good luck to everybody!

*Products provided by GU Energy
**If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.




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My One Thing

“Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.”
- Plato

“Do not try to do everything. Do one thing well.”
– Steve Jobs


You know, it may be entirely possible that I’m spending too much time and energy on all of my writing and running efforts; for all I know, my true calling might lay elsewhere.

At least, that was the thought that came to mind after a copy of April 2012’s Men’s Health magazine arrived in my mailbox:

The publisher sent me a copy free of charge after soliciting my consulting services for an article in this issue – but unfortunately, it’s not for any of the glamorous topics you see mentioned here. I don’t have huge biceps, and I’m certainly not Special Forces fit. I don’t know how to melt your gut. And I can’t even claim I know what a Sexplosion is, let alone pretend to be an expert at it.

Rather, my contribution was in a lower-profile feature titled “How to Do Everything Better” – but that’s not my piece on the first page describing how to host a poker game …

… or the smaller caption a couple of pages further that explains how to score a free hotel upgrade. Rather, my part is the small red box at the lower center, which if you look closer …

… diagrams the perfect technique for launching a snot rocket. And if you look REALLY closely at the 4-point font underneath, you’ll see two sources cited: some fancy-pants physician instructor at a major medical school, and me, with the not-quite-as-grandiose title of “Blogger.” (On the plus side, at least my degree didn’t rack up a six-figure debt.)

Apparently over the years I’ve developed an online reputation as an expert in the fine art of snot rocketry, almost entirely thanks to this little treatise I penned a number of years ago. Since its original publication, the piece gets picked up regularly by other web-media outlets, and ranks toward the top of most snot rocket-related Google searches. While I wasn’t looking, I became one of the foremost authorities on the art of forcibly expelling snot from your nostrils. I’m sure my family is exceedingly proud.

(Incidentally, Google also subscribes to the “Do one thing well” philosophy that’s simultaneously as old as Plato and as visionary as Steve Jobs; check out item number two on this list.)

The funny part is, for major publications like Men’s Health, snot rocketry is serious business. In preparation for the postage stamp-sized garden of knowledge you see on the page, I was contacted by a fact-checker from the magazine, with whom I had the following exchange:

Her: I have the edited version of the information you provided - I hope you will take a moment to review it for accuracy:

"Lightly breathe through your nagging nostril. In one swift motion, seal the opposite nostril tightly with the pad of your index or thumb, rotate your hips and shoulders toward the direction of fire, inhale through your mouth, close your mouth and then exhale vigorously in one swift blast through the nose. Wait until you have a full load before launching, as thinner mucous is more likely to spray."

Me: That’s pretty much accurate – I don’t think I used the term “nagging nostril”, though.

Her: The editor says it means you can check if you need to clear the mucus by breathing lightly through the nostril that seems clogged. If you can't blow easily through, then you may need to clear it. Does that make sense?

Me: Got it - that makes sense. Funny (and kind of gross) that we're getting so scientific about snot rockets.

Her: Yes, it's kind of gross.


Then I had to approve a rough draft of the diagram that somebody probably got paid to sketch:

If I remember correctly, I used to doodle things like this in chemistry class a long time ago, never realizing there could be a future career in it.

So now I’m sort of lamenting the fact that so many of my years may have been misguided. I’ve spent all this time trying to be a writer, gear resource, and minimalist shoe expert, when what I really should have been doing is leveraging my one true area of expertise. And who knows? Maybe I’ll find my new calling to be just as rewarding; as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived - that is to have succeeded.”  And a booger-free nose definitely breathes easier than a snot-clogged one.

Yes, quoting Emerson is a pretty highbrow statement on the subject of snot rockets – but then again, that’s what an expert does.



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Vibram Spyridon LS Winner; Random Shots of Beauty

Before today's post, a reminder and an announcement: you still have a week to enter the New Balance Minimus Zero Trail contest, and stay tuned next week for another (smaller) giveaway as well.

*
For a contest that was thrown together on short notice, you guys sure know how to make things exciting.

The photo competition came down to a two-man contest - or should I say, a one-man one-dog contest between Rodger (the guy running across the giant butt) and Harry (the almost impossibly cute canine sporting powder blue Vibrams). The lead actually changed hands a couple of times through the day and evening, and by the time the polling officially closed, you could count the vote differential on one hand.

Having said that, congratulations to Rodger, who prevailed by the narrowest of margins and probably owes a favor to all his classmates, dorm buddies, and anyone else on campus he recruited to emerge triumphant. Thanks very much to everyone who participated in the contest - it really was a lot of fun to watch.

However, you may also recall that my intention was to use the winning photo as this weekend's Random Shot of Beauty - but since the photo in question is an enormous backside, the notion of actually describing it as beautiful may be somewhat up for debate. So I'm covering my bases with one from the photo vault, taken on a recent early morning in Fort Ord:

Encountering a sort of otherworldly scene like this - one that's only accessible about 15 miles from my starting point - right at daybreak almost always marks the time in a long run where spending the previous three hours in the dark begins to seem worth it.




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Get Out the Vote! Vibram FiveFingers Spyridon LS Finalists

You know what we haven’t done for a while? An audience participation post! Which is a shame, because I have to say that my audience is pretty darn awesome.

Case in point is today’s contest, with a new pair of Vibram FiveFingers Spyridon LS on the line. I put out the call for photo entries featuring barefoot or Vibram-shod adventurers, figuring I could pick three or five standouts as finalists before turning it over to the voters. The problem, predictably, is that I couldn’t narrow the options down to just five – and since I also happen to be the one who makes the rules around here, I figured that there was no reason why I couldn’t expand the field just a bit. As in, more than 100%.

So here are your 10 finalists, plus one more bonus picture that I can’t honestly determine whether or not it’s a legitimate entry. (You’ll understand once you get there.) The rules are simple: vote in the comments section below for your favorite – one vote per commenter – and the one with the highest number of votes by Saturday at 12PM PST wins the Vibrams. If you’re a contestant, it’s definitely fair game to recruit your family, friends, and fellow Starbucks free Wi-fi patrons to vote for you, just as long as they all have a different username.

Good luck to everyone. Here we go!

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Entrant #1: Chris S.

Sure, it looks like your run-of-the-mill ocean vista shot, but here’s the cool part: That ocean in the distance is the confluence of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans above Cape Town, South Africa.

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Entrant #2: Chris M.

Another entry from the “exotic locales I’ll probably never see” category: this one comes from Ile Renote in northwest France, with the Château de Costaérès in the background. Tres belle.

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Entrant #3: Dave

I’m partial to this one, because it’s taken above the Big Sur coastline, and I happen to know the guy who submitted it – as in, in real life. I know ... weird, huh?

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Entrant #4: Rodger

This one seemed compelling for no other reason than Rodger is running across what can only be described as an enormous butt. So in the space of two entries, we’ve gone from chateaus to rear ends; have I mentioned how interesting my readers are?

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Entrant #5: Sean

Back to the exotic: Apparently this is someplace called Sud Tirol in Italy. It suddenly occurs to me that I’ve seen remarkably little of the world; this contest is starting to bum me out.

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Entrant #6: Dylan

Kind of a cool repose, above a cliff-jumping spot called Tar Creek in Fillmore, CA. I suspect Dylan might be friends with the next entrant …

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Entrant #7: Cody

… who is also perched on a high precipice (next to a waterfall, no less) above the very same Tar Creek.

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Entrant #8: Jen

Hey - where are all the female entrants? Sadly, I only received a few from the ladies, but this was one of the coolest, with Jen getting her barefoot yoga on at the top of a mountain. Extra points for the hat, too.

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Entrant #9: Jeff

The Manitou Springs Incline is legendary among Colorado trail runners. This is the view about halfway up. Sheesh. Extra points to Jeff here for getting the photographer to wear Vibrams, too.

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Entrant #10: Orlin

I had to include one snow entry just to remind myself how much I don’t like winter. Plus, there’s a dog, and some famous Philadelphia thing in the background, so there you go.

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Speaking of dogs, it’s time for our bonus entrant, who I believe goes by the name of Harry:

I’m not sure the FiveFingers would fit him, but perhaps his owner would like a pair.

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And there you have it – now it’s time to vote! Remember, one vote per commenter, but feel free to campaign as much as you like to stuff the ballot. The winner will be announced on Saturday afternoon. Thanks very much to everyone who entered, and good luck to all the finalists!



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