Traditional fall colors are somewhat difficult to find in
Monterey County, but if you do enough running around, eventually some of them will
cross your path. Accordingly, this
weekend’s post features some color-themed Random Shots of Beauty.
The first is from Salinas; I have no idea what kind of tree
this is (any arborists out there who want to educate me, feel free) – all I
know is that it is extremely red.
In my home town of Carmel Valley, many of the colors aren’t
from trees …
… but from vineyards.
Unlike the red tree earlier, these particular plants are very well known
to me; I drive past them every day on my way to and from work, and mark the
seasons by their changing shapes and colors.
I also indulge in their ultimate product (in this case, from one of the
best wineries in the world) or similar Monterey County offerings quite a bit
during the holiday season – which happens to start this week.
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I’ve mentioned a few times lately how our coastal California
autumn frequently blesses us with 75-degree days when the rest of the country
is in the midst of ice storms or cold spells or the unfairly harsh
weather that has decimated the East Coast.
It’s really a wonderful thing … unless you happen to have some cold
weather gear that you’re supposed to be testing.
Fortunately, our warm days are preceded by fairly cold (by California
standards, anyway) mornings – and since I’m primarily a pre-dawn runner, I’ve
been able to put some cold weather apparel through the paces over the past few
weeks. Today’s post features two tops
that I’ve worn in temps from mid-30s to mid-40s, and in a few weeks I’ll
review some pants that I’ll be using as our mornings drop closer to (and perhaps even below) freezing.
All of said products are from
GoLite, who as you may recall
completely revamped their business model this year, giving up
traditional marketing strategies and distribution channels in favor of offering
products directly to consumers at steeply discounted prices on their
website. What they save in advertising
costs and retail fees they pass along to you, and I can’t think of an outdoor
gear company who offers a better value proposition across the board than
GoLite.
The Vista Ridge Top is designed as a crossover for trail
running or hiking, with simple styling and a relaxed fit through the torso that
is comfortable under a shell or as a stand-alone layer. It’s made of 100% recycled polyester, and is
fairly lightweight at 6.0 oz (160g).
GoLite Vista Ridge running shirt
In my testing I had two minor gripes; the main one was some
mild itching from the fairly large tag on the interior torso seam. The rest of the garment has flatlock
stitching for minimal irritation, so I wish GoLite had made this a completely
tagless shirt so I wouldn’t have to cut the interior tags.
The offensive tags and giant logo
My other issue is a subjective one, and also an avoidable
one if you’re purchasing for yourself. I’m
not a fan of huge logos across the chest, which is something GoLite does with
select styles and colors. The Vista
Ridge shirt is available in four colors, and only one – the one I received for testing, of
course – has the large logo. The other
colors have much more subtle logos, which is more my style.
From a moisture wicking and temperature regulation
standpoint, the Vista Ridge performed as well as most high-end offerings in this
category – but for the price, you can probably buy two or three of these for
the cost of one competitor’s shirt. It
retails for
$25 from the GoLite website.
*
My first go-to item from the various products I’m testing
this fall is GoLite’s Vermillion jacket, which I have a hard time determining
whether to use as a running jacket or casual "lounging around the house" comfortwear. It’s a midweight layer at 13 oz (360g), and the brushed fleece
interior is extremely soft against the skin.
(And no itchy tags to bother me, either.)
GoLite Vermilion Thermal jacket
Like the Vista Ridge shirt, the Vermilion jacket is made extensively
with post-consumer materials – in this case, 78% recycled polyester fabric. The remaining 22% features Cocona Minerale, a
fabric derived from coconut fibers that has outstanding natural moisture
wicking and odor-resistant properties.
I tested the odor-resistance during a 6-day stretch where I
ran in the jacket every day without washing it in between. With most moisture-wicking apparel, I’d be
holding my nose by the third or fourth day – but with the Vermilion jacket, it
smelled pretty much the same after the sixth run as it did before the first.
Thermal regulation is pretty strong with the Vermilion as
well – with a short sleeve tech shirt and this jacket, I’m good to go for
temps approaching freezing. It’s a
jacket you can use for a late-afternoon trail run, and keep it on to run
errands after the sun has gone down. And
like the shirt, it’s very competitively priced compared to other jackets,
thanks to a GoLite price strategy that allows them to sell it at 60% below
retail.
GoLite’s Vermilion Thermal jacket is available in three
color schemes, and retails for
$48 from the GoLite website.
*Products provided by
GoLite. Affiliate sales support Running
and Rambling.
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Perhaps more than any other company, Merrell is an ideal
example of how an established shoe manufacturer can evolve in response to
changing times.
They were the first major company to embrace the barefoot
running movement, and produced an entire line of minimalist products as good as
anything else on the market. However,
they also realized that not everyone is ready or willing to go completely
minimal, so they created a separate line that incorporates all the biomechanical
advantages of minimalist shoes, but with just enough structure and cushioning to
welcome transitional or “moderate” minimalists.
Merrell Bare Access 2 (men's, left) and Bare Access Arc 2 (women's, right)
That line is the M-Connect series, which is being progressively
introduced over this fall and next spring.
And since I happen to live with a moderate minimalist, I’m curious to
see how the M-Connect line appeals to each of us. We received our first test pairs, the Bare Access 2 (men’s) and Bare Access Arc 2 (women’s)*, just prior to our trip to
Zion this fall, so we had some great opportunities for testing.
At the top of Angels Landing in Zion
(*To simplify things for the purpose of this review, I’m
going to refer to them both as simply Bare Access men’s or women’s – but female
readers take note that your version has a slightly different name.)
As the name implies, the Bare Access 2 are updated versions of a model first released in 2011. They
have traditional running shoe styling, and weigh in at a very light 7.0 oz for
the men’s shoe and 5.5 for the women’s.
Much of the lightweight construction is thanks to the thin
mesh uppers, which are reinforced by long stability overlays incorporated into
the lacing to secure the midfoot in place …
... but are airy enough to provide outstanding cooling
and/or drying as necessary.
Both men’s and women’s models are built on the same last as
Merrell’s popular Barefoot line, although the fit of the Bare Access feels noticeably
wider through the midfoot and arch area.
I’ve never had a problem with the Barefoot series lasts, but if those
models proved too narrow for you, the Bare Access will be an improvement.
The toe boxes are plenty wide on the Bare Access 2, allowing
your feet to splay naturally …
… and the entire shoe is flexible enough to let your entire
foot move in any manner it wants as well.
Like most of Merrell’s Barefoot line, the heel collar of the
Bare Access is thin and soft, and interior of the shoe is designed for sockless
use. The microfiber footbed (along with
the lacing system) prevents slipping on hills, and the entire interior fees
very comfortable against bare skin.
Stack height for the shoes is 13.5mm for the men’s version and
12.5mm for the women’s. 8mm of that is
from EVA midsole cushioning with zero drop from heel to toe, and the rest is
from the insole and outsole.
Merrell once again uses high-durability Vibram rubber for
its Bare Access outsole; the pattern is sort of similar to the Road Glove shoe,
and like that shoe, the Bare Access outsole is ideally suited for hybrid road
and trail use. I’ve done an equal amount
of each in my pair, and I feel confident using the Bare Access on everything but
highly technical trails.
As a transitional – or moderate, as I’ve described it – shoe,
the Bare Access is an outstanding option; there’s enough cushioning and
protection to keep you comfortable, but all the construction aspects you need
to allow for natural running. From a
minimalist standpoint, the midsole is higher and ground feel is lower than what
I prefer, but the Bare Access would be great for long distance road (or light
trail) running to give you a margin of error when your legs get fatigued and
your form may start to fall apart.
Merrell’s Bare Access 2 (men’s) and Bare Access Arc 2 (women’s)
shoes retail for $90 from the Merrell website.
They are also available from Amazon.com at the links below, where some
sizes and colors are discounted:
Our main order of business is to give a barefoot video away –
but first we’ll get through some end-of-weekend randomness.
For our Random Shot of Beauty, I could have very easily gone
with a glimpse of another 80-degree November weekend that we enjoyed today …
but doing that for two weeks in a row kind of seems like rubbing it in. Instead, I’ll reach back a few weeks to our
family’s road trip to Zion National Park.
Since I couldn’t pick just one to choose from, you’re getting an
extended edition of RSOB – starting with this one:
(click to enlarge any of these)
A stately Joshua tree, as seen in the Mojave desert of
southern California. Would you believe
me if I said I used to live right down the road from here?
Sometimes I can hardly believe it myself.
Driving through the desert, it often seems like you’re in
the middle of nowhere – but that’s not entirely true. In fact, sometimes if you wonder where you
are, you only need to look down at the road you’re on:
And you’ll find that you’re right here, of course.
This next one is more of a Random Shot of Randomness … and it’s
also a chance for some audience participation.
Approximately 20 miles outside of Zion National Park is an odd structure
that will catch your eye:
It looks somewhat strange - and if you pull up closer, the
scene becomes even more bizarre:
Basically what you’ve got here is an old telephone pole
leaning into a dead tree stump … and the entire structure is covered top to bottom with
discarded shoes. Running shoes, work
shoes, women’s boots, dress shoes, kids shoes – pretty much every kind of
footwear you can think of is represented.
I wish I could tell you more about it, but I honestly have no
idea what the explanation is here. But it HAS
to have a cool story behind it, wouldn’t you think?
So let’s see if I can harness the power of the Internet for
something tangible: if any readers happen to know the story of this community
shoe mural, I’d love to hear it, and I might even publish it to share
with everyone else. The challenge has
been issued! Somebody impress me,
please – and who knows, maybe there’s a little something in it for you if you
do.
[*UPDATED: Wow, that was fast! This post was up for less than 2 hours before someone sent an answer - see the comments section for details.]
**
OK then – it’s time to announce the winner of the Barefoot
Running Movie giveaway contest. Louisiana
Leah, e-mail me your contact info – you’ve won!
Thanks very much to everybody else who entered!
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Many runners identify Christopher McDougall as the man who
triggered the minimalist revolution … but if you trace the phenomenon back one
barefoot step further, you see that’s not entirely the case.
To be sure, McDougall was the guy who wrote about it. But the guy who actually taught and inspired
McDougall was another character from the Born to Run book – and it’s not the famous ones
like Scott Jurek, Barefoot Ted, or any of the Tarahumaras. Rather, it was Eric Orton, a man McDougall
affectionately calls the Naked Coach.
It was Orton who taught McDougall how to run naturally, and who enlightened him about the evils of modern running shoes. It was also Orton who persuaded McDougall
that he could become an endurance athlete, and who ultimately encouraged him to
try a 50-miler and discover the world of ultrarunning.
B2R Road Performance shoes
And now it’s Orton who is becoming a key player in the natural
footwear movement, with the debut of B2R running shoes. Obviously the company is keen to capitalize
on the connection to McDougall’s landmark book, but B2R is much more than a “me
too” participant in the game. They are
distinguishing themselves by integrating biomechanically sound footwear with
Orton’s extensive coaching background to create an overall fitness program
based on the foundation of natural movement.
More on the coaching aspect shortly – but most of this
review will focus on the shoes. They
aren’t exactly minimal, but they work exceedingly well in allowing the foot to
function naturally. There’s one sort-of
gimmicky element – the split toe, as I’ll discuss shortly – but otherwise
pretty much all the specs are what you’d look for in a shoe that does exactly
what a running shoe is supposed to do, and doesn’t do anything it’s not supposed
to.
From the right angle, B2R Road Performance shoes are somewhat
indistinguishable from traditional trainers, with fairly traditional styling
top to bottom. However, they are made
with very lightweight materials, resulting in a finished product that is a mere
6.9 oz per shoe.
The uppers are a combination of breathable mesh and
synthetic overlays for stability. The mesh
is virtually identical to the material New Balance used for its premiere Minimus Trail shoe, which I compared at the time to the comfort of a soft slipper.
B2R shoes have a similar barefoot-friendly comfort throughout
the upper and insole, and I typically wear mine sockless.
Stack height is anywhere from 10mm to 13mm, with zero drop
from heel to toe in either case. There’s
a removable 3.5mm footbed (I removed mine) outsole on top of a 6mm midsole and
3mm of outsole rubber.
About that outsole … as the name implies, the Road
Performance model is pretty much geared toward street running, but traction is
decent enough to use on mellow trails.
B2R has a Trail Performance model scheduled for release this fall, with
a more aggressive outsole for frequent off-road use.
Now for the split-toe thing: B2R shoes separate the big toe
from the rest of the foot, allowing it to articulate, which supposedly provides
improved balance and increased power transition. I’m not sure I appreciate the significance
here; I think most any shoe with a thin midsole and flexible platform would
provide the same benefit.
On the plus side, split toes also create something of a
gloved fit at the front of the foot, and effectively secures the foot without
unnecessarily confining it. Of course,
the other consequence is that you need special socks; B2R provides two pairs of
crab-claw-looking socks with each purchase, but I was happy to use regular toe
socks on the few occasions I wasn’t completely sockless.
So that’s the shoe component of today’s review … but to Eric
Orton and B2R, “ultimate running” (as it’s described on the website) is about
more than simply shoes – it’s also a combination of adequate training, correct technique,
and proper nutrition. Accordingly, the B2R
system addresses all of these elements through accessory products, in-depth
instruction, and even personalized coaching for its customers.
The entire workout system is designed by Orton, and
revolves around strength training as the critical factor in developing full-body
conditioning, from the feet up into the legs and core and even the upper
extremities. Executed properly, the
result is better running economy, which decreases injury and improves
performance.
B2R’s training package includes support poles, a slant
board, and an instructional video with exercises and workouts that develop
foundational core and upper body strength.
The workouts progress from levels 1 to 3, using most of the same equipment
along with stability disks for higher-level balance challenges.
The workouts look easy, but they’re actually fairly
challenging … and I honestly didn’t do them more than a couple of times. That’s not to say anything bad about them –
it’s just that I barely have enough time to run nowadays, let alone carve out
additional time for supplemental workouts.
The combination of shoes and workouts may be a compelling combination
for runners with more time to devote to it, especially those who are
transitioning away from traditional running shoes – which nowadays seems to be
just about everybody, thanks in no small part to Eric Orton, who you can see in
action in the video clip that follows.
B2R’s Road Performance shoes retail for $100, and the Level
1 training kit retails for $80, both from the B2R website.
“B2R Wear Testing with Eric Orton” (along with a cool tune
by Clutch – click to play):
As far as I can tell, there probably aren’t any barefoot
runners enjoying themselves quite as much as Michael Sandler has been lately.
You may recall that Sandler is the author of Barefoot Running: How to Run Light and Free by Getting in Touch with the Earth - see my book review here - and is also a huge proponent of grounding theory, which enables us to fully connect and be at one with the Earth beneath
our feet. You may also recall that I don’t
fully subscribe to his entire doctrine, but in all my communication with
Sandler (we’ve e-mailed and phoned several times), I haven’t encountered anyone
more passionate about the multiple and literally life-altering benefits of
being barefoot.
Much of his belief comes from personal experience – more on
that soon. For today’s purposes, I’m happy
to help promote Sandler’s latest project: Barefoot Running - The Movie, filmed
completely on location in Hawaii. He and
his wife (and fellow barefoot advocate) Jessica Lee spent the majority of the
year filming and producing the documentary, and his most recent e-mail to me
read, “We're on the road in Colorado right now, but looking forward to getting
back to warmer Hawaii shortly. We'll be
holding winter clinics there so others can enjoy the scenery with us. Perhaps you'd like to come on out?” It's hard to think of a place in the world that's better for a guy to enjoy being barefoot.
Unfortunately, I don’t have Hawaii in my future this winter,
but I certainly had an eyeful of it in Barefoot Running - The Movie, which is
essentially a visual companion to his excellent book. Much of the same material is covered, but in
video format it is significantly more compelling. You get a better understanding of the
exercises and form drills prescribed, a keener sense of the entire running
sequence compared to seeing still photos – and most of all, you get a huge dose
of mojo from the stunning scenery, which practically pulls you into the screen
to invite you along.
One other noteworthy point is that Sandler’s back story is
much better appreciated in video format.
I knew that his discovery of barefoot running was born from the wreckage
of a traumatic accident, but reading this on a page doesn’t have nearly the
impact of actually seeing Sandler’s mangled body and watching him repeatedly struggle
to pull himself upright from a hospital bed.
Whether or not you believe everything Sandler says about the health benefits of being barefoot, you’ll never doubt his sincerity about the healing power it’s
had on his own life. And however much fun
Sandler is having nowadays, it’s entirely well-deserved.
Barefoot Running - The Movie is now available for purchase
from Sandler’s RunBare website, and would make a great early holiday gift for the
minimalist runner on your list. Sandler
also gave me an additional copy of the movie to give away to one reader, so we’ll
go ahead and make this the jumping off point for our contest. Leave a comment in the box below to enter,
and I’ll announce the winner this weekend.
In the meantime, check out the following trailer for a sampling
of what’s up for grabs.
“Barefoot Running – The Movie” by RunBare (click to play):
Special thanks to Michael Sandler for providing this contest
opportunity, and good luck to everybody!
Last weekend I committed to announcing the winners of two CLIF
Bar contests on Nov 3rd … and I’m making it with a little under
three hours to spare. In ultrarunning
terms, that’s a huge cushion below the cutoff time, so I’m choosing to think of
this as an accomplishment.
But before we get to that, let’s knock out a Random Shot of
Beauty:
The Lone Cypress in Pebble Beach, as seen during a family geocache
outing on an 80-degree November day. California, baby … California.
And now for our winners.
The first contest was in conjunction with CLIF’s Meet the Moment
promotion, where my kids and I got to choose our favorite entry to receive a
CLIF sampler pack. (Just as an FYI, I
have no idea what’s in it – but it’s probably cool.) Here’s the one we picked:
Submitted by GregoryBoytos, who is our contest winner. Congrats!
The second contest is offering up a sample pack of CLIF’s
brand new Chocolate Cherry BLOKs. This
was a straightforward “whoever random.org’s number generator smiles upon”
contest, and the winners are Stephan Uzzell, Sarah, and Owen Yeates.
Thanks very much to everybody who entered, and if you’re one
of the winners, e-mail me your contact info so I can pass it along to my CLIF
reps. Also, be on the lookout for
another (non-CLIF related) contest later this week!
