There are some running products that warrant a long review (e.g., shoes, electronics), and there are others that can be adequately critiqued in just a few paragraphs (most apparel, nutrition products, etc.). Over the past several months Nate and I have received a number of products to try out that fit into the latter category. […]
Mini-Review Roundup: RunGuard Anti-Chafe, Energy Bits, Sport Science Shirt, Zensah Reflect Sleeves, VFuel Gel, PocketFuel
May 30, 2013 By 6 Comments
May 2013 Garmin FR10 Contest Winner!
May 30, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Just a quick post to announce that I have randomly chosen (via Rafflecopter) a winner of the May 2013 Runblogger-Clever Training Garmin FR10 GPS giveaway. There were a total of 976 entries, and the winner was: Adam Protass! Congrats Adam, and thanks to Clever Training for sponsoring the giveaway and providing the Garmin FR10. Clever […]
Dirty Runner: Mini Reviews
May 29, 2013 By Leave a Comment
I do this column for Runblogger because I love talking and writing about running and the equipment that goes with it. I’m very fortunate to receive lots of cool stuff to review here! Lately I’m feeling really guilty as I’ve been using a number of products that I have not had time to write about […]
Under Armour SpeedForm: Is UA Finally Getting Serious About Running Shoes?
May 29, 2013 By 11 Comments
Update 7/10/2013 – just published my review of the Under Armour Speedform. Very impressed! I just got a message from a friend on Twitter pointing me to an article on Gizmodo that introduces the Under Armour SpeedForm. Under Armour is not a brand I typically think of when it comes to serious running shoes. The […]
Merrell Ascend Glove Review on the Runblogger Forum
May 29, 2013 By Leave a Comment
One of the shoes I’ve been eagerly anticipating getting ahold of is the Merrell Ascend Glove. The Ascend Glove appears to be something like a trail version of the Bare Access, featuring a luggy, protective sole and 10.5mm of zero drop cushion. A contributor on the Runblogger Forum, Vitarunner, just posted a pretty comprehesive review […]
Vermont City Marathon 2013 Race Report: Executing the Plan, and A Big Thank You to Mother Nature
May 28, 2013 By 31 Comments
Over the past several months I’ve documented my training in preparation for the Vermont City Marathon (VCM), which I ran last Sunday morning. Like any marathon training cycle there were a lot of ups and downs, and a number of memorable runs (some good, some bad). The story of this marathon training cycle for me […]
Is Heel Striking Evil?: More Evidence that All Heel Strikes Are Not Equal
May 24, 2013 By 50 Comments
We humans like tidy little categories. With running shoes we like to take the diversity of options out there and categorize things as neutral, stability, motion control, lightweight, minimal, etc. without considering that shoes within each category are sometimes so variable as to make the category as a whole meaningless. For example, the business world […]
Marathon Training: Final Prep, and a Tough Shoe Choice
May 23, 2013 By 11 Comments
I’ll be running the Vermont City Marathon this Sunday, and I’m amazed at how calm I am given the amount of uncertainty that I’ve been experiencing lately. My past several weeks of training have included multiple lousy long runs, and I’ve had general sense of deadness in my legs that I’ve had a hard time […]
Nike Free 3.0 v5 Review: Redemption For One Of My Favorite Shoe Lineages!
May 23, 2013 By 46 Comments
Update 3/14/2014: Nike has just announced the release of the Nike Free 3.0 v6. For details, visit this post. After a phenomenal debut, the Nike Free 3.0 line entered a steady downward spiral, culminating in one of the worst shoes I have worn since I started reviewing running shoes back in 2009. The Free 3.0 […]
Documentary Video: Vibram Tarawera Ultramarathon 2013
May 22, 2013 By 5 Comments
I received an email this morning from Aaron Smart, who co-produced a the official documentary video account of the 2013 Vibram Tarawera Ultramarathon in New Zealand. The documentary was just released, and you can view it below – looks like a beautiful race, and further enhances my lean toward running a trail 50K this Fall! […]
Clever Training: New Partnership, 10% Gear Discount, and Garmin FR10 Giveaway
May 21, 2013 By 2 Comments
I’m happy to announce a new partnership with Clever Training. If you’re not familiar with them, Clever Training specializes in carrying gear for runners, swimmers, and cyclists, with a particular emphasis on fitness electronics (think GPS watches and the like). The folks at Clever Training contacted me several weeks ago about developing a relationship, and […]
Be Careful About Converting Your Experience into a Prescription for All Runners
May 21, 2013 By 40 Comments
One of the big challenges I face in writing this blog is trying to remain objective given that I have personal biases stemming from my own experience. For example, I review, promote, and like running in more minimal shoes and don’t foresee myself ever going back to more traditional models. However, I try hard to […]
Army Study: No Difference in Injury Rates Between Traditionally and Minimally Shod Soldiers
May 20, 2013 By 26 Comments
I was poking through the abstracts of presentations for the upcoming meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine the other night and came across one for a study comparing injury rates between traditionally and minimally shod US Army soldiers. Titled “Injury Risk and Performance among Soldiers Wearing Minimalist Running Shoes Compared to Traditional Running […]
2013 Running Shoe Sales Data: What Do They Tell Us About What Runners Are Wearing?
May 19, 2013 By 19 Comments
The Dollar Sign (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Last week Scott Douglas published an article on Runnersworld.com with the title “Sales of Minimalist Shoes Plummet.” I’ve seen this article referenced a number of places over the past week, and I wanted to add a few comments. The data that Douglas referenced come from a SportsOneSource 1st Quarter […]
Merrell Proterra Sport Review: A Nice Hiking Shoe That Needs a Bit More Flex
May 18, 2013 By 10 Comments
There was a time when I used to hike a lot. I spent a summer working in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and got to the point where I could almost run up mountains with a frame pack filled with wooden boards on my back (I worked on a salamander survey crew and we used […]
