Four months of Grit

I want to write something about the trail shoe I’ve been running in since I started training for Leadville, but to get to those impressions I first need to give a frame of reference.  My last 3 trail running shoes have been, the New Balance Minimus MT10, Vibram Trek Sport, and Brooks Cascadia 3.  I haven’t run in the Cascadia’s in a long time.  I think that the Steamboat 50 may well have been their retirement party.  That said, I do still use the shoes for yardwork and when I feel like my feet need a rest.

On to the back story then.  When I came to the States in October I brought with me two pairs of shoes.  The VFF Bikila and my MT10s.  Unfortunately, I was forced to realize that I need more protection for races (and trail running in general) during the Blues Cruise 50k.  I also quickly realized that in order to be able to walk to the corner I would need a shoe with a bit more support.

It so happened that, while I was in the Northern Hemisphere and with great fanfare, Brooks launched their Pure line of shoes.  These are shoes with a 4 millimeter heel to toe offset and a minimal aesthetic which appealed to me, but were much more shoe than I was currently running in.  I ordered a pair online.

When I was able to resume running again, I took the Grits up to Cuevas with me and left them there.  They’re the shoes I run in when I’m in the hills.  My running here isn’t terribly technical, but the roads can get rocky – fist sized cobbles regularly pave my running routes.  It was an ill placed foot strike in my MT10s which initiated the difficulties which eventually taught me to appreciate that sometimes an ounce of protection is worth a pound of cure.

Enough of that then.  Here are my impressions.  When I first tried on the shoe, I thought it about the most comfortable shoe I had ever put on.  I even tweeted that feeling to @brooksrunning.  A little later on however, I thought they may “run” a bit longer than the Cascadia 3 in the same size (14 in my case). 
 
More recently, I’ve come to notice that the Grit have a lot more internal structure than the MT10s too. There’s a bit of of an arch support. These days, when I first put the shoes on I find it annoying, but I don’t notice it while I’m running. There’s also a bit of heel structure, but the heel is cut nice and low - I don’t feel any pressure on the back of my foot while running at all.

One area I used to have major problems was with a tendon that bridges the angle the top of the foot makes with the lower leg.  I found that shoes which laced high up the foot (tight to the ankle) would iritate that tendon over time and I’d have real problems even just tying a shoe.  This is one thing my transition to minimal footwear cleared up very quickly. 

The Grit doesn’t seem to have brought a return of that malady (note: I mix up my footwear a lot).  The tongue of the shoe is padded in the right places and isn’t where it doesn’t need to be.  A design feature I really like.

An instant complaint about the shoe was the silly Navband or whatever they call it:

According to Brooks, it was there supposedly to give a custom fit to the upper.  In my case it’s superfluous green and silver elastic.  It did nothing to enhance the fit of the shoe at all and I feel it actually detracts from the overall look of the shoe.  Laces do a fine job of providing a custom fit, why even consider adding that thing to begin with? 

That’s really a nitpicky complaint.  I do like that the Navband provides a place to stow my laces.  The laces stay put and don’t trip me even on my hardest runs…

As far as actual running in them goes?  I’ve now got 150 miles in them and I have no complaints.  I thought that they may have been too long initially, but they seem to fit just right.  Once I got the lacing dialed, I haven’t had any problems with slipping in the shoe and I don’t have even the slightest hint of a black toenail.  Maybe they’re a half size too big, but better that than a half size too small.  Dear Brooks, please release a size 13.5. I promise:  I’d try it on.

I like the tread pattern.  It’s really open and it provides more than adequate traction.  I’ve run in a fair bit of sticky hideous mud and the mud seems to shed quite quickly. 

I’m not sure about the center pod or the “independent big toe”, but they don’t seem to hurt the shoe’s performance.  The pod is supposed to inform your foot of the shoes center position.  I guess that means it was included to improve the ground feel of the shoe.  I don’t notice that section of the sole of the shoe providing any more feedback than any other.  In all the Grit provides a whole lot more information that my Cascadias ever did, but it smoothes out the road in a way the MT10s don’t by providing extra cushioning between foot and ground.

Around Cuevas there are many, many streams.  Stream crossings are inevitable.  The upper is wide open and drains water quickly. Feet will stay dry with a couple changes of socks.

As far as durability, these shoes are wearing out just about the same as every other pair of trail shoes I’ve owned.  All of these pictures were taken at 120 miles:

The outside of my heels is worn down more than the rest of the outsole, but there’s still plenty of traction left in the rest of the shoe. I expect to get another 150-200 miles in these shoes.  I weighed in at 205 when I started running in these shoes and have dropped 10 – 15 lbs since.  I am by no means a featherweight forefoot runner.  I allow my heels to come down under me when I run…

For some reason I seem to wear the part of the upper just forward of my ankle bone out.  Every pair of shoes I own exhibits this wear pattern.  Even my Vibram Five Fingers.  Is that just in the nature of shoes or is it something that makes me special?

In all, I’ve really enjoyed my time in the Grits and am actually considering them for the start of the Leadville 100.  They are light, fit my feet well (13.5? please), provide good feedback but still offer more protection than my other options.  They are minimal without being stupid.  Had I worn these in my race in October, I’d have run top 25 for sure - perhaps even top 20.  Hindsight…

Thanks for reading and may your shoes always quickly shed mud.
J

Cuevas.

Not sure what to say in this post.  Gotta get something down, but what it is...?

Cuevas is the reason I agreed to move to Bolivia.  It's spectacularly beautiful and now it's my job.  This past weekend I went up there by myself to visit with the caretakers, Vilma and Hugo.  Without their help, Cuevas would just be another beautiful curve in the road, with it Cuevas pretty much takes care of itself.

Hugo has said he wants to show me how to get on the highest peaks.  That'll be great: now to make the time.  It's my hope that after a few months of regular running and exploration with Hugo, I'll be able to take people on guided treks (or runs - anybody want to come with?).  English exclusively (or butchered Spanish I suppose).


The pictures attached to this post are from my run yesterday.  The road was quite muddy and probably wouldn't have been too terribly much fun to trek for prospective tourists, but the scenery wasn't very much diminished.

At no point would I say I was terribly "in" to this run.

I decided to try out some new/old gear for this one to see if it would serve for my longer runs when the weather gets hot(ter?).  It was an older version of the GoLite Hydro Cruise pack.

I have a GoLite Slant which I like very much, but this thing, while nice for the greater water capacity and day hiking, is an absolute no go for running.  Damn thing bounced around for my entire 2 hour run and I just couldn't stop fiddling with it.  Very distracting and now I have some chafing I have to attend to. CamelPack it is for my long runs this coming summer.

Anyway my run yesterday took me down a road toward "Palermo".  As near as I can tell Palermo is a town not on the map.  It certainly isn't on Google Earth, though you can make out the road.  Check it out:


If you click over to Garmin's site, you can also see the file from my run on Saturday.  I didn't take any pictures because I got out late and it was getting dark, I've done this run before and I've got some pics, but don't really want to look around for them - sorry.

Thanks for reading and be safe out there.
J

Steamboat Ruminations

All right.  A couple of days removed from Imogene and I'm starting to realize the impending 50.  This is a similar year to last in that one week following "The Race" on my calendar, I scheduled another.  Last year, it was my first marathon.  Boulder.  That race was run on a day which was brutally hot, and the organizers somehow managed to run out of water and Gatorade for the later finishers of the race.  I also seem to remember results taking forever to get posted afterwards.  Googling around afterwards, in part to see if anyone was injured or worse as a result of the organizers rather lax preparations, I stumbled across Brandon's blog, and that really got this ball rolling - You know, if that dude can do this stuff, why can't I?  So...

Early in the year this year, I had proposed to my cousin that we run the Mount Desert Island Marathon.  He used to be a sub 3 hour marathoner, and might well be close to that now if he trained for it, but skiing is his real passion.  I was thinking I'd try for a Boston qualifier at MDI, but wanted to make sure that I wouldn't be wasting a plane ticket, lodging and the sundry assemblage of folks for what might turn out to be an abject failure...  So I put the Steamboat Marathon on my schedule with a time goal of 3:30.  If I could hit 3:30, I'd bust my ass with interval training and miserable hot runs throughout this summer and then try down at sea level to uncork 3:15.  It was a hard cap.

Steamboat went well through the first 22 miles.  I was well under my 3:30 goal, but two factors conspired against me in the last 4 miles.  One, a not insignificant hill got in my way and two, the sun.  The lower stretches of the course were very exposed and the temperature seemed to get very high.  I suffered.  I had opted not to don my "Sun Runner" hat prior to the race and that might have been the difference.  I finished Steamboat in 3:33.  Three minutes off of my goal pace.  No BQ attempt this year, run for fun was the name of the game.  Intervals suck, but running long in the mountains doesn't:  a fifty miler would make it onto my schedule.

At first I thought it would be the North Fork 50.  I've got some roots in Buffalo Creek, and a fundraiser for the volunteer fire department seemed like a tremendous idea.  But, couple the high temps of July 17th with a difficult course I was already very familiar with thanks to my MTB and I decided NF50 would be a no go.  I started thinking that a 50 after Imogene would be sweet.  Ideally something in October, but I wanted something that didn't involve laps.

I ended up deciding that Steamboat would be the race, but I had to hold off on registering until August because of financial timing issues.  When I got around to clicking the link "register now" the race was already over it's 150 runner cap.  I was sad.  I mailed the race director a note, "Are you going to open up more slots?"  and got back, "We're going to try.  Check the site regularly."  Which I dutifully did and lo, more slots opened.  Thanks Montrail.

So, just like last year.  One week after Imogene, I'll be undertaking my first of some crazy distance.  Last year it was a marathon which took almost 5 hours.  This year it'll be my first ultramarathon.  I'd say I have a specific time goal, but I wanted to go under 4 for last year's Boulder Marathon, so I'll just say I won't be breaking 10 hours this year.  Next year - 100?  Um... Doubtful.

Re: today's running.  Quads are still sore from Imogene, but much better than yesterday.  All else is happy.  I ran 3 miles very easy in my VFF with Homey who also got brushed today.  Good day all around.

Thank for reading.
J