Why Cigars Are Better Than Running Shoes

I am on the verge of a running shoe crisis I believe. One of the things that I don't like about running is having to constantly deal with and adjust to new and upcoming lines of running shoes while old favorites are discontinued and no longer available.

I mean with cigars you find a good brand, shape, and size and if it is from one of the larger more reputable houses, that cigar will ALWAYS be available. Cohiba will never ditch their Siglo line to make something different just for the hell of it. The same Siglo IV's that I bought three years ago will be just like the Siglo IV's that I buy again here in the near future... well, once I secure another source for Cubano Puros as my Swiss source got burned last year, but that is another discussion.

Back to shoes...

Right now I have three favorite pairs of shoes. Number one are my La Sportiva Crosslites. I've worn these in every big race this year over 20 miles. Hell, I even wore the damned things for 26.2 miles in the rain in the Dallas Marathon a few weeks back. They are a solid shoe. I would say that 80% of my 3000+ miles this year have been run in Crosslites.

Number two would be the New Balance MT101's. I love this shoe. For anything under 20 - 30 miles that I don't need a lot of protection for the shoes are the best. They are light and just comfortable. I love these shoes for shorter trail races but shy away from them if it is messy or wet out.

My third favorite shoe this past year has been the New Balance Trail Minimus or MT10. I have probably worn these shoes 2% of my overall mileage. Like the MT101s' these are light. They don't offer much protection at all and the pair I have now are pretty trashed and worn. But they are fun to wear when I want to do something different and they definitely make me work on or at least be aware of my crappy running form. These shoes are best for really warm days.

With these three shoes in my arsenal along with the Drymax socks that I wear exclusively I have had damned near ZERO blister problems this year. Zero. I did get blisters in the LT100 after mile 80 or so but that shit just happens and still it wasn't that bad.

So here is the conundrum... basically I have heard many unconfirmed reports from friends that La Sportiva is going to discontinue the Crosslites and only have the Crosslite V 2.0 available. I have tried that V 2.0 shoe and I don't like it one bit. The La Sportiva U.S. rep told me that they are not going away, yet on the European website for La Sportiva the shoes are no longer listed. So... I am not going to count on these shoes being around much longer. As a possible replacement I am looking at the Inov-8 Roclite 285's.

Then New Balance is doing it to me too... Well, I will be honest I am looking forward to the MT110's which will replace the 101's, no doubt. These shoes come out in January and from everything I have heard and read they are supposed to be quite the upgrade and worth the wait. This doesn't upset me as much but I am patiently waiting to see what they are like in person, try them on and run with them myself. Regardless of how much I like the 110's or not... I will have to say goodbye to the 101's as they ARE being discontinued. That is the part that I am uneasy about.

Then I have no freaking clue what they are doing with their Minimus Trail line. The new Trail Minimus, the MT00's come out in February. The original MT10's had a 4mm drop in them and the MT00's will have zero, none, 0, no mm drop in them. Truly minimalst in that department. Supposedly from what I have read too the outsole of the new MT00's' give a bit more protection which would be nice. My current MT10's can be a touch too thin on really rocky surfaces. My only concern here is that I am wondering how I might handle the 0mm drop? Also are the MT10's going to be discontinued altogether like the MT110's are replacing the MT101's? Ugh...

And lastly... yesterday I read about a totally NEW trail shoe by New Balance, the MT1010 which according to the article that I read "provides a minimal fit and feel, much like that of the [Minimus Trail a/k/a MT] 10, but with more traditional midsole heights and a more supportive upper.”

WTF?

So... We will have to wait and see how all of this plays out. If you want to read about all of the new New Balance shoes, here are some links.

MT110

MT00

And the MT1010

Just writing this stressed me out... I think it is time for a cigar and to dream of Havana.

3016

3016 miles for the year today. Brownie beat me to 3000 but by COB I have more miles and the larger number in my blog title which ultimately is more important.

20 mile run in the wind today. Really bad out of the NW. Where in the hell did that come from.

Melissa's stopping at nothing to make sure that I have a great run in Rocky Raccoon. Her blog is here.

Still trying to get over this damned crud. Even my Dr. has it.

Against All Odds... One Hell of a week!

First of all let me say that Old Man Winter can just smooch my snow balls. This is how this week played out.

80.54 mile for the week.

Monday - 20 mile run home from Monument with Brooks in the blizzard.
Tuesday - 10.10 mile run in the A.M. with the Sunrise Striders and a little extra.
Wednesday - 10.6 miles P.M.
Thursday - Two runs. 8.38 miles in the A.M. up to the top of Upper Gold Camp and then 6.75 in the P.M. with Asia.
Friday - 0 miles. I took the day off to Rest to get ahead of this cold hopefully.
Saturday - 24.69 miles spread out over three different runs. One 10+ miles with Brooks, one 9+ miles by myself, then 5+ miles with Asia on the third one. Oh yeah and that was while being oncall to boot!
Sunday - no running cause my ass is going skiing and I get to try out my new Fisher SB98 skis.

So there you have have... 80.54 miles in a 5 day training week, in the face of two winter storms while having a cold for four days, working and being on-call. Not too bad. This month I am up to 286 miles. I need to hit 333 for my yearly goal. With the outing that Brooks and I are contemplating for Monday it should not be a problem.

Happy Holiday's everyone!

2012 The Plan. Well, that's if the Mayans were wrong...

Right now training my ass off it seems like for Rocky Raccoon which is now seven weeks away. I am managing the mileage okay without too much physical breakdown. Some things are tweaky right now but I think they will either get better or just stick with me until I start to taper. Nothing is a show stopper for certain.

I have been handling the dark and the cold okay. Every run, morning or night requires a headlamp. I just accept it now. The worse part of running so much in the winter I have realized is not so much dealing with the weather but the sheer volume of fricking dirty running laundry that I have to do each week. Everything gets soaked because I have to layer up so much and then all those layers need washed. I do miss the days of summer when shorts and a t-shirt were enough.

Without a doubt though this training cycle seems to be one of the toughest I have ever been on EVER and this December will probably be not only my highest mileage month of the year but probably ever at this rate. It is just crazy. But fun.

So... 2012... if we are not all consumed in a huge ball of cosmic fire, or locusts or whatever, these are my planned races. I won't include the actual goals for all of them because right now I can't actually define those.

January
14 Fat Ass 50K Manitou
15 San Juan Solstice Registration (Not a race but still muy importante.)

Februay
4 Rocky Racooon 100 Miler

March
10 Salida 1/2 Marathon

April
21 Desert Rats 50 Mile

June
23 San Juan Solstice 50 Mile

July
15 - Leadville SR 50 (tentative, not sure, don' t know)

August
18-19 Leadville Trail 100

So there it is... a little less than last year in a way, in some ways more. I am excited because I think that overall 2012 is going to be just an amazing year all around.

So... Now What?

It has been ages since I have written anything. Actually there hasn't been much to write about. Well there is but I was also sort of taking a break the second half of November from a lot of stuff. Apparently my blog was a part of that time off.

Good news... I am happy with how the fall series turned out for me. I could have done better I think but some tactical errors on my part (Think McRibs) and some other things jacked with my last two races. But, on a good note I went to MD for Thanksgiving and PR'd in a 5K there, 18:49, grabbing 3rd in my age group and a medal to boot. That made up for me fucking up the fall series.

Ran with my friend Jenna this weekend as she completed her first marathon in the pouring rain in Dallas. It made for a fun weekend. She did the typical, "I'll never do this again," after the race to registering for another marathon Monday morning to get a better time.

I did not get into Hardrock. No surprise there... I know it isn't rigged but damn... anyway....

I am registered for Rocky Racoon 100 in February and will be running that with Dan, Brooks, and Marc. I think there is a group of ten of us who are going down there. RR100 training is in full swing now, or at least that is the direction that I am moving... 70.5 miles last week, shooting for 80 miles pretty much every week in December. With the dark, the cold, the wind, work, and the holidays it is going to be a challenge but I will do it.

I am also registered for Leadville 100 in August. Going for the Big Buckle! Hell Yeah! We have already booked a place to stay so those logistics are taken care of and it is nice to know this early in the game that all I have to do now is show up there and run. I do hope to get some good training in up there this summer as that I believe was a huge contributor to my racing successes this year.

There are some other races and other goals but I will get more into that in another post.