May 17, 2010
It enveloped me as suddenly and completely as wading into the surf, that out-of body experience known as runner’s high. The day was Sunday, under a cloudless spring sky, along the scenic roads and soft trails between Branford and Stony Creek. Many of my gentle readers know that some months ago, I cut way back on mileage and changed my form to something akin to racewalking, a technique I found very hard to learn. The purpose was to reduce the effects of impact on a body that has enjoyed its fair share of long races.
At about the 6 mile mark of a leisurely 8.5 mile run, it just hit me. No warning, no chance to prepare, just a here you go my friend, see how this feels. The world came into sharper focus, and seemed to accelerate toward me. Parachutists use the expression “ground rush” to describe the way the earth comes up to meet you as your altitude diminishes. I have experienced ground rush, and this runner’s high was a vertical ground rush. All of the colors: earth, sky, and trees, became more saturated, more intense, more distinct from one another. Textures and forms stood in sharp contrast. My achy hip set itself to the side, still there, but for that time not part of the here and now. The high lasted three miles, until I approached the center of town, when the images blurred, the colors faded, and the achy hip came back. But no matter: a fantastic run concluded with the greatest feeling a runner can have.
The cause of runner’s high is said to be the flooding of the brain with endorphins, those feel-good chemicals the body produces to induce pleasure. Over the years, like all you readers, I have had the high many times, always to my great delight. But this was the best ever. To run, to breathe free, to immerse totally in the moment, simply to enjoy the passage of time: these I believe are life’s greatest gifts.
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Posted by soundrunnerct
April 30, 2010
Newly arrived in the store is the third iteration of the 3000-series shoe, and the first we have carried in the series: the 3020. This technically superb product owes its heritage to the Empire, a shoe built on the same brialliant concept but doomed to fail because it didn’t have the same fit characteristics as close relatives in the line, the 2000 series and the Kayano. I ran Comrades in 2008 in a pair of 3000s, cementing my belief that this is one of the best shoes made.
Women's Asics Gel 3020
It has the fit and cushioning of the Kayano, but is more stable owing to the length of the medial post and an extension of midsole material past the first metatarsal joint to delay a property of gait called windlass mechanism, greatly assisting runners who are late-stage over-pronators. This is the only shoe I know of made to help runners who have that property of gait.
The shoe held up over the 56-mile course from Durban to Pietermaritzburg in the African heat. I started the race with 500 miles on them. If you like the 2150 or Kayano, I suggest trying the 3020. This is a Gold Account shoe you will only be able to purchase at specialty stores like Sound Runner.
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Posted by soundrunnerct
April 19, 2010
Men's Asics Gel Nimbus 12
My pick for industry standard in the premium, high-mileage, deeply-cushioned shoe for the runner with neutral or supinated gait is the Asics Gel Nimbus, now in its twelfth iteration. The Nimbus has evolved over the years from a boxy, rather stiff, and comparatively overpriced shoe to a great value proposition at $125. The shoe gained style and flexibility in updates six through nine. With the advent of the Kinsei innovation shoe, the Nimbus picked up each technological breakthrough in updates ten through twelve, the most important of which are the unitary gel heel cushioning system, forefoot gel pods, and asymmetrical lacing.
Women's Asics Gel Nimbus 12
This category has worthy competitors, including the New Balance 1064, Nike Voomero, Brooks Glycerin, Saucony Triumph, and perhaps the new update of the Mizuno Creation. The men’s version of most of these shoes weighs eleven to twelve ounces, placing them in the middleweight division. With the Nimbus, you take the weight where it matters: the inert gel cushioning in the heel and forefoot. I’ve trained and raced in all of them, and give my approbation for industry standard to the Asics Gel Nimbus 12.
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April 7, 2010
Steve Swift, who anchors Sound Runner Madison and coaches track at Hand High School, has just been inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame at the College of William & Mary. His accomplishments as a competitive runner rank him among the best in the nation:
- Recently named one of the 25 greatest cross country runners in the 25-year history of the Colonial Athletic Association.
- Reached the NCAA Championships four times, and earned two All-American designations. In cross country, he finished 33rd as a sophomore to earn his first All-America certificate. On the track, he placed 10th at 10,000m in 1994 for his second All-America award.
- Anchored W&M’s 1990 Region II Championship team, later placing 15th at the NCAA Championships.
- Earned two All-Region awards in 1991 and 1993.
- Named CAA Cross Country Athlete of the Year in 1991 and 1993, winning the conference championship in 1993 and also placing on the all-conference team in 1990 and 1991.
- Earned three All-CAA awards, including the 5,000m gold medal in 1994, garnished by a trio of All-East honors at the IC4A Championships. In 1992, he was sixth indoors and fifth outdoors at 5,000m, before taking second at the 1994 outdoor championships in the 10,000m.
- Finished third at the 1999 U.S. Marathon Championship, qualifying for the world championships that year. He was also an Olympic Trials qualifier in the marathon in both 1996 and 2000.
He’s also pretty good at fitting runners for shoes, giving training tips, and providing encouragement. So Steve, Julie and I congratulate you for laurels much deserved.
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April 6, 2010
Appomattox Court House at the Time of Lee's Surrender
Along with many of my faithful readers, my first ultra was the Holiday Lake 50K++ in western Virginia, just a few miles from the villiage of Appomattox Court House. There, in 1865, the Army of the Potomac under Ulysses S. Grant trapped the retreating Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee, forcing its surrender in one of the more poingant moments in American history. From that point, resistance by the Confederate States was futile. They soon agreed to a general armistice with the federal govenment, bring the War Between the States to a close.
Appomattox Court House Now
My return to Holiday Lake last year gave me a second chance to run Appomattox Court House National Park, and learn a bit about the historical direction the National Park Service is taking. The historic battlefields my Dad took me to visit as a boy were vast expanses of verdant green lawns punctuated by markers and monuments.
Those battlefields today look very different, as the NPS restores hallowed ground to look as much as possible the way it looked to the soldier at the pivotal moment. Appomattox today looks much as it did when Grant gave such generous terms to his soon-to-be reunited countrymen. So run Holiday Lake — it’s a fantastic race. And run Appomattox Court House National Park — it’s an unforgettable experience.
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April 4, 2010
Wheeling Suspension Bridge
On my way back from Ohio on Easter Sunday, I drove past the Wheeling Suspension Bridge, which Julie and I ran across on a glorious spring day two years ago. We stopped in Wheeling, West Virginia, because my Dad’s family lived there from 1926 to 1928, where his step-father was a structural engineer on a different bridge construction project.
Wheeling was thrice blessed in history, first as a destination along the National Road (US 40), which reached Wheeling in 1818, second by its position on the Ohio River 100 miles downriver from Pittsburgh, and finally by its adjacency to large deposits of coal.
Wheeling Suspension Bridge
Wheeling’s Suspension Bridge over the Ohio was completed in1849. Wheeling prospered from then until the Eisenhower administration. The National Road gave way to I-70 in the 1960s, about the same time the industrial might of Pittsburgh began to diminish and the coal fields began to play out. The population of Wheeling peaked in the late 1940s. Downtown Wheeling today is a shadow of the bustling post-WWII Wheeling. Gone are the docks crowded with coal-laden barges and the downtown teeming with life.
Yet there still stands the hauntingly beautiful, timeless reminder of westward expansion, industrial prowess, and the centrality of transportation in national affairs. If ever you’re out that way, take the Wheeling exit, park, lace up, and run across the Wheeling Suspension Bridge.
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Posted by soundrunnerct
April 3, 2010
Eldean Covered Bridge
My Saturday morning run took me across the Eldean Covered Bridge, two miles from my Mother’s house in western Ohio. The Eldean Covered Bridge was built over the Great Miami River in 1860 so farmers east of the river could get their crops to the nearby Allen Mill. The bridge’s 224 foot span places it among Ohio’s longest covered bridges and the longest in the nation constructed following a truss design patented in 1830 by Stephen H. Long. Long’s truss, considered the first truss design based on scientific principles, achieved strength through a series of hand-driven wedges.
Colonel Stephen Long was not only an engineer; he also led the third exploration of the west following the expeditions of Lewis & Clark and Zebulon Pike. As a military officer, he led five exploratory parties through the American west.
Long Truss - Eldean Covered Bridge
Many of the covered bridges of Vermont are supported by Long trusses. Four covered bridges are featured in the very popular Covered Bridges Half-Marathon run in June. This is an artifiact of early Americana you will want to see on one of your running adventures.
The truss designed by Long was refined and improved for decades. Suspension systems made even longer spans possible.
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Posted by soundrunnerct
February 22, 2010
Central Park
I’ve covered some rough terrain in recent blogs, contrasting Endurance v. Deliverance, Civilization v. Nature, and Right v. Just. The next dialectic is Illusion v. Reality. During our years in New York, Julie and I ran frequently in Central Park, one of the loveliest settings on earth. Yet it is an illusion, designed by Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux, and almost entirely man-made. Roughly 1,600 working-class residents occupying the area at the time were evicted in 1857, and small communities were razed to make room for the park.
Torrey Pines
Likewise, many runners salivate at the prospect of running on a golf course, perhaps the most land- and water-intensive of all human uses. In contrast with the California coast, this famous golf course is shaped by man. We runners pride ourselves as lovers of reality, yet many of the places we frequent are illusions.
Running in the uncharted wilderness is difficult. It is difficult to get to, and dangerous to get through. Thus the attraction of wilderness events having some level of administration and oversight to protect the participants. On the shoreline of Connecticut, we are truly fortunate to have available real terrain, like Westwoods and the Gorge, largely untouched by the blade and safely available to all. This blend of illusion and reality, synthesized by runs in all kinds of weather, keeps the refined sensibility alive and in touch with its roots.
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February 10, 2010
In the store I see lots of examples of hallux valgus – the bunion. I don’t think anybody has ever died from bunions, but they give runners fits. Hallux valgus is a deformation of the bones and the joint at the base of the big toe. The bone or tissue becomes enlarged. Typically, the joint displaces toward the midline of the body, the first metatarsal curves with the joint, and the big toe displaces away from the midline of the body toward the second toe. Tissue surrounding the joint may become swollen and tender.
Hallux valgus is an inherited condition made worse by wearing shoes with high heels or pointed toes. Medical literature indicates that the enlarged joint is more vulnerable to arthritis and osteoporosis. Medical literature also indicates that surgery does not eliminate this increased vulnerability.
The single best thing you can do to treat your bunions, other than consulting your physician, is to buy running shoes a width wider than you measure, to make sure the enlarged joint is resting completely on the cushioned part of the midsole, and to make sure there is enough material in the upper so the bunion is in contact with soft mesh.
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My gentle readers may be surprised to learn that the minimalist movement in footwear design dates back at least 5500 years, when middle-distance runners in present-day Armenia developed the forerunner to the Nike Free, depicted at left. Several advanced features are readily apparent: first is the use of asymmetrical lacing, anticipating the Asics Kinsei. Next is the low profile of the midsole, made of grass with an Asker durometer measure of approximately 45 degrees, compression-molded by the foot to a 5mm midsole gradient. The grass also performs as a replaceable sockliner.
