These certainly aren’t brand spankin’ new, but has anyone checked out the Smartwool Classics? My two favorite companies have combined forces to make this cozy, comfortable shoe: a Classic sole with a Smartwool ballerina-cut toe sock inside. I haven’t had them long enough to start destroying them yet, but they’ve done something really smart to […]
My feet are not terribly well-behaved. A coworker who’s a really talented boot fitter was somewhat amazed at how mobile my feet are and how much they pronate–meaning that when they’re holding up the rest of me, my arches flatten a lot and my ankles sink in. My talented coworker recommended some very supportive insoles […]
It was with great trepidation and a lot of whining that I let myself be hauled into a car and driven along long snow-banked country roads to Cove Hollow to run. My brother wanted to go for a mountain bike ride, and while I didn’t pack my bike into my luggage to visit my parents […]
There’s a new shoe out there that tones your butt and legs by creating “micro instability” with a bouncy raised heel. I won’t go into the issue of this Reebok shoe being made and marketed only for women. Nor will I comment on its first commercial, featuring close-ups of a woman’s breasts and buttocks having […]
Have you ever read T.S. Eliot’s poem The Waste Land? I “read” it in college, which is to say that I ran my eyes over every word several times while nary a one sank in. It’s beautiful certainly, and epic, and travels a long landscape of emotions, but even with a copy of Cliff’s Notes, […]
Let’s admit it: Fivefingers wearers are a radical bunch. It comes with the territory, really. If we’re willing to try these crazy things on our feet (at the expense of getting toes stepped on and getting called names like frog foot, gorilla foot, or just creepy), we’re willing to try all sorts of things. Like […]
Ah, Cochise season. Psyched for a full day of backcountry climbing, we loaded the car, tossing in packs, rope, harnesses, gear, and a little summit pack with a couple liters of water, a camera, and snacks. We stopped for burritos on our way out of town, as is the ritual, and drove down the highway, […]
The most foul word in any language is not a swear word, it’s this: Bushwhack. I hate bushwhacking. Nearly every instance where it has been required of me in the past, I last about five minutes before I break down into an agitated, whiny puddle. Sometimes I cry. Don’t get me wrong, I’m an adventurous […]
After two years of devoted service, it is finally time to lay my first pair of KSOs to rest. The strap had broken once already and I had carefully sewn it back together. The stitching holding the sole together was coming out but the glue stayed strong. Through many trials and tribulations, many miles of […]
Is there something about finding a love for running that intrinsically turns one into a masochist? I asked myself this question several times as I ran up Finger Rock Canyon. Having checked out one side of my half-marathon trail, I thought the next day I would check out the other side. The darker side, it […]