When it comes to post workout supplementation, one of the best things on the market for training purposes is protein. After all, most of what training does is break you down. Especially your muscles. That's where Hammer Nutrition Whey comes in.
A few of the things that I like most about Hammer Nutrition and their whey is that it is 1.) Made in the USA and 2.) 100% Natural.
Hammer Whey contains all of the essential amino acids necessary for proper muscle recovery, where others fall short.
I've been using Hammer Nutrition Whey for a couple weeks now and have started to take notice of how much better I can recover from not only strength training workouts, but adding it in to my post run, swim or bike workouts has added another level of recovery for me. Beyond putting necessary carbs back into my system, I am also getting more protein so I can rebuild the muscle I have broken down.Hammer Nutrition makes a lot of good products, and this is yet another one of them. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a quality recovery supplement to add to their training.If you're looking for a muscle recovery supplement without all the sugars, this is the one for you. Another option for you to take a look at is adding this to Recoverite. Another product I have used from Hammer Nutrition.-Dave
In my previous post I talked about picking the right saddle for my Cyclocross bike (Trek Cronus), and I would like to elaborate a bit more on the saddle I had on for a couple months, the Bontrager Evoke RL.
Touted as having more padding and being more forgiving than is Carbon Level superior, the Evoke RXL, the Evoke RL stood out to me as a good choice to mount on my Cronus. With it being a Posture 3 position and still being a more aggressivemountain bike type saddle, I figured this would be ideal for me. So let's start out with some cool things I really dug about this saddle.
Bontrager Evoke RXL
One thing is for certain, this saddle can take a beating. Being put on many cyclocross and mountain bikes as a stock saddle, the Evoke RL is built to be beat up. Mud, dirt, sticks and whatever else you can throw at it, this saddle is tough and can take it all. Doing a flying mount after running up a hill with your bike on your shoulder in a cross race? No problem. The Hollow Titanium rails are lightweight but sturdy as all get out.
Comfort wise- this saddle is on par with a lot of other mountain bike saddles I have ridden. Bontrager's inForm biodynamics do a great job on all their saddles. So I have no complaints about the actual comfort of this saddle. It just wasn't aggressive enough of a posture for me on my bike. The zone-density padding was in all the right places and the recessed curvature for my sit bones were in the right place as well.
Some of the things I wish it did better for me was support in the rear portion of the saddle, helping me stay more forward on the saddle itself. As it is, I was in an aggressive position, but when I tried to get low and attack, even with a slight downward tilt on the saddle, I felt like I was going to push myself off the back. The reason for this I'm sure is that this is supposed to be a mountainbike saddle, so getting up and down out of the saddle is a common place, meaning the back is more rounded off so you can slide out behind the bike without snagging your shorts on the saddle as you shred up some turns.
For a cyclocross saddle, the Evoke doesn't cut it for me. I had to move to the Serano as my previous post mentions. But don't let that deter you from giving it a try if you have an interest in it. With Bontrager's 30-day comfort guarantee, you can't go wrong giving the saddle a try. Maybe you'll like it, maybe you won't, but you won't know until you try. and you'll have 30-days to figure that out and swap it for a new size or different saddle completely if you should so choose.
If you take a look at a lot of cyclocross bikes out on the market these days, you'll notice that many of them come stocked with a mountain bike styled saddle on them. This was something that I thought would hold true for myself as I started piecing together my bike. The original saddle that came stock on it was the Bontrager Evoke saddle. So I went ahead and figured this would be the right choice for me.
Bontrager Evoke RXL Carbon
After riding the saddle for a few times on the trainer I started to think to myself that I am not just "everyone else out there" riding a cyclocross bike. I tend to lean in a more aggressive position. Mostly due to my triathlete background. I tend to like having a smaller hip angle that puts me in a more aggressive/aero position no matter what bike I am on. As it is, my Trek Cronus is in the most aggressive setup I can get it in with the stem slammed and flipped. So, needless to say, I ride a pretty aggressive cross setup. Though the head tube is a slight big larger than a road bike, it is more aggressive than most road riders, too.
Back to the saddles. I started to feel like I was falling off the back of the Evoke saddle, so I tried tilting the nose forward some to push me into the bars more. After a couple rides in that position, I decided enough was enough and thought I should change it up. So I went all out.
I decided to pick up Bontrager's new, most aggressive road saddle. The Bontrager Serano RL.
Once I got it level on the bike, I was on for a hard hour ride on the trainer. Being in such an aggressive position, I thought it might be a struggle for me. But I loved it! I normally ride the widest saddle Bontrager produces, but this one I opted for the 138mm width instead of 148mm and I feel this was a good decision for me. The Evoke comes in a Posture 3 position, as noted by Bontrager, while the Serano is a Posture 2. The only saddles that are more aggressive are the Time Trial/Triathlon saddles that Bontrager produces, and those wouldn't quite fit the bill here. Though a full cutout is nice, like on their Hilo saddle.
Even after putting in one of the hardest rides I have done this off-season, I still felt fresh (from a saddle standpoint) when I got off the bike. There were no sore spots or rubbing. I think I need to tilt it a bit more forward to get a bit more support on the rear side of the saddle. But overall this was a great fit for me.
One thing that Bontrager does right is their 30 day comfort guarantee. Now, being that I work for Trek, I don't get this type of deal. But for all of you out there, take your time trying out all the saddles they have to offer and find the right style and size that fits you. Nothing helps you right longer than having a comfy butt from start to finish.
Many times we find ourselves not wanting to put in the effort. Or we just don't know how to work as hard as we need to to get better at our given sport(s). But there is something about putting everything you have into a workout that helps you to reap the benefits.
A couple days ago just such a workout came up for me. Now, I'm usually quite good about working hard and putting as much as I can into a workout. But for some reason this training session was different. Being on the bike, I've always seemed to struggle to get my body to work at such a high level. Running, for me, has always been really easy to get my work efforts up to maximum.
However, the other day things changed for me on the bike. I found that next gear. And found it during the perfect workout: The Sufferfest-Revolver.This is a 16 x 1 minute threshold killer. The basic idea of this workout is to get a solid warm up in to ramp up to maximum efforts, then kill yourself for 60 seconds, rest for 60 seconds, and repeat 15 more times. If done right, you will fel like I felt. Dead.
As you can see, I started off pretty well. I was hitting my goal power through the first 5 or so, even being able to peak at the end of each a bit, too.
Once I got to number 6 or 7 of the repetitions, I started to struggle. My breathing got heavier and I never quite felt like I could recover in the 60 seconds of recovery time allotted for each repetition. Yea, it sucked.
But that's what is supposed to happen. I felt absolutely buried and there was no end in sight. The sense that I usually get when running say something like 400m repeats or any longer hard interval on the track felt just like this. The light-headedness, the shortness of breath, and the thoughts of it never ending kept creeping in.
After it all, I coudln't believe I had actually finished it. I was surprised with myself and thought something was wrong. But I was quickly reminded of how hard I had worked when I got in the shower afterward and the coughing attacks started. Usually when I work this hard, my lungs struggle due to my asthma, and this was no different. I took my time recovering and got my legs up as quickly as I could to help get fresh blood to them. But the coughing hangs around for a while.
It took a while for the hacking to subside, but when it did, I finally realized how dead tired my legs were. It was a great feeling. I hadn't felt like this after a training session in a while. So I was happy to be a bit lazy for the rest of the day. Eating some quality recovery food and drinking plenty of fluids. Both water and some electrolyte infused drink like Recoverite and Heed.
Next time you don't think you have it in you, give yourself more credit and get after it. You may surprise yourself.
Alright, so you're ready to get aero and get low and get fast. GREAT! But let's take a step back and take a look at a couple things. What does it mean to be aero? What is the cost/benefit of being as aero as possible? Where should you be most aero and where can you sacrifice? All these questions are constantly being evaluated and answered again and again in the world of triathlon. I'm here to try to at least make some sense of it for you. So at least you can comprehend what's going on in each.
What does aero truly mean? Basically how air/wind works against an object (aka you on your bike working against the wind). When thinking about being aero on a triathlon bike, you think tucked and low. Which that does essentially ring true. However there are even more bits and pieces to take a look at if we break it down.
Splitting the bike and you up into sections, I think of dividing it all into three sections: front, middle, back. Simple yes? For the front, this is where all the money be spent. This is where the air/wind first comes into contact with you and the bike. The first point where it can decide to grab onto a pocket or hole or just slip right around you. Everything comes into play here. Your tire to wheel setup, your handlebar setup, how you grip the bars, where your head is tucked and so on and so fort with every bit of the front of you.
If you're looking to spend the big bucks somewhere on becoming aero, this is it, the front end.
I'll leave the other parts for a different time, but for now let's move on.
So now why don't we all just get as tucked in and flat as possible on the bike? This is something I can actually speak to having adjusted my positioning on the bike multiple times to look for different results.
Picture yourself on the bike and how much of a degree of bend you have in your back. Do you think you could get it lower and flatter? Maybe. But at what cost? Just because you can possibly get your shoulders and head lower and tucked in more, doesn't necessarily heed better results. Here's why...
First off, when you start dropping your bars lower, you increase the steepness of the angle at your hips. So what? Well what that does is limit the range of what you can do to produce power. If you're very flexible, this won't be too big of a deal. One thing to watch for is if your knees bow out or in at the top of your pedal stroke. Another thing to look at is if you use power, if your power drops off significantly at the top of your pedal stroke. Best done doing one leg drills.
Another reason not to tuck in too low is oxygen consumption. Especially for us triathletes that have to run after we bike, getting as much oxygen to your muscles is key. Shaving a few seconds off your 40k time on the bike isn't worth it if you get off the bike and you can't breathe or your muscles are completely depleted of oxygen.
Overall, being aero is a great thing. But remember at what cost are you paying when it comes to power you can produce. The delicate balance between power and aerodynamics is crucial. Getting fitted on a bike with the proper protocol in mind is the best bet when it comes to your best approach. Don't be afraid to start a little conservative and move down as you progress. But always be aware of what you're doing in respect to your fit.
Not a whole lof of new athletes think about it when they buy a bike. I can count the amount of times on one hand that I've sold a bike in the past year and have been asked what size crank arms come on the bike I am selling. And to be honest, I never would have either. But with more and more schools of thought coming out on who needs what in terms of the arm length, I'm here to somewhat divvy up what you should be thinking when going in to buy a bike (or change your arm lengths).
Let's start with the purchase first off. Say you're looking to get yourself on a brand new bike and have gotten it dialed down to a few and you're just not quite sure what to be looking for. If you're getting into a bike that is fitted the right size for you. Say you're 5'9" and getting on a 56cm frame, more than likely it will come with either 170 (most likely) or 172.5mm (less likely) crank arms. Yea, I know the difference isn't really much, but there is a difference. Let's take a look at that...
So you're riding your bike and it is PERFECTLY fit in terms of saddle height, saddle fore/aft positioning and so on, and everything is going great. Awesome. Good for you. But you just feel like you can't swing your feet around faster than 100 rpms for the life of you. Or let's say, you're riding down the road and when you watch your knees come up to the top of the pedal stroke, you begin to notice them popping out to the inside or outside. Neither of these things seem right, do they? Absolutely not.
The prior could just be part of lack of training at a higher cadence, but when thinking of the latter, there are two problems that could arise. One being that you have terrible range of motion in your hip area, namely your hip flexor. But another idea is that, for both problems, you have crank arms that are too long for you.
Why would that matter? Well, if you're crank arms are too long, your body will make up for it in other ways. Kind of like when you hurt one ankle running, you overcompensate for it by leaning more on the other. In turn, hurting the other as well. Same holds true here. If your crank arms are too long, your body will let you know. Just because your knee bend at the bottom of the pedal stroke is perfect dialed in, that doesn't correlate to a proper fitted bicycle. If you have range of motion problems, one way to solve that wobble at the top of your knees is a different carnk length.
Just think of your knees like pistons. Shooting up and down on a perfectly vertical path. Should they falter in any way from side to side, that is wasted energy and can lead to other problems down the road. Especially in the hip area.
Another reason for shorter crank arms is this: aerodynamics.
So you're a triathlete and you want to be as aero as possible on your bike. You've got everything you need on your bike, and have amazing flexibility in your hips and lower back. Great! But for some reason, you've got your 56cm bike with 172.5mm crank arms on them and you want to squeeze out a bit more aero if you can. So check this out. Swap them out for 170mm arms and you'll not only see your back get flatter as you raise your seat to accomodate the pedals not reachins as low to the ground as before, but it will also help to open up your hip angle. Something often times overlooked by many people.
But I'm 6'3" and my fitter said I needed 175mm carnk arms. FALSE. Carnk arm length should have little correlation to your height but more so your flexibility and abilities. Take for example this years Ironman Championships. I watched and heard many of the best athletes were riding on shorter crank arms for a few reasons. Some of them being in the 6 foot plus range. And that reason was to both keep a higher, more sustained cadence and become a slight bit more aero.
What does having a slightly higher cadence do? Well once you get off your bike and start running, you want your legs to move, and move fast on the run. If you're rocking 175mm crank arms, your body is moving your foot in a larger circumference around the center axis. Thus, making you use more torque to slame through each pedal stroke. Essentially, this will wear out your major muscles in your legs faster. Hence, brick legs on the run.
Now switch out the long arms for some 5mm shorter and you'll be spinning higher and using smaller muscles to acheive a greater performance. Essentially on the run.
So a lot of this comes down to just a few simple things. Carnk arm length is still a hot topic in both the biking and triathlon worlds. I have been told I should be riding 172.5-175mm crank arms, but feel best on 170 and maybe 172.5. And the best way I've found this out? I've ridden all 3 sizes. Each one of my bikes currently has a different size crank on it. So I've been around the block, per say, in terms of what lengths work for me. I'm somewhat felxible, but have trouble spinning faster on the longer arms and feel my legs drop out on them as well.
This is just some food for thought. Not any end all be all theory. Take these things into consideration before you go jumping on your next bike or are looking for some upgrades to your current bike.
Running outside in Winter has its pros and cons. Some of the nice things are being able to wear your sweet jackets, not sweating as much, and just straight up feeling like a badass being one of the few who braves the conditions while it's this cold. And it sure is cold here in the Midwest. Seeing lots more negative numbers this year than I can ever remember.
Last week I took a morning while my wife was out to lunch with a friend and our baby and went for a longer run. It's my go to 90ish minute loop around the lake we live near. It has plenty of rolling hills mixed in with some flat spots to mix things up. So it's always a good test for me.
The weather was looking decent, but a little cold. Ambient air temps were 10 degrees and the wind chill was pushing below zero. Not terrible, but still nice and brisk.
I trudged out of my door, contemplated my attire choice, then took off. No nutrition again. I never seem to have nutrition when I head out on this run. Not sure what it is. I just never have any handy.
The run started well, legs felt fresh and light. However, not having done anything over an hour for quite some time, I knew it would catch up to me eventually. I was wearing my heavier, less breathable trail shoes for more traction and warmth. Something I will typically do in winter or really wet conditions to ensure my feet stay warm and I remain upright. Rubber side down right?
So the first couple miles clicked off pretty easy. Then I started hitting the hills, thinking I could just maintain and move forward to the flat section. Not so much.
The roads hadn't been plowed so I was fighting fresh snow on top of ice. Lots of sliding and frustration. A few curse words here and there as I nearly met the pavement face first. But I remained upright, slowed my pace and chopped up my steps a bit.
I made it through the hilly section of rollers and was ready to loosen up a bit in the open flats running along the lake for a couple miles. Nope. Here came the headwinds. Probably in the vicinity of 15-20mph of just cold as shit wind. I hunkered in behind my neck gaiter and held on as my feet continued turning over. My pace continued dropping. This sucked.
There was a little glimmer as a felt like a true badass for being the only person I saw out running in these conditions. Not much to hang my hat on, but I made it work. Especially as the cars flew past me, kicking up more wind and snow into my face.
Once out of the wind it was to the home stretch, a few more rollers and a nice flat finish to my house. This is normally where I either kick for a finish or slow it down to cool off. Today neither sounded good. Slowing down meant going much slower than comfortable. Speeding up meant pushing my heart rate too high. Espcially this early in the season on a long run. So I just stayed calm and held onto my pace, and worked my way home.
It wasn't a bad experience overall. But given the choice again, I may have spent 90 minutes smarter on a treadmill getting what I wanted out of the session instead of surviving. It was a true test of my character to pursue the run and stay on my pace. I'm happy to look back and say I completed it, but if given the choice again, I may opt to stay inside.
2014 is just around the corner, or may already be here, depending on when you read this. And that means one thing. Race season is even closer. So let's get at it and talk about some things we want to see this year, possibly some things we don't.
I'm going to start off with a few things I want to see this year.
First off, I want to see more people outside training! The whole treadmill/trainer/pool thing is good and all, but get your butt outside and live your life. Make this year the year you get outside with other people, train harder with them or help to push them beyond their limits. The rewards will heavily outweigh the costs. Quit being a baby and saying it's too hot/cold to get outside or you don't have the right gear or the time to get your things together. There's always plenty of reasons NOT to do something. You just need one to actually do it.
Next, I want to see more people running in shoes that are good for them. Enough with the minimal, maximal (?) and all that support nonsense. Find some damn shoes that work for you, and you alone, and run in them. Try on a hundred pairs if you have to. But don't, I repeat DON'T, just give in to hype, style and whatever the fastest pros are wearing just because you think it will help. The best shoe for you is the one that is the most comfortable and will keep you running longer and faster.
I also want to start seeing all the local events sold out. Come one everybody! Can't you just take a morning, support your local races and get out there and race with your neighbors? Who cares if it doesn't say Ironman or Rev3 or isn't USAT sanctioned? It's still a race. Do it with a friend or relative. These types of races are great for your community and will help create a healthier vibe around town. Who knows, if you win, you could be the one everyone is talking about.
Something I don't want to see this year, is all the weight weeny garbage I keep seeing on so many long course triathletes. Especially the beginners. Because you know what? Shedding 2 pounds off of you is a lot cheaper and much more beneficial than forking over $350 for those carbon pedals that will only save you a few grams. Same goes for the shoes, and even the bike. Just because your bike may be a half a pound lighter than mine, if I am more aero than you, and can sustain my power just the same, I WILL beat you to the finish. Get the bike, shoes, and all that other stuff that works for YOU.
Another thing I hope not to see this year is the maximal shoes take off just like the minimal shoe craze did. These freaky looking HOKA type shoes with insane amounts of padding and support under your foot just give me the creeps. Just like minimalist shoes people. They are not for everyone. There is a purpose and a crowd, but that crowd is limited.
Finally, one thing I hope to see more of , is power. Myself included. I want to see the price of power meters come down, and I want to see more people out there riding and training with it. It's one thing that can really propel an athletes fitness to the next level, yet it hasn't made it's way into the realm of the average triathlete and cyclists. Simply due to costs. Power is so much more beneficial than heart rate training, mostly because your heart rate is a reactionary measure. Say you go for a 400m sprint up a hill on your bike. You check your heart rate at the bottom, and then again at the top. Say it's 130 at the bottom and 168 at the top. Well, maybe you worked harder at the top? It's still rising after you finish? That's weird. Now take your power, watch IT from bottom to top. So you actually see you started off stronger and dwindled at the top. Crazy huh? Instead of working based off a reactionary measure, working on an instantaneous measure is much more beneficial.
Sorry, that last one got wordy as I'm pumped to hopefully get some power based training device this year coming up.
So there you have it. Some things I would like to see, but also some things I could care less to see. What about you?
2013 was a weird year for me from a training and triathlon standpoint. I had a lot of changes going on constantly, and an inconsistent schedule that made for hard days becoming easy days and off days becoming hard days. I never really felt quite in sync with what I had been trying to accomplish for the year, but it was still a pretty good year nonetheless.
I only did a few races, but showed up for all of them with my best efforts and put down some good times. I had some of my fastest run splits to date, which is always something I feel I can hang my hat on. And I started to feel more consistent on the bike. Even though I never had a truly breakthrough performance in my opinion, the times were there and were always near the top on the given day of the race compared to the rest of the crowd.
Having such a weird schedule made training hard, but I tried to never use it as an excuse for any poor results. Making the best of each situation was always my goal. Whether it meant I only had 45 minutes to squeeze in a run and shower, that's what I did. Or if I had a full day to myself, I took advantage of that too.
Some places I felt I fell short on were both my consistency in solid training as well as my swim training in general. While I had some good swim times this year and felt very confident in the water, I had much higher hopes of being closer the a front of the pack type swimmer. Or at least holding on to some feet of the front until I eventually would fall off. But that never quite happened. A testament to most likely my poor form and lack of coaching in any way in the sport. Most of my pool time was spent putting in yardage rather than focusing on skill. So that again, will be a goal for 2014. But the goals I have will come later.
Breaking 19 minutes in a 5k off the bike was never necessarily a goal for me, but I knew I had the ability to do it. And I did it in my first race of the season. Granted the 400m swim was cancelled due to such choppy water, the amount of effort was made up for on the bike, fighting some nasty cross winds and 50 degree weather that caused numb feet for the first half of the run itself.
Then came the rainy day race filled with hills, hills and more hills. Quite a bit for an Olympic distance race. I was hoping to go under 40 minutes in the run, but hadn't scouted the course. At least no the the run. Which had I done so, I may have been better suited. Two strong back to back hills on a three loop course caused for some rethinking, and going into the run for a first time sock less was new, too. And add to that, the mud we had to run through for 50 meters each lap, just breaking a 7min/mi pace was a pretty good feat for me on the day.
Those were the big highlights for me in racing this year. But I have learned so much and met some amazing people along the way. Much of which I can thank my job at the bike shop for. The amount of athletes I communicate with is amazing. From pro-level down to first timers, they all have helped me evolve my thoughts and training ideas. As well as helped me to look in the mirror at who I am and what I expect of myself. So I will have some greater goals for 2014.
Last Friday was the quintessential "Black Friday", the day of days to do shopping. Or if you're somewhat of an introverted person like I can tend to be, this is the day you hole up, don't go outside, and of all things, dear God please stay away from the shopping malls. However, there were a few places I had interest in taking a look at, so I took a stab and went out with one of my wife's friends who was visiting us for a few days.
She needed some new running shoes, so I decided to take her to the local tri shop, Endurance House. They do a great job fitting people in running shoes. Taking into consideration the type of running you do and administer a foot-strike analysis that you yourself can view side by side as you try out different shoes.
I was just there to look around and keep my daughter from getting into trouble and breaking expensive things. However, I came across the "Scratch and Dent" table. A table filled with recently returned shoes during their trial period. Figuring the best shoes had been picked over already, I didn't pay it much mind at first. However, on my second time around the store chasing my daughter, I stopped to look and saw a pair in my size. A pair of Altra Superiors.
I tried them on quick, and with the whole table being marked at $25, I couldn't pass them up. They looked nearly fresh out of the box, with apparently very minimal running done in them. I was pretty stoked. My brother has a couple pair of these shoes, and I wasn't set on jumping on them, but for this price, I couldn't resist. I'd at least have another pair of running shoes to wear at work or around town.
I haven't had much time to get outside running for the past few days, but finally was able to this morning. It was a nice 20 something degrees with a heavy wind out of the West, so I decided to stay close to home and out of the wind and wind chill.
At first I was a little hesitant to plan anything longer than just a couple miles on the new shoes, but when I laced them up again, I was reminded how comfortable they actually are. Of which I will go into shortly.
The cool thing about the Altra brand is their zero drop mantra. Unlike some other zero drop shoes, these actually still look like normal running shoes. They don't take on some weird, out of the ordinary upper, or make you look like you're wearing track spikes. They are just running shoes. Nearly all of Altras shoes take on this same look. Not too outlandish, but still have this zero drop thing going on.
Now what zero drop does is kind of cool. Most running shoes have an offset from the heel to toe in the shoe platform. Essentially, the heel is placed a bit higher up than the toe (or toe box I should say), giving the shoe more padding at the heel for the vast majority of people out there that 'heelstrike'. Of which, the verdict is still out, in my opinion, as to whether this is actually bad for you or it's just heresay to boost sales of this new style of running shoe. Most shoes seem to be in the 4-10mm range, with some being higher and lower, but that seems to be the most popular range. The way I look at it, is if you're more of a forefoot/mid-foot striker, there's no need for that extra support in back, which will make the shoes lighter on your feet.
Besides the zero drop mentality, Altra goes another step and actually thinks about how your foot strikes the ground. Newton shoes do a good job of creating a post in the forefoot to give sensation and work on running form, but they lack what Altra does, as do all other shoes I have ever run in. The toe box is actually larger than "necessary" for the shoe to feel like it fits. Which makes the fit seem a bit weird, and from above, the shoes look a little like clown shoes. But there is a method to the madness...
Try walking barefoot across the floor and watch your foot, especially your forefoot and toe box area. Watch it as it's in the air and then as it strikes the ground. Notice anything? Yea, it spreads out when pressure is applied.
What Altra has done is taken this knowledge and applied it to their shoes. Creating a larger toe box than other standard running shoes, giving your feet room to spread out when you contact the ground. Have you ever noticed towards the end of your runs or even during a longer run that your shoes start to feel tighter as you go on? Your feet will also tend to swell a bit from usage. So that larger toe box in the shoe gives you feet the room to do that as well. Such a cool concept!
So, like I said, I finally got out running on these shoes this morning. The first few strides felt a little strange, but once I found my stride, everything felt natural. Having developed more of a mid/forefoot strike, the lack of heel support in the shoes was basically unnoticed. Having been used to running mostly in Newtons for the last couple years, the lack of a 'post' under my forefoot felt a bit strange. But that, again, subsided as I ran longer.
With the added room in the toe box, I wasn't sure how my feet would act as I took a corner. I was pleasantly surprised. No sliding inside the shoe! It's almost as though they fit perfect as my foot hit the ground. Whereas when wearing other running shoes, I tend to feel my foot is going to roll over the edge of the outsole as I take a sharp corner or have to change directions quickly. Especially shoes that have a cushier outsole or midsole.
Lastly, as I have talked about in other articles about my style of running, I absolutely love the instantaneous ground contact I feel in these shoes. With minimal underfoot, but a nice sturdy posting through the mid-foot, these shoes were amazing. I got through 6 miles of light tempo running with some good up and down hills to really test them out, and I will be honest. They felt great the whole way.
With any other products I recommend or endorse on here, these are my personal opinions and I am not going to tell you these shoes are for you or that they are the best out there. However, they are a great shoe to give a try. Especially for those looking for lighter shoes with no drop. Give them a try and feel free to share your thoughts about them with me!
USA Biathlon Team - Tim Burke 2006 Olympian and a ProLine Sponsored Athlete……Tim fulfilled his life-long dream by making the Olympic Team while winning the Pursuit Format and placing second in two other competitions at the TD Banknorth Festival at Fort Kent.
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