Summity Track and Field Community Events

With a great new track at Summit High School come great new opportunities for Central Oregon runners. Keeping in the spirit of a community track complex, Dave Turnbull (Summit Head Track Coach), is holding a community track event at each of their home meets this season. Next Wednesday, April 6^th Summit will be hosting a community 2 mile race. If you haven’t had a chance to see the new Summit track this is a great way to get an 8 lap tour of the facility. It’s one of the nicest high school track and field facilities in the nation. So come on out. Participation is free and every once in a while its fun to get on the track and see what you got under the hood, so to speak.

The meet starts at 3:30pm and the community 2 mile will begin at 3:45. Please email Summit coaches Joe Padilla or Dave Turnbull at joe.padilla@bend.k12.or.us or david.turnbull@bend.k12.or.us to enter.

They are also looking for volunteers to help at the track meets, so if you’re there for the race, they would love it if you could stick around and help with an event after.

We’ll try to keep you posted on the next meet and the next community event. Who knows, for something completely different maybe they’ll even have a steeplechase at one meet.

Other home meets will be on:

Wednesday, April 13

Saturday, April 23

Wednesday, April 27

Thursday, May 5

Saturday, May 14

Merrell and Minimalist March

In a post last summer I explained how excited I was when Merrell busted out with the first shot at more "conventional minimalist product". You can read that post HERE (it's at the end). Well, we've had these shoes in the store for more than a month now and I can confidently say, they have not disappointed. There are flashier options out there but relative to most other minimalist shoes, the Merrell Barefoot shoes don't lift the heel relative to the forefoot. Some won't think this is a big deal while others will. Even if that doesn't matter to you, you might appreciate that the Trail Glove and Tough Glove for men and the Pace Glove and Pure Glove for women are as understated as they are comfortable.
Let's face it, some of you want to try minimalist shoes but don't necessarily want to draw attention to your feet. I'm happy that Merrell has addressed this need. Merrell also recognizes the lifestyle appeal of this footwear and you'll see that in the solid leather Tough Glove and the mary jane style women's Pure Glove. If this is strictly to run or walk or hike in, you'll be happy with the simplicity and function. Buy a pair this month and get entered in our Minimalist March Giveaway. -Teague

Minimalist March - Going on NOW!!!

Welcome to March. Minimalist March. It’s gonna be awesome. In case you haven’t heard, March is minimalist centric down here at the Footzone with minimalist clinics, give-a-ways, and cool new shoes that have arrived just in time to try out in March.

We, the folks at the Footzone, always say that moderation is the key staying healthy, injury free, and keeping things fun and this is our approach to minimalist running as well. While running barefoot might work for some, we’re well aware that the majority of runners out there won’t need to or even want to. There is a lot more to this minimalist “fad” than running barefoot though. For some it might be getting into a little less of a shoe, something with slightly less structure to it, or lowering the heel height to get a more balanced feel, but not necessarily separating the toes and taking out all the cushion that shoes can offer. For many of us it becomes a tool that we use to strengthen our feet and extra muscles we don’t always think about strengthening, kind of like a workout we do twice a week or so. Maybe most of the time we stick to the shoes we’re comfortable in but for a few minutes a day or 30min twice a week we slip on our new minimal shoes and go out for a quick run focusing on good form, quick turnover, and a light, smooth, efficient foot strike. For some of us still, it just becomes a new approach to daily living. We still want running to be fun and we see this as a good way to keep things interesting. It certainly has here at the shop.

We’re kicking off with the Moderate Approach to Minimalism Clinic on Thursday March 3^rd at 6:30 pm with Max King. We will focus on what, why, and how minimalism should be approached.

Next up are the New Balance Demo Days with the new Minimus line that just came in. These are shoes designed with a less is more attitude with a stripped down upper, midsole, and outsole that allows the shoe to move with your foot naturally as you run. What’s different about this line is that minimal doesn’t necessarily mean less cushion, just a different approach.

Throughout March, with every pair of qualifying minimalist shoes purchased, your name with go in the hat for a drawing at the end of the month for some cool prizes. Six pairs of shoes, an iPod Nano, training sessions with Max King, iTunes Gift Certs, just to name a few. Just a little incentive to try out something new.

And if you haven’t had a chance to get into one of our Good Form Running Classes yet, what are you waiting for. This is the perfect time. The running season is upon us. It’s time to rejuvenate your running with something new to get you out the door. We’ve had great success with these few simple techniques and it’s a great way to get motivated.