Ali's February Product Highlights

Written By: Ali Halpin

Addaday – A great new self massage tool, a new Footzone favorite! Great for targeting tight muscles in
your hamstrings, quads, calf, and hips. Great option if a foam roller is too intense or if you have a knot
you need to work on.

Oiselle Flow Tight – Oiselle’s latest addition to their tight line up. These tights are so buttery soft you wont want to take them off. With a large yoga style waist band and a crop length that comes up just above the ankle these tights are going to be a great addition for late winter/early spring runs.

Oiselle Side Zip Neck – This stylish new piece is made from Oiselle’s famous Lux fabric. A lower neck and a side zipper add style and warmth. This is a great addition to your running wardrobe that will look just as cute with your favorite running bottoms as it will with your favorite jeans!

Arcteryx Accelero Jacket – While the spring months bring us warmer weather and we are able to ditch our winter jackets we often still need a light shield to protect us from the chilly mornings and mid day gusts. Meet the Accelero, a lightweight breathable jacket that is perfect for those shoulder season runs.

Sugoi Titan Knicker – ¾ Tights are a favorite among the male staff here at the Footzone. Durring the shoulder season a full tight is often too much but its too cold still to wear shorts. Voila, Thus where the ¾ tight comes into play! This light weight option from Sugoi is a great choice for

Shoe Quivers

Written By: Max King

Folks often come in the shop and ask us, "What's the best shoe for me?" So we'll ask a series

of questions to get at what you're doing in your shoes and do our best to assess what you (the 

customer) would likely get the most out of. Now, a lot of times we'll be able to narrow it down to 

one shoe that will do just about everything you want to do in it, but often times we can't narrow it 

down to just one and that's when you start to develop a shoe "quiver".

FootZones' Shoe Wall

I wrote about this in the Newsletter Tip O’ The Month for Feb 2013 but wanted to dive a little deeper as to why and what a shoe quiver could mean to you. If you've been in and fitted for shoes you may have heard a few of us talk about a shoe "quiver" and why it might be important to have a couple pairs of shoes. The quiver consists of a few very different types of shoes for different uses. The easiest two uses would be simply a road shoe and a trail shoe, or indoor treadmill shoe and outside running shoe. This is a simple quiver and one I suspect that many of you already have. But, if you'll let me expand on that notion of multiple shoes I think you'll see a bigger benefit in your varied activities if you can specify your footwear.

Can you do multiple things with one shoe and have it work? Of course you can. If you ride bikes a lot you can think of this as different types of bikes, mountain, road, or cyclocross or maybe a fat bike (Hokas), and how the performance is affected by varying terrain. Can you ride a road bike on a mountain trail? Sure, but performance is going to be affected. Here at the shop I think we take the position too often when working with you to find new footwear that a road shoe will work just fine on the trails. I know I’m guilty of saying “sure, that “road” shoe will work fine on the trails you run”. Sure, it will work, but the shoe isn’t going to perform as well as a trail specific shoe would whether it’s the traction of the outsole, the weave of the mesh upper that’s going to let debris in, or how and inflexible shoe feels fine on the road but will not feel good on a winding forest trail. Trust me, we all hate feeling like we’re just trying to sell you on more stuff. We always take the position that we’re here to serve you, educate you, and make sure you’ve got everything you’re going to need to have a great run and nothing more.


So, what do you really need? First, you’ll need to examine what types of activities you are doing with your running/walking shoes. Are you running in the snow? Do you run on trails, and what type, technical or the river trail? Do you race? On roads or trails? All of these questions can lead to a different type of footwear. For me, I think I would narrow it down to 5 pairs of shoes (this would be totally different for each individual).


1) Road racing flats – I’d do a lot of road training and road long runs in this shoe. It’s light, efficient, narrow, airy and ventilated and fun to run fast in.

2) Trail racing flats – I’d do most of my training and trail runs in them. More traction than road flats, more flexible as well, thicker mesh and tighter weave to keep out big debris, and a full rubber outsole.

3) Hybrid cushy shoe – I’d do some easy runs when I needed some cush in these but they would work on trail or road. A neutral cushion shoe that is very flexible, has a good amount of cushion to it, open wide toe box, and runs well on the road or non-technical trail.

4) Mountain shoe – this is the shoe I use when I’m in the mountains. Tight weave upper to keep out all that fine pumice, big lugs for traction in snow, loose stuff, and off-trail, still flexible but with more protection from rocks than a flat, water resistant, and works with a gaiter.

5) Snow shoe/ valley shoe – I’d use this for running in the snow, slushy days in town, and muddy wet trails in the valley. This is a waterproof, highly lugged trail shoe, similar to the mountain shoe but waterproof and possibly has built in ice spikes.

I find that the more specific a shoe is for a given run, the more fun I have during that run. Take for example a day I had over in the valley: I don't get over to the valley very often but once in a while I do and the trails are always muddy so I always bring a trail shoe, possibly water proof, with big lugs for the mud. This lets me enjoy that run a bit more by not having wet feet and slipping and sliding everywhere. If you're training for something and doing specific workouts I also highly recommend a lighter weight racing shoe. It makes going fast fun, and easier.

Max's personal shoe wall

There are shoes for every type of run you might go on so I'm not saying you need 100 pairs of shoes, although I wouldn't argue if you did, but a small quiver focusing on your primary activities can help you enjoy them a bit more. Now, you also need to take this with a grain of salt from me as I do in fact have the ubiquitous 100+ pairs of shoes but I will say I find a different and varied use for just about every one of them. All this talk of shoes also sounds expensive, and you’re like, I can’t afford to buy 2 pairs of shoes, let along 5, but here’s the thing, how often do you have to run in the snow, or do a road workout, or run in the valley? Not very often, so these shoes last a long time but you’re so glad you have them when you need them. Trust me, it’s worth the investment as it will make some of those runs a lot more enjoyable. And that’s all we want for you here at FootZone. Enjoy the run.

And now is a perfect time to start that quiver too. With multiple sale shoes available and our Big Annual Sale Feb 5th - 9th with everything 20% off there's no better time to pick up that "extra" pair of shoes.

Gear For The New Year

Written by: Ali Halpin

Gear for the New Year! Now that Christmas is in the rear view mirror we are looking towards the New Year! Here is some great gear to help you stick with your new years resolution. Whether it’s to learn to run, try your first 5k, or PR in a marathon we have what you need to achieve your goals.

Womens Oiselle Lesley Knickers

A favorite among the ladies here at the FootZone the Lesley knicker is perfectly at home in the gym and out on the roads and trails. This functional and flattering  kicker is an essential. $60

Womens Oiselle Flyter Jacket

Don’t let the weather keep you from your run!  Keep the elements out with the Flyer Jacket. This ultra lightweight wind and water resistant jacket will keep you running and happy through anything mother nature has to throw at you! $160

Womens La Sportiva Avail Hoody

A perfect piece for those chilly morning runs or use it as a cozy hoody to throw on post run. This buttery soft hoody is calling your name! $119

Mens Sugoi Titan Tight

Gentlemen here is the essential tight for you! This lightweight versatile tight will keep you running through the 2014. $75

Mens Patagonia Nine Trails Jacket

When the weather turns for the worst here is the jacket that you want to turn to. So lightweight that you will hardly know you have it on. Add wind and water resistance and what more could you ask for? $99

Mens La Sportiva Voyager Jacket

This cozy fleece loves running through pines in the crisp early morning as much as it loves hitting the town at night.

Garmin Forerunner 220

Whether you are training for you first half marathon or are looking to PR at your next marathon the Garmin Forerunner 220 is the training partner you have been looking for. Track your miles, pace, calories and hear rate all from this sleek watch. $250

Feetures Socks

Now we don’t want to forget about our feet. Feetures has synthetic, wool, non cushioned and cushioned options. Socks are the most important pieces to keeping our feet blister free and happy! $15-$20

Max's January Tip: How to Keep the New Years Goals You Set.

Wow, I can't believe that 2013 is already in the books. Lots of new goals to look forward to in this new year whether it's a new race, a better time at one you've done before, just running a mile, or losing a couple pounds. I know a lot of you are setting goals this year and while you intend to keep them it gets pretty hard as soon as life creeps back in. So, here are a few tips to help you keep those goals. 

1) Set a realistic goal first off and if you reach it sooner than expected, set another one a little further out. 

2) A goal without a plan is just a wish. Or something like that, so make sure you lay out how to achieve that goal as well. Write down a step by step plan of how you're going to achieve that goal. That might be your workouts that you have to do before race day or that you need to limit yourself to 1800 cal/day and what that looks like.

3) Make sure you put eyes on that goal every day. Write it out and post it at your desk at work or somewhere you'll see it everyday when you wake up. As much as that sounds like high school, studies show it really does work. 

4) Get your groove on. A schedule groove that is. Get a routine early on and stick to that routine throughout your journey. Build in a bit of wiggle room so that when, not if, you miss a day or two it doesn't derail your whole plan but you can just jump back in where you left off without feeling like you've lost the battle. You will miss days, that's ok. It's not ok to quit.

The best thing to do is to set a goal that you're whole heartedly going after, that is going to be fun, and you'll feel a good sense of accomplishment when you've completed it. This is the year with new challenges abounding to do something great for yourself. Go get it.

Written By Max King as part of the FootZone Newsletter. 

Plantar Fasciitis Soft Splint: Move Over Strassburg Sock

Written By: Kristen Godfrey

Arg, the curse of plantar fasciitis!! It first struck me 28 months ago. Since then I've tried everything short of finding a shaman and circling my bed with magic crystals at night to feel normal again.

Granted, I'm a long way from where I started. I can now run 4 to 5 miles comfortably, and can tolerate a little bit of speed work, but it's still a slow process of testing the upper limits and then backing off to a simmer again. I’m longing for the long run…

My current maintenance routine consists of a few rolls per day on the ice bottle, stretching, strengthening, wearing supportive shoes with molded arches (pretty much all of the time, other than intentional strengthening), and of course, the ever popular Strassburg Sock. My "sexy sock" I call it.

When Kraig at the FZ asked me to test out the Pro-Tec Soft Splint to compare, I, of course, agreed and eagerly examined the goods. (My enthusiastic experimentation with every tool on the market -- while entertaining for my friends -- will hopefully not be the only thing I'm remembered for).

The verdict on the Soft Splint? Yahoo! Love it! This'll knock your Sexy Sock off.

Three main reasons you'll prefer the Soft Splint:

1) Your toes can breathe! And wiggle. And more importantly, spread! Toe spreaders have been one of the key tools on my journey to healthy feet, so having toes all bound up feels contradictory. (Plus my big toe nail tended to feel irritated by morning in the Strassburg).

2) The Soft Splint platform holds the foot steady and provides an even stretch across the entire foot. Your foot can turn willy-nilly in the tube-like Strassburg and you don't get that consistency. I felt a dramatic difference on morning one.

3) It's noticeably more comfortable around your calf. Less bindy feeling at the top. I accidentally wore it wrong the first night, with the Velcro strap folded back down over the sock, and that was extra comfy! (by night splint standards). Since that's not how it's designed, I wonder if it would wear the straps out more quickly... I might risk it.

If you are an unfortunate PF comrade, choose the Pro-Tec Soft Splint. I know we in the club can commiserate endlessly about our condition, but let me quickly run down some other takeaways from my experience:

Not helpful: cast, boot, minimal shoes all of the time, resting without doing the maintenance routine.

Helpful: massage, Graston, toe spreaders, custom-molded arch supports, building activity very gradually, routine mentioned above.

Nether here nor there: acupuncture (I've had results for other things, but nothin' here), …pick your self-massage tools of choice.

Decided against: cortisone shot, surgery. (Did not find enough evidence that the benefits outweigh the risks).

The most common answer I come across in PF recovery is: "One day it just goes away. " ….. Hm. Great... In the meantime, we've only got today, so let's take care of our feet as best we can and live it up! Here's to One Day!

Kristen Godfrey is a Licensed Professional Counselor who loves working with athletes and active folks, and would gladly meet you for a session on the trail! "The joy of my work is helping people move through their stuck places and seeing them thrive." Connect with Kristen at alittlehelpkristen@gmail.com or find more at her web site alittlehelpwithlife.com

Learn more about plantar fasciitis at the FootZone Plantar Fasciitis Clinic. 

I AM Willpower

Written By: Keith Christensen

Having willpower is a choice. It is not something that is given, nor something that is validated by the external. If you examine yourself, you will find it. When you find it, you will realize it. And when you realize it, you will know that nothing can stop you. For it is the strength of not only discipline, but perseverance and the willingness to never give up. It is the strength of a hero, and to embrace it, is the strength to shape your destiny. Here is my story this year.

           

2013 Earning my second chance to LIVE.

Who is Keith Christensen:

At 6’-5” I have always been Big Keith or BK my whole life. But almost all those people don't know that it all goes back to being a child growing up & living in a physically and mentally abusive home. That has locked me in this l loop of never feeling good enough or  a failure my whole life. I have let this pain shape me and my life. My Dad taught me everything NOT to do raising a child or treating your wife and I truly thank him for that. With that being said I have never found a way to work though the Pain and the secrets that you have to keep. I, like most children in this position learned to just bury it down deep inside and move forward, that it is too painful to think about every day.

 

Just like any problem no matter how deep you think you bury it, it will come out sooner or later. On me it showed up on the scale. I topped the scales at 434 lbs January 2013. I was slowly poisoning myself with the 1 thing I found comfort in, FOOD. I looked at my wife and said I was sick and ashamed of what I had become.

I had tried before and like most I set a weight goal but never really committed and then when I did not hit the goal, I ate to feel better. After 16 years of smoking I finally quit on Valentines Day 2012 after my wife and daughter asked me to stop, because they loved me even though I did not love myself. I had used smoking as a crutch to deal with stress. What I realized was I had all the tools I needed to deal with stress without a cigarette. It is possible.

That experience taught me that if my WHY was strong enough that I could have the willpower to do this also. I refused to be a Victim in my own life any MORE for something I did not do. So I set out and made a board of short and long term goals . I have always put a weight goal instead of a just getting Healthy/Fit goal. I have to say setting the fitness goals is the best thing I could have done. I hiked all over Oregon, Alaska and California this year and am now running 5 days a week, hiking on the weekends and doing CrossFit 3 days a week.

The scale has moved just fine for me without obsessing over it. I have lost 61 fricken inches overall and 134lbs so far. That’s a 5’1"  134 lb. monkey off my back . I now realize that the scale measures just weight not Drive, Heart or Dedication to your goal, and knowing that it does not represent You !!

I still have a # that I want to hit but I don't care if it takes a month, a year or years to hit. I know it will come when it is ready. And unlike all those times before this time is different because I am fixing the mental side that was creating the problem in the first place.  

So here I am 5k,10k,15k,1/2 marathon done this year and now getting ready to celebrate my 1000th mile ran in 2013. And I realize the boy that became the man that had always quit, never felt worthy and lost his smile, has become the guy that can't Quit. Thanks to eating healthy & running, he got his smile back. I realize that not only do I have willpower but "I AM WILLPOWER"

Be Unstoppable

Keith

How to be an Awesome Training Group: A case study of FootZone's latest 1/2 Marathon Training Session

Written By Cristina Stavro

Not too long ago was the Happy Girls Dirty Half in Sisters.  For the 8 weeks leading up to race day, I had the privilege of coaching these mighty fine runners, some of which were chasing down their very first half marathon.  This bunch was a special one that taught me about what it really means to be in a training group.  So to say "thank you" to the group, I'd like to share with you a non-comprehensive list of what it took these runners to truly be an awesome training group and come out at the end of this session with 13.1 miles in the book.

1. Sign Up: Everyone's motivation looks different when it comes to joining a group--lose a bet, take a dare, chase a dream, get fit, stave off boredom--but one way or another, something led them to sign up.  It was half the battle, and for some, the scariest part, but no matter where they were coming from, everyone in the group had to start here.

2. Show Up:  Enter the other half of the battle.  The list of better things to do on a Saturday morning than come run with me at 8AM isn't short (i.e. sleep, cartoons, sleep, give your cat a bath, brunch, and sleep, just to name a few). But the group showed up anyway... even on days when temperatures dropped and clouds hung heavy and low in the sky, they showed up.

3. Be Fearless (and a little nervous) but mostly fearless:  On week 4, I sent an email out saying our next run would be 9 miles at Meadow Picnic area.  And that Saturday the weather was in the 30s for one of the first times with a constant rain/drizzle.  And an amazing thing happened... the group showed up! Even more amazing? They showed up AND ran.  Did I bribe them with the promise of t-shirts afterward and a pancake breakfast the next week? Sure, but look at this group... they constantly surprised me with the buzz and bounce they'd bring to every long run no matter the
mileage or weather.  .   

4. A group that runs together, runs together: Funny how running with people leads to more running with people.  Saturday morning group runs just weren't enough.  Every week there were emails and posts about doing midweek training runs together--hill workouts, tempo runs, post-run coffee runs. I've never worked with a group that ran so much together outside of the program. Awesome.

5. A group that runs together, celebrates together: You know how sometimes, when you finish one of those particularly rough runs and you're just so pumped you made it through and all you want to do is high-five someone but there is no one around so you high-five your Garmin instead, but it's not the same since your watch is digital and doesn't have hands? Well, being in our training group meant always having someone to high-five... and we high-fived, A LOT, because every run was another victory.  7 mile run? High-five. 10 mile run? High five.  Tried a new gel/gu/bar during the run and had no stomach issues? Mega high-five. Quite a few of the runners were facing a new personal record for longest run every week and their energy was contagious, giving us all a little something extra to celebrate.  

6. Finish strong:  All of the above factors came together at the race and there is nothing quite like seeing everyone's hard work pay off.  On race day, the weather was a tad sour but I saw nothing but smiles from the runners crossing the finish line... smiles, fist pumps, hugs, and (of course) high-fives all around. 

A big thanks to everyone who participated... you made the experience unforgettable, not just for your fellow runners but for me as well.  Looking forward to round 2!

Find out more about FootZone Training groups!