Dirty Dozen

Hi all, I hope the last days of August are treating you well. We are about to embark on the event frenzied month of September so eat a big breakfast and get ready to race. There is at least one event in Central Oregon on every weekend of September. That is why I decided to move the Dirty Dozen to the relatively slow month of October. Hopefully this will mean a course that is a little more packed and a nice cool day to tackle this hills of Wanoga snow park.
For those who have never done or heard of the Dirty Dozen here is a brief description. This year there will be three choices for you to race. The 6 mile Half Dozen, 12 mile Dozen and a two person relay. The course is two mostly different loops so those who opt for the full dozen will be treated to some different terrain. The last mile of the dozen is the same as the last mile of the half dozen. As for the terrain the course is wide double track with some pretty challenging climbs. The longest climb is from mile 6-8 on the full dozen course. The rest are relatively short but steep climbs. Some great views are available from the course so keep your eyes open while your racing to take in some great shots of Mt. Bachelor.
So come out and and get dirty in October and have some fun. Entries can are available at the Footzone and can be dropped of there as well.

Hope to see you out there,

dave

Tanya and Jeff in Penticton

Sitting here with my coffee and the paper this morning thinking about the FootZone's own Tanya and her husband Geof as they're peddling their bikes at Ironman Canada. Send them some energy for this massive endeavor. Cheers-teague You can track them at www.ironman.com It's Tanya Littlehales and Geof Hasegawa.

fz hash take two

The second version of the fz hash brought more than 50 of you out to enjoy a warm evening scouring the streets of Bend in search of those little spots of flour. It all ended up at the Downtowner where the cool beverages made it all worthwhile (as though it weren't worthwhile already). Thank you for coming and look for one more. Soon a central oregon hash group will continue independently of the FootZone so if you're interested send your email address with the subject "hash" to teague@footzonebend.com

Bmc/FootZone at Cascade Lakes Relay

Congrats to the BMC/FootZone team at the Cascade Lakes Relay last weekend. By all accounts they had a great time and ran really fast. We really appreciate them sporting the FZ name. Sounds like this relay might be a nice addition to Central Oregon running. In the last picture left to right: Jeff Caba, Michael Dennis, Ryan Rein, JJ Howard, Andy Martin, Ahna Jura, Ryan Shaffer, Katie Caba, Kory Bright, Jill Gozdowski, Laura Fritz and Jen Sventek. Good people, good runners, good fun. Cheers-t

Geek Check

Well it has happened. I purchased a Garmin 405 GPS HRM doohickey and I am nerdy enough to download it and check out the details. It is kinda neeto to see how it just slaps your run, ride, activity onto a thing they call the dashboard and you can check out just about every aspect of that activity you would want. below is a link to my run this am with co worker Kristen Riley who was kind enough to slow down to run with me out on the trails.
As for my review of the 405 after flailing a little to get going with it (like all technology for me) I am now comfortable enough to use the thing pretty efficiently. Granted the watch will do lots more than I really will ever use but it's nice to know the options are there. The only downfalls I have seen so far is that initally the interactive bezel takes some getting used to as well as the operating system. But it only took me a little while to figure that out. The big downer is it tells me that I am A. not that fast B. for going not that fast my heart rate is kinda high and C. that I am not that fast. Overall it is pretty cool to know that at the end of your run you will know how far you went, how much elevation you gained and lost, what your average pace was, fastest pace was, and if you get the one with the heart rate monitor what your average and max heart rate was. As well as splits total time ect.

Peace out,
dave
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/398770

Deshutes Dash aid station

Many thanks to Melanie, Margaret, Melissa, Jessica, Patty, Chris, Brigid, Donna, Phyllis, Jana, Lynette, and Dave for helping out with the aid stations on Saturday for the Deshutes Dash. We did our best to keep all the runners happy with water, gatorade, ice and I even got my hands on a hose for a while to keep it cool. Rob of fz fame was a solid 3rd in the duathalon behind local favorites Chad Sage and Joel Vergona. Todd Riley (fz by marriage) rallied for 3rd overall in the olympic tri. Local John Craft formerly of Skinny Raven (alaska) fame came in first. Official 10k results should be up soon at http://www.freshairsports.com/ Cheers-Teague

Thoughts on trail running shoes

First of all, Central Oregon is a unique market when it comes to running. Many of us have the opportunity to run on trails a majority of the time if not exclusively. Unfortunately, it’s not like that most places. These shoe companies that go to great lengths to design and execute fantastic road shoes often treat trail shoes as an after thought. The market for trail shoes outside of Bend is a fraction of the road market. Conversely, the outdoor companies that are trying to capitalize on the popularity of running shoes often struggle to make shoes that compete with the balance and ride of good road running shoes. These are generalities and of course there are examples of good trail shoes from running and outdoor companies. My point is that there are fewer options and the options don’t always address all the fit and biomechanical needs of every runner.

Should a trail shoe address stability in the same way that a road shoe does?

This is a loaded question and one that depends on many factors? How rugged are the trails? Is the runner accustomed to the terrain? Is the runner used to supportive shoes? The case could be made (and has been) that medial stability to address pronation is worthless in a trail shoe because foot strike is so inconsistent that the runner will ultimately need to adapt.

That’s great in theory, but I’ve helped many a hearty runner who finds that they need stability and cushioning in their trail shoes just as they do in any running shoe. I love trail shoes and I’ll grasp at straws with shoes in this category because we have more demand than we have great shoes. When something really works in trail shoes we tend to have great luck with them.

Is it a running shoe or a hiking shoe?

The two are pretty convoluted anymore. I certainly have my biases with individual shoes. We distinguish between the two based on whether we’d want to run in them ourselves. But who am I to say a shoe isn’t a running shoe when someone runs forever in them. We sometimes carry shoes that the manufacturer calls a running shoe but we think of it as more of a hiking shoe. Often such shoes can work well for certain ultra runners, hikers or people just in need of great stable footwear.

What about all the minimalist trail shoes?

This is an ever growing category in both the running world and the cosmetics driven side of the footwear world. I’m a fan on the running side and often stock them at the FootZone, but they are limited in that the runner must be willing to adapt to a lower profile, less cushioned ride. Many runners will find that these shoes simply don’t have the support and or substance that they need to cover the mileage they’re interested in. Others will find this is the perfect thing for that close to the trail, nimble experience.

Cheers-teague