Scavenger Hunt Round 2

Great crowd for the Scavenger Hunt on Thursday night. About 70 folks total and all ages and paces out there. We'll do it again late in Sept. so you'll have another chance. Lots of fun out there. Thanks-Teague

COTA Work Party---TONIGHT!! Wednesday, August 26

Just a quick reminder that tonight is your chance to get down and dirty building and clearing trails with COTA and the FootZone. We'll be meeting at 5:30pm at the old Mt. Bachelor park and ride on Simpson Ave. and carpool to the worksite.

Be sure and bring a snack for out on the trail and plenty of drinking water. Wear: sturdy shoes (boots are preferred), gloves and eye protection. You’ll want to wear pants to work in the brush and dress in layers to accommodate whatever the weather may bring. Tools and expertise will be provided by COTA. Beer and post-trail building refreshments provided by the FootZone.

If you have any questions give us a holler here at the shop ---317-3568 or see you there!!
Rob

Running Hills and eating good food w/TPG

Turns out this tpg crowd can fire up some good grub and Max cooked up enough burgers, dogs, and gardenburgers to send all home happy and full. It was a great turnout (40 for the workout, and a few more for the bbq), a solid hill workout, and really nice to hang a bit with this good group of people. Thanks to Max for coordinating and cooking, Bart at Rebound Perfomance Lab for hosting, and everyone else for bringing all the good food. Seems like we'll have to do that again sometime! Cheers-Teague

Born To Run

I just finished reading Born To Run by Christopher McDougall. I actually met Christopher in Salt Lake a couple weeks ago and got the chance to talk to him a little about the book and footwear and Vibram Fivefingers. He's an interesting guy and its a great book. I'd even call it a bit of a page turner. Much of the book focuses on the Tarahumara Indians in Mexico and some unlikely interactions with ultra running characters including Scott Jurek, Jenn Shelton and Billy Barnett. Jenn and Billy spent a year or so in Bend not too long ago. Jenn actually still owes me a half rack of beer (she bet me on one of our noon runs that Obama would select Clinton as his running mate). I'm pretty sure she'll never pay up.

Born To Run isn't especially flattering of the specialty running business but it raises some great questions. I really enjoyed all the talk of over-supportive shoes and barefoot running and the like. These are ideas we've batted around at the FootZone for years now so it doesn't feel very challenging. Many of these concepts have influenced the way shoes are made, and the way we sell shoes, for several years. It's also part of the reason we play with minimalist shoes like Inov-8 and ultimately, 5 fingers. I'm convinced that we will all benefit from strengthing our feet, but equally sure that it requires baby steps. I'd even say that the running industry (or at least some of the larger shoe manufacturers) have known for years that you can't just lock people up in the most stable shoe without eventually creating other problems. But we also see on a daily basis that stability will help runners avoid many common overuse injuries. Like so many things, there's a balance. At the shop we know our job is to meet people where they are at, provide them with good information, and get them into footwear that will work. I do think the running industry will continue to evolve. Shoe heights will continue to come down and shoes will focus less on stability and more on balance. I'd also bet that almost all of us will still wear running shoes. I've run some in my Five Fingers and I don't see them replacing my running shoes.

Regardless, for a shoe geek like me who's spent the last 20 years fascinated by running shoes and what works best for people, I love the conversation. It will hopefully all just make us healthier. Cheers-Teague

Dirty 2nd Half Course Map

Here is a link to the course map of the Dirty Second Half... or at least most of it. I will make it 13.1 by raceday so don't think you are getting a free half mile suckas!
If you do go run it please be respectful of the fact the the Seventh Mountain Resort is trying to run a business and they do own some of the land the course is on so if they are using if for any reason just try to minimize our impact on their daily operations. My suggestion is if it is packed park at the Road 41 entrance and link up with the course from the south side of the resort.
I am working on some preview training runs so keep an eye out on this blog for details.

Thanks,
dave
Course Map

Chance to be part of American Record bid.

Rare opportunity tonight to help out Suzi MacLeod AND be part of her bid for an American Record in the 800 for 75-79 age group. She just needs some folks to show up and at least start to give it legitimacy (preferably women). Nothing fancy here, just show up for the all comers meet at 5:30 at Summit High School. Run any and all events you want but at least toe the line with Suzi in the 800. Good Luck Suzi! Cheers-Teague

Doubling up at Crater Lake and Haulin A.

Several folks doubled up this past weekend with runs at two tough events over the weekend. I caught this foursome as they we're testing a new recovery drink from Starbucks, resting up from various distances at Crater Lake in the morning, and picking up their packets for the Haulin Aspen Half. This wasn't the first time I've felt like a bit of a slacker just running around the FZ fitting shoes. Left to Right: Mark Koopman, Jennefer Lloyd, Tonya Koopman, Tonya Koopman and Kathy Lein. Nice work-Teague