Saucony Breakthru

I couldn't keep my hands off of these on Running Warehouse. Look to be a little speedier than the Zealot but in the general vicinity in terms of shape, weight, with a little less cush. The price (and reviews) were right.

I ordered Tuesday with 2 day shipping leaving the Warehouse Wed., but UPS fucked it up, so I have to wait until Monday and can't run them at the Riley's Rumble.  But I had to let the cat out of the bag. Stay tuned.

Nexcare first aid tape

I manage to forget a lot of the low moments in races.  I guess its a lot like childbirth - if you remembered, you'd never do it again.

One indelibly burned into my mind is the end of the North Face DC half marathon.  I got a brutal case of nipple chafe around ten miles into what turned out to be a 14.3 mile hot slog. By the end of the race, I had what is commonly known as the "Sad Clown Face."

As the article says, men, don't forget you have nipples.  The best remedy for a while was duct tape, but removal always ended up a lot like this.

I finally discovered Nexcare first aid tape.  It stays on very well if you do your manscaping right, which means an electric, not a regular razor, please, on these parts.  And it comes off nice and easy, no screaming like the duct tape.

Once, I used it to cover a blister on the back of a heel.  It didn't stay as well as duct tape, but there's no hair down there so the painful removal isn't an issue.

Being summer and all, consider this a public service announcement.

Adidas Climachill

When I saw Sam Winebaum of RoadTrailRun reviewed and loved the Adidas Climachill 2nd generation running shirts, I ran out and got one (figuratively over the 'net).  I'm pleased to say it doesn't seem like a case of overhype (not that Sam falls for that kind of stuff anyway).

I wore the shirt for the first time on a 16M run/50 min walk/1M run.  I felt like I'd have an opportunity to see how it worked under a variety of conditions -- hot and humid outdoors, both under overcast and sunny skies, and inside on the treadmill.

From a very subjective viewpoint, the shirt seemed to do really well when there was a slight breeze (I assume this puts its enhanced evaporative qualities into overdrive) and indoors when sopping wet with sweat.  When I was running in still air, particularly in overcast conditions, it didn't feel much different from a Dryfit shirt.  But even when I didn't feel cooler, I liked the general cut and comfort of the shirt.

Given its fairly respectable $30 pricing on Running Warehouse, I'd say it was a worthwhile purchase.  Use the link in Sam's review so he'll have more money to do his super write-ups.

Edit 7/28/15: I wore for an entire 6 hour run in dew points over 60, temps in the 80s - and didn't change it once.  Several times I felt cool with a slight breeze!  It didn't help my calf cramps, but that's not on the label.

Garmin 620 - "hidden" features

I've had this watch for close to two years, and just discovered two "new" or "hidden" features.

The coolest one is direction - compass.  If you go into activity settings/data screen settings and start customizing, you can find the option to add direction in the menus.  I won't waste my time trying to describe exactly how to do it, but its there.

Proof:

And even better, it seems to be accurate, as I was standing facing where the sun rises over my fence.

Speaking of sunrise, another neat feature is sunset/sunrise.  Could definitely be helpful in an overnight/late afternoon running situation.

Enjoy those 8:37 sunsets while they last.


Edit:  I was not wrong.  This feature wasn't in the watch from the initial release.  From digging around on dcrainmaker:

NAVIGATION FUNCTIONALITY:

Like the FR610, the FR620 does not contain any form of navigational/course routing.  However, unlike the FR610, it doesn’t contain any ‘back to start’ type functionality that the FR610 had around getting back to the start of you run by providing basic compass style directional navigation.  The FR610 also provided current GPS coordinates, which the FR620 doesn’t provide.  Finally, it provided saved locations.  Which also isn’t available on the FR620.

Garmin has stated that they may look to add back some of these features in a future software update, but that they aren’t going to be available for launch. 

Saucony Nomad TR - return to sender

Oh well.  It doesn't hurt in trying, especially when there's a liberal return policy involved.

There were a lot more cons here than pros:

Cons

- unbreathable - almost a plasticy upper - ugh

- too stiff - like a board

- pretty snug for the size - definitely not a lot of room for foot expansion

- tread - seemed a little pointless with little ability to grip

- style - fugly

- felt heavy and clunky

Pros

- 4mm drop

- Not a bad shape for my foot.  Maybe if it ran a half size larger...

- Padded tongue - I do like 'em.

So back into the box they go.  I couldn't imagine wearing these much more than I can imagine my old Xodus - just too stiff and heavy (not nearly as bad).  Spoiled by the relative lightness and comfort of the Hoka One One Challenger ATRs as a trail shoe, and the Zealot for road/fire/gravel road/dry trails.

Saucony Zealot mini review (updated at 300 miles)

I ricochet between shoes and brands more than a superball bouncing down the street.  One day, I'm in love, the next, we've broken up or at least I've started cheating on what was previously the best pair of footpods I claimed I ever slipped into.

The Zealots (designed to replace the Cortana in the Saucony lineup) are like a flame that you keep coming back to. Except it's better than real life -- when I rebound, they end up exceeding expectations. 

Let's do a simple pro and con first...

Pros:

- crazy light

- "moccasin" or slipper feel
- ample forefoot room
- no midfoot constriction

- breathable 

- drain well

- dry quickly

- durable (160 miles and no sign of wear)

- 4mm low heel to toe drop

- versatile - roads, gravel, dirt trails all good

- ISOFIT upper/sockliner is comfortable and holds foot down nicely - no blistering or black toes

- laces stay tied - good grippy material

- made for sockless wearing

Cons:

- not the most attractive shoes

- laceing is off - not comfy pulling much lace tight, so there's not much lace for tying shoes

- could be a tad softer

- with ISOFIT, I need to wear thin Drymax socks or else its not comfortable

- grip has been a little iffy on slick damp pavement (but good on wet)

Other thoughts:

- a little more structured and wider than the Kinvara

- lighter and less built up than the Triumph ISOFIT

They seem like they fall between those more popular models in terms of acclaim/popularity. But then I always need to stake out a fringe position.

I just put in an order for a 2nd pair as the new color lines will be out at the end of July, according to Running Warehouse's Saucony page. I sure hope they don't mess with these too much in the next version. 

Photos at 210+ miles.  Look pretty good still, eh?

Edit (7/20/15): They still looked swell at 300 miles, but it seemed the cushioning was pretty shot by then.  They probably had another 100+ miles of treadmill walking/elliptical usage in addition to the 300 miles of running, so seems to me I got my money's worth.  

Replaced with a new pair that seems a little roomier, with longer laces.  I don't know if some of that's because the old ones shrunk down after repeated sun drying after running or because of alterations in the later production runs.  

They also seem a little cushier than the first pair was when I first got them.  I wouldn't describe them as firm -- more like about a 7 in the softness scale (10 most - think Skechers Gorun Rides, 0 least - think a pair of Five Fingers) whereas the first pair was closer to a 5.5.

Either way, I like the new ones quite a bit.

FlipBelt

I got one of these bad boys -- a "tubular waist pack for essentials".  I don't have much to add upon unboxing than was covered by Eric Schranz's review at @ ultrarunnerpodcast.com , other than I'm somewhere in the 33'' waist land and I think that the Large size is about right (he's a 32 and liked the medium). Me, I don't like tight stuff around the body.

If anything changes, I'll update, but it seems like a great product for any run, exactly as reviewed and claimed on Amazon.