Rugged 100 milers can be run in minimalist shoes

This is what your shoes look like after you ran 103 miles on them through the rocks, roots, and ruts of the Superior 100.


Prior to running Superior, these Asics Gel-Hyperspeed 4's had ~175 miles on them, almost all of that on pavement/sidewalk/asphalt/etc. Now, the bottoms are shredded and I lost a chunk of the heel pad on the right shoe. The white material - the part that is covered up and protected by the red weave on the forefoot and the black pad on the back - is much softer than its coverings and will likely begin to wear quickly. I'm not sure how much longer these soles will last.

The Superior 100 stressed my shoes more than any other race I've participated in, even the 50K I ran on the Superior Hiking Trail earlier this year. The rugged course chewed up my flats. Now they look like they have 500+ miles on them and are ready to be retired.

Even with the damage to the shoes, I stand by my footwear choice. The lightness of flats is invaluable over such a long distance where even a minimal decrease in shoe weight can (should) reap benefits when compared with something bulkier and heavier. There are also the additional benefits of a lighter, more efficient and economical stride and the lack of running-related injuries which were not caused by acute trauma.

Who is to say whether my feet would have taken the pounding they did had I run in other shoes? My guess is that the level of discomfort I faced would have been the same. I lost my toenail on my right big toe post-Superior (again) as a result of slamming it into various roots and rocks on the course, and I did the same thing back in 2009 when I ran the Superior Trail Races Spring 50K for the first time. And that race I wore bulky trainers, also from Asics. Those shoes were bulkier in the soles and had similar protections on the front. Despite the potential additional protections of the bulkier shoe, the trauma I experienced in both races - at least toenail related - was the exact same.

When other runners learned I was planning on running this race in flats (or sandals, and thankfully I jettisoned that idea), several informed me that the race caused their feet - and toes especially - felt like they had been struck repeatedly by a ball peen hammer. I never experienced this feeling. The soles of my feet were tender from blisters and the general pounding (they eventually numbed around mile 65 or so), but outside of the trauma from the to-be-lost toenail, my toes stayed relatively happy in my flats. The tenderness was similar to the feeling I had when I hiked the trail in 2008; at that time, I wore Salomon trail shoes, and my feet at the end of the day felt like someone had tapped my soles with the pointy side of a meat tenderizer for the past 12 hours. Again, who is to say that I would have felt better in a bulky road shoe or even a so-called "trail shoe?"

I ran in what was comfortable to me, and I have experience on the trails with this type of shoe. No shoe is going to allow you to slam into rocks or roots and come out unscathed. Similarly, over a long enough timeline one's feet are going to hurt. Some runners swear by the marshmallow shoes that are Hokas, but I have already established that such cushion does not work for me.

In sum, my flats where the best choice for me, and I can't imagine the stress the race put on my feet would have been any less had I chose different shoes.

Review: Zensah Compression Leg Sleeves

I recently tested Zensah's Compression Leg Sleeves for the minimalist footwear site ToeSalad.com. My review is here. Enjoy.

Gossamer Gear Lightrek 3 Hiking Poles - initial review

I recently received a pair of Lightrek 3 trekking poles from Gossamer Gear. I put them to their first test last weekend in Michigan's Porcupines Wilderness State Park in the Upper Peninsula. Here's my initial impression after putting approximately 30+ miles of up-and-down terrain on them.

They are a color-test and are not identical; both are a dark blue. The coloring patterns are different, but only upon close inspection. Both have reinforced spiraling from the top of the plastic tip upward on the pole 10.25 inches. The handles are made of EVA Kork-o-Lon foam, which is a sturdy foam with just enough give to cushion tight squeezes.

But their weight is what makes them spectacular - without baskets, they are 2.7 oz per pole. And this is even 0.3 oz above the specs for the current models. They feel like nothing in your hands and do not generate shoulder or forearm fatigue, unlike other heavier models - ahem, my BD Spires, at 10.22 oz/pole (290 g). The LT3s are a full 2 oz lighter than their nearest competitor, Stix from BPL (mine are 4.75 oz per pole at 115 cm).

Previously, I had used straps with poles. With these poles, I extended the poles ahead of me when walking downhill, and put my weight on the straps. I did the same on uphills, and generally only held the poles with my first two fingers and my thumb.

With the LT3s, this was not possible. I experimented with numerous grip combinations over the three trekking days and multiple ups and downs. Like many poles, the grips have three nubs: one at the bottom, one at the top, and one about 2.5" below the top of the pole (not all of that length is usable) . The middle nub is 3" of usable length from the bottom nub. My grips included: placing one or two fingers above the middle grip, everything else below and thumb around; same as the first, but with thumbs on top of the handle; and placing all my fingers around between the middle and bottom grip, thumb around. The photo shows the last grip.

This last grip worked the best. I could squeeze the grip and my hands would not move up or down the pole. I could plant the pole in front of me on downhills, and the effective shortening of the pole allowed me to plant the pole high on uphills. I occasionally changed from this grip, but this was my main grip.

I underestimated the value of free hands when using poles with straps; now strapless, I realize the benefits of strapless poles. The LT3s are easy to deploy to my hands, easy to set down and pick up. I can place both poles under an arm, grab a camera, bottle, bag of food, etc. Also, I can easily drop the pole if it gets stuck in a rock, root or mud.

I also used the poles for the ridges poles for my tarp, a CatTarp 2 from OwareUSA. To facilitate setting up, I added a single round of duct tape to each pole. The guyline, a length of EZC from GossamerGear, was wrapped the tape once and then went to a stake. A triangular line tensioner from GossamerGear was also used on each guyline (ridges included). The top of the round is approximately 4.5" from the bottom of the foam grip.

The poles held up well when used as such. I put plenty of stress on the ridgelines, enough for a drum-tight sound to emanate from the guylines when they were plucked. I noticed no compression the poles underneath the duct tape. I did not experience high winds, however.

In future testing, I plan on using the LT3s as poles for my CatTarp and my poncho/tarp, hopefully in inclement conditions such that more stress will be put on the poles (guylines and tensioners, too).