Thursday, October 23, 2008

New Race Shoes

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I forgot I ordered the orange ones, imagine my surprise when I opened the box. Oh I like em, love em, I just forgot.


I thought you were cute when I saw you on the magazines, you're so photogenic. So sexy. No, no it's true, really, it's not the wine talking. You're awesome. In fact, I was smitten when I got to hang out with you back in June at Fontana Sport Shop in Madison, Wisconsin. I was in town for the Kettle Morraine 100. I arrived two days early, had some time to kill and there you were. Just like my Velocity's but lighter. You're awesome, did I say that already? yes? no? well you are. However I was uh...well...I was preoccupied at the time. There were other shoes involved and things were getting complicated. I'm free now though and I'm asking – Will you whoop some butt with me at the races? I'm not the fastest but I give 110%. I have a good game face and when I suck it in I look 5 pounds lighter. Oh and I run in Drymax socks now. I know, I know I'm livin' large these days. So what say you?

Since Montrail stopped making the Leona Divides I switched to Vasque and have never looked back. I'm always running around in different shoes and always on the lookout for new ones but my race shoes these days are the Vasque Velocity's. These babies are the Velocity VSTs, a lighter version, less tank like and a bit more stylish. They are lighter. I ran on them for the first time Tuesday, a quick road run and they felt great. Hopefully I'll get a chance to take them running on Mt. Tam after I'm done volunteering at SF24 on Sunday morning, my friend Jason is supposed to pick me up.

San Francisco One Day or SF24 as I like to call it is a timed run in Crissy Field. There's a marked route that is 1.067 miles and people run and run laps until the time is up, runner with the most miles wins. There's also a 12-hour race. It will be beautiful by the Golden Gate Bridge and the weather forecast says we will have cooler temperatures because the fog will be back, nothing like the 80-90 degree sunny weather we've been having. Even the nights have been warm. Lucky them but I digress.

The shoes are lighter but unfortunately too light for my normal long runs. They're perfect race shoes and I think they'll do great at the Quad Dipsea and at the Northface 50-miler but my long training runs will break them down too quickly. You see I have to chew up a lot of asphalt before I taste trail. On my usual 6-hour runs to the Marin Headlands and back at least 2 hours of that is on asphalt. So it seems I will be keeping the regular Velocity's in the line up after all - good.

Update: They just updated the weather forecast and now they are saying that the warm weather won't abate until Monday. This means that tomorrow Crissy Field will be teeming with people, kids and animals. The runners will have lots of company and family and friends who are coming down to support will absolutely love the weather. The runners on the other hand...it's gonna get very warm for them. I was just outside, it's warm. Now some of you are probably asking, "what numbers are we talking about here?" Dave, J~Mom, don't laugh - 80s.

13 comments:

  1. Rick,

    may consider the velocity's...still looking for a good trail shoes...Brooks Cascadia 3's though a good shoe do not offer enough support for a pronator

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  2. Oh, good, I have a gift cert for Vasque and had no idea which ones to get. They do look slick and sexy:) Have fun on the weekend! BTW, I got confirmed with a stress fracture, finally. Was kicked back to no running. Glad I didn't know that before GT trip:)

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  3. Anonymous6:25 AM

    Olga, remember that Vasque gift certificate you were going to give me after Teton? Well, um..., are you still going to give it to me? :)

    Rick, thanks for the info on these babies. I used to wear the Velocity's, but opted for a lighter shoe using the Cascadia's. I felt like I was cheating on my Vasque's. I'm going to have to visit the two local trail running stores in Austin and check them out.

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  4. OOoooooo I think they're pretty (isn't looks the only thing that matters? :P I'm KIDDING!)

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  5. I'm so glad that you like them, Rick! I was anxiously waiting to hear/read!!

    See you tomorrow, bright and early - should be a blast of a weekend!!

    Sarah (PCTR)

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  6. Nice shoes - Those are perfect for Halloween time. Makes me want to get some of my own. Although, I'm very happy with the Cascadia 3's. See you tomorrow.

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  7. What a lovely shot... absolutely shows off their good side...

    See you tomorrow!

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  8. They look very fast!

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  9. Rick,

    I'm finally catching up on everyone's blogs and, wow, does it look different over here! What incredible changes you've made to you're blog!

    This entry is funny what with you talking to your shoes. :)

    Congrats on your recent superfast 50, but then again I already congratulated you on that outside the electronic world.

    Hope you're well!
    Meghan

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  10. Those are some SWEET looking shoes, Rick! Love the orange color, and I hope they serve you well.

    Enjoy your weekend!

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  11. dave: I pronate and the regular Velocity's do it for me. It's highly individual when it comes to shoes so I say try out a whole bunch and see what feels good, probably help if you went to a running store staffed by real runners.

    olga: my birthday is coming up, you can send that Vasque certificate my way! I mean you know since you have a stress fracture and all. Shucks that sucks so bad. Well rest up and stop running you crazy person!:) I'll say hello to Andy K. for you.

    larry: I may have to check the Cascadia's out too. I've heard good things. Also got a thumbs up from Sarah (PCTR) that the La Sportiva Fireblades are also a good pair.

    marcy: Aren't they. Me like.

    sarah: Thanks for procuring the shoes for me. They are so nice! Can't wait to see you all tomorrow. Like you said one time, "these events are so much fun because I get to see many of our friends".

    victoria: Bright and early, see you tomorrow!

    j~mom: I hope I can keep up with them.

    meghan: Ello megs, long time no see on my blog. Sounds like Yosemite is treating you well, too well, I'm jealous of your recent 34-miler with Kelly C. Thanks, I've been trying hard to run faster and I'm pleased that it has yielded faster times. I've got my work cut out for me for next year.

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  12. Anonymous5:04 PM

    I wear exclusively Brooks, but those Vasque's look pretty enticing, especially in orange. I would like to do the SF 24 one of these years.

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  13. "I thought you were cute when I saw you on the magazines, you're so photogenic. So sexy."

    Hmmm...flirting with your shoes may just do the trick in getting it to cooperate during runs. Lemme try that too. I just hope my shoes are male :)

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