Outdoor Industry Becoming Conscious

Oh yeah, these babies are sexy!

I have read all of the reviews on the Nike Lunar Glides+ and I have to say, these bad boys rock! I have gone to various running stores and have been fitted a couple of times. One place said I needed shoes with more support, while another said I was fairly neutral. I purchased a pair of Nike AirZoom Triax 13 to help with my overpronated stride. On one of my long runs, my knees and toes started to hurt so I started to my own research. The description for the Lunar Glides went as such, The LUNAR GLIDE'S DYNAMIC SUPPORT system responds to a runner's changing needs, constantly adapting to your stride to deliver just the right amount of comfort and support. LunarLite cushioning provides excellent shock absorption and responsiveness for a bouncy ride. A wedge of firm foam on the back side of the midsole offers pronation support for those who need it. 

Once I tried these on and actually ran in them, I was totally blown away. They seem to have great response with a very fluid heal in to toe out flow. The heal section of the shoe is mildly rounded which I think decreases the clunky feeling of some shoes. I am psyched to do a long run in these bad boys to see how comfy they are at mile 8 once again.

I have been getting into running a bit this winter. While at the Out Door Retail Show for Evolv Sports, I found myself over in the running shoe area whenever I got the chance. Being the shoe whore that I am, I found it very intriguing to check out the new running shoe technologies.

One of the coolest technologies I saw was Brook’s MoGo, a biodegradable midsole. The midsoles are designed to break down in landfills within 20 years. Along with Brooks, much of the running shoes out there are utilizing recycled materials on their uppers, water based adhesives and other recycled materials within their midsoles. Check out Brook’s environmental involvements at, http://www.brooksrunning.com/Green+Room/

Nike has had their recycling program for some time and is called the “Nike Reuse a Shoe Program”. http://www.nikereuseashoe.com/ Nike utilizes their recycled material for a plethora of athletic services that includes, children’s playgrounds, weight room flooring, outdoor synthetic courts, running tracks, indoor wood courts, and many more applications that are listed on their website.

Another company I found super intriguing was New Balance. Their line of recycled running shoes, the New Balance 70, http://www.nbwebexpress.com/newbalanceME070SN.htm were cool looking and super light.  Along with their recycled running shoes, their environmental quest is note worthy as well.  You can check out what New Balance does to be more environmentally conscious at, http://www.newbalance.com/responsible-leadership/#/ei/eihome/

At Evolv, we have been trying to move the climbing industry forward with our recycled materials within our climbing shoe line, called EcoTrax, http://evolvesports.com/traxrubber.htm

I am super psyched to see all of the outdoor industry manufactures trying to decrease the footprint on this wonderful planet of ours. Not only are the products becoming more environmentally friendly, but they are getting cooler and cooler looking as well.

Updated schedule

Evolv Events 2010
Collegiate Climbing Series- Rocky Mountain Region
1) Comp schedule
Feb 20th UNM-Albuquerque
Feb 27th UCCS-Colorado Springs
March 6th Western-Gunnison
April 3rd Adams-Alamosa
April 17th CU-Boulder Regionals (Spot)
27-Jan	The Front Bouldering comp
Jan 23- Grand Junction Bouldering Comp.
Jan 30- Sport Climbing Center Bouldering Comp (shoe demo), Co Springs.
2010 SBS Series-National- $2000
May- Out Door Pro Comp- Spot
Feb 6- Miramont Ft Collins Shoe Demo/ Duttle Clinic @ 9a.m.-12 p.m.
Feb 6- Lakewood Rec Center Comp.
Feb 13- Grand Junction comp- Ben
Feb 25- Rockn and Jamin 1 Thorton, CO Comp.
Feb 27- School of Mines Climbing Comp- (shoe demo), Golden Co.
Feb 27- Colorado High School Nationals- Co Springs, The Rock.
March 5-6- Camp Saver Grand Opening- Logan Ut
March 8- Shoe demo- The Spot Bouldering Gym- Boulder CO
March 13 The Rock Climbing Center, Co Springs- (shoe demo), GRAND OPENING.
March  27-  Irock Climbing Gym comp- Ogden Utah
May 28- 24 hours of Gunnison.
October 16- Stone Age Climbing comp- NM
Hera Climb For Life
Boulder 6/11- 6/12
Salt Lake 9/16- 9/19
Horse tooth Hang ?
Weber State University –Ogden Utah Comp series
Feb 6- Collegiate Comp
Weber University -  April 9-10 Climbing festival
9th- Demo multi vender.
10th- climbing comp.

10 miler!:)

Wow, I still can't believe I actually ran a 10 miler! I have been running a fair amount lately because of our damn winter here in Colorado. Climbing has been sporadic at best this winter, but I have been trying to at leased keep a base fitness level.

Our weather this weekend consisted of snow, snow, and more snow. Danielle and I decided to get a little climbing in, but we both really wanted to get a run in before the end of the day. I took a break from Evolv and met D at the Erie Rec Center. We both have been just trying to get some miles in to build our base up to start training for the ROCK AND ROLL MARATHON this coming fall. Danielle has been doing a walk/run program and today she completed her first 4 miler with minimum walks. I am soo proud of her:) I had a wild hair up my ass to try and complete a 10 miler. My longest run to date has been a 7.5 miler a couple of weeks ago. I have been keeping my mileage to 3's, 4's, 5's and a couple of 6's. I have noticed that my lunges and legs have been feeling stronger and stronger.

The 10 miler went as such;

I started off casual for the first couple of miles and sped up slowly until I was doing 8's. I felt really good at mile 5 and 6, but my left toes started to hurt. I really tried to keep my technique up and not get too sloppy. I noticed around mile 8, that my left knee started to hurt and the indoor track's corner's were becoming a pain. I have had this knee issue before and a friend told me that I needed to stretch my IT band more often. The indoor track is an 11 lap miler, so the corners are way too frequent for my taste. This may be what aggrivated my knee. I did have thoughts of stopping, but I was letting my body do what cam natural. The toe pain decreased and my knee pain just became more manageable. It became harder and harder to keep up my form and my pace slowed down as well. I focused as best I could to finish the run. I was pretty psyched to actually do the 10 miles, but was pretty wiped out. I stretched, drank my recovery drink, sat a while and went home. Danielle cooked a great dinner of fish, veggies, rice and finished it off with cheese cake.

I ran my first 10 miler in 1:28:00. I felt like a ran for an hour and a half, that's for sure.

Winter, Rock Climbing and Running.

This happens to be one of those winters where rock climbing is not all that motivating. Having to work full time, does not allow me to go on climbing trips to warmer, drier locals. Plastic is cool and all, but I tend to get burned out if I have to pull on plastic too much. I used to get my winter on and hike through the snow, deal with the cold, not worry about getting wet, but this year, I think I may have lost my edge or motivation.
My lovely wife Danielle, had gotten us the Nike+ sensors for Christmas. http://nikerunning.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikeplus/en_US/
Danielle wanted to do a half marathon this fall and needed some motivation to get her through the arduous process of running as well as myself. She did some research and found that the Nike + program was very hands on and super motivating. Having to deal with nursing school and not being able to climb as much as she would like to, she thought running might help her to stay in shape while keeping her motivated. Don't get me wrong, rock climbing will aways be our main hobby, but running is a whole different world. The feeling of just putting on your running shoes and going for a run is so carefree. The really cool thing with the Nike+ program is that you can log all of your runs via the sensor and transmitter to your personal Nike web page. The Nike+ sensor goes into a special oval void in the insole of the Nike+ line of shoes. There are small velcro pouches one can buy at any running store and place on the laces of any shoe to utilize the Nike+ chip if you don't want to buy the Nike+ line of shoes. The program logs your average pace, distance, and calories burned per each run. Once your transmitter is plugged into your ipod, you can choose distances you would like to run or times you would like to run and from time to time, the program will remind you how far you have run during your work out or if you just ran your fastest mile to date, so on and so on. The program is very motivating to say the leased. It becomes almost addicting to go run because you can see progress.

Within the Nike+ program on your personal web page, their are training programs, coaches, and chat rooms to ask those oddball questions about your running. For Danielle and myself, we are actually excited to train for the half marathon this coming fall because of Nike+.
Since I have been trying to run farther, faster and more efficiently, I have signed up and ran a race or two to put the training to the test. Running races are so great to do something totally different than what D and I have been doing for years, climbing. This past Saturday, I ran the Sweetheart Classic 4 miler in Loveland. Danielle was going to run it with me, but decided she would like to watch this race until she felt she was ready. It was a really fun race with lots of mom's and dad's with their kids. There were  runners of all levels, just like climbing comps. The weather was perfect, sunny about 45 degrees. The only downer was the insane wind. It seemed like every time I came around a corner, there was a massive head wind. Mix the wind in with a couple of long hills and wow! All in all, I really enjoyed myself and beat my personal best for 4 miles. I came in 49th out of 312 with a time of 30:42 and a pace of 7:41. Not bad for never racing a 4 miler and having crazy wind and hills, I'm psyched! After the race, Danielle and walked around and ate great food, drank great recovery drinks and I personally felt as though I accomplished something. The nice thing about running is that we can go out, run 30 minutes and be totally satisfied the rest of the day. I can't wait for the next race, The Running of the Green 4 miler next month. Then we have the Boulder Boulder and the Rock and Roll Marathon.

Rocky Mountain Territory Events 2010

Here are some events coming up in the Rocky Mountain territory for 2010. I will post more as they come up:)

 Evolv Events 2010 Collegiate Climbing Series- Rocky Mountain Region 1) Comp schedule

Feb 20th UNM-Albuquerque
Feb 27th UCCS-Colorado Springs
March 6th Western-Gunnison
April 3rd Adams-Alamosa
April 17th CU-Boulder Regionals (Spot)
 Jan 23-Grand Junction Bouldering Comp.
 Jan 30- Sport Climbing Center Bouldering Comp (shoe demo), Co Springs. Jan 30- Spot Comp. 
Feb 6- Miramont Ft Collins Shoe Demo/ Duttle Clinic @ 9a.m.-12 p.m.
Feb 6- Lakewood Rec Center Comp.
Feb/ March ??The Rock Climbing Center, Co Springs- (shoe demo), GRAND OPENING.
Feb 25- Rockn and Jamin 1 Thorton, CO Comp.
Feb 27- School of Mines Climbing Comp- (shoe demo), Golden Co.
Feb 27- Colorado High School Nationals- Co Springs, The Rock.
May 28- 24 hours of Gunnison.
Weber State University –Ogden Utah Comp seriesFeb 6- Collegiate CompApril 9-10 Climbfest9th- Demo multi vender.10th- Comp/ slideshow. 
?? Hera Climb For Life
?? Horse tooth Hang

New Problem at Carter Lake

My buddy Jim Fuller called me the other day to tell me about a new problem that he and Scott Blunk had just put up on the Kahuna Boulder at Carter Lake. He told me that it was super tall and that it had a horrible landing. I guess they set up a top rope and rapped down to clean holds and work out the upper moves. Jim was able to boulder it and called it "In A Pickle" V7. The line is to the left of the "Big Pickle" and starts on a left hand shallow pocket and a side pull crimp for the right hand about chest high.  A big foot allows you to throw right hand up to a descent pinch. The problem works it's way up the faint seam trending right to a big angled slot. The feet are small and most of the holds are small crimps besides the large slot. The problem tops out on ok holds that keeps it pretty sustained.

I decided it sounded intriguing enough to bring a rope and some gear. Anson, Danielle and I rolled to Carter meeting Jim there for beta. Once Anson and I saw the problem, we decided to just  move some rocks to make the landing a bit flatter. I think we had three regular crash pads and Jim's Mondo. Jim sprayed me down and I gave it a whirl. I flashed it, but it was pretty committing and scary, but super fun! Anson was a bit hung over and wasn't in the highball mood. After doing the stand, I gave the sit a go. A really good left hand crimp in the alcove and small right crimp with a super good right heal hook allowed me to go up right hand to the two finger pocket and punched left hand to a small dimple on the upper corner, once there, I reached over to the good pinch right hand and then I was in the stand up problem. I am guessing the sit moves are around V4-V5 and then you end up in the regular problem which I am guess total grade maybe hard V7 to soft V8. I called the sit, "Tickle My Pickle". Both problems are really good and committing which I think are great additions to  Carter Lake.

Bring pads and balls, your going to need them all.

Winter

Well, this winter has been interesting to say the leased. I have taken on the sales rep position for Evolv and am setting at the Spot Bouldering Gym. I quit my full time job and and am making things work with two fun jobs.
Climbing has come to almost a complete stop because of Colorado's winter this year. We get dumped on in October and the ground has had snow on it ever since. Not only has it been snowy, but it has been damn cold as well. This week is the first week in a long while that is has been warmer than 30 degrees. Plastic climbing is the way of things until I can get out and get on rock.
Wade, Josh Mitchell and I tried to climb on "Burn Out", but got chased out by rangers. I had no idea that Walker Ranch is closed to off trail traffic. Apparently, it has been closed for the last 5 years and they are talking about shutting it down to all trail and off trail traffic. We decided to go to the Hobo cave at Flag. I have never been there and it was nice outside so I decided what the hell. It was real rock, kind of. I wasn't all that impressed, really. I should have just climbed on plastic and got the work out in.
Hopefully the weather stays nice and I can get out at leased once this next month.