Perched on the Elephant

The Story

My first significant climbing trip was to Estes Park, CO, for multipitch trad climbing. I signed up through my college outdoor rec department on a whim. I didn't have gear. I didn't lead. For most of my life I'd barely been above sea level. Despite falling on 5.7 slab and bailing on 5.8 cracks, the feeling of being up high in the mountains seduced me. Now I've been climbing rocks for 7 years. I've spent most of my time in the Southeast climbing single pitch routes, but the tug of the mountains has never ceased.

Somewhere on the book of Lumpy Ridge in 2008. I had never been somewhere so impressive, climbing cracks while looking at the mountains.

The Bugaboos, Incredible Hulk, Patagonia, and Yosemite are the places that draw me. Places that will challenge me mentally and physically. Over the years, I have slowly acquired more skills in the mountains. Fortunate to have traveled to some great American climbing venues, I've been able to tick off maybe one bigger route per year. Each time the routes and approaches are getting longer, bringing me one step closer to the big mountain routes of my dreams. For several years now, the Elephant's Perch of Idaho has been on my radar as one of those stepping stones. I first saw the beautiful golden face and overhanging diamond in 2009. I've been to Idaho five times for family vacation, and the Perch has continued to wait for me.

Thankful for this log bridge being in place this year after turning around at the creek last year.

All the waiting and preparation made the ascent all the sweeter! I enjoy that part of the growing process. Every now and again I'm able to snag a harder-than-usual route, perhaps a nice onsight, and it is exciting, but I know I have gotten away with something. On any sort of project or goal route on which I have spent a lot of energy (physical or mental), the ascent feels earned. Trusting the process has allowed me to not rush my climbing. The project list is long, for sure, but I plan on climbing a long time, and I look forward to improving every year for many to come.

Looking up at P1. I found the climbing to be blocky and discontinuous up the gully with an occasional thought-provoking move. With the pitch moving quickly and not experiencing much rope drag (not much gear), I kept going past the mantle move and into a shallow crack system to belay (just below the nice, flat belay ledge of P2, unfortunately).

Each route teaches me something new. Getting a rope stuck (while leading) on the Flatirons taught me something about protecting a route and problem solving alone on a face. My first foray into Idaho climbing, on Super Slab, taught me how to retreat and to not overestimate my abilities or heed my ego. Devil's Tower taught me the benefits of racking light (because I brought too much). The Nose of Looking Glass taught me the importance of conditions (as we froze). The Mountaineer's Route of Elephant's Perch taught me how to string together a long day. 

I was expecting the day to be tight, requiring us to make it shuttle to shuttle in under 12 hrs. With 3+ miles of hiking each way and 6 pitches of climbing, I knew it would push us, and it did. We ended up climbing the route in about 7hrs, reaching the top at 5pm, leaving only 2 hours to traverse the mountain, descend, and hike out. The simple gully walk-off was much more of an issue than expected. The route finishes relatively low on the shoulder. While the taller routes top out and allow a ridge traverse down to the gully, we had a long traverse on the backside to reach the ridge. Due to slabs and snow patches, we also had to descend (and hike back up) several hundred feet of ledges and talus. It took an hour to get to the gully, leaving us no hope of making it back in time for the last shuttle. Our saving grace was our family, who were able to keep track of our progress via cell phone. They took the last shuttle back and worked on arranging a later shuttle to retrieve us and save us the 6+ mile hike around the lake. We made it back to the dock at 8:30pm, about 13hrs after arriving, waterless, and dragging. Two gatorades, a nice dinner, and a hot soak later, I slept like the dead.

I hate to say it, but the long day and tough descent took away from the positive climbing experience for me. I kind of felt like I could not take the time to really celebrate and take in the ascent. In fact, it's taken me over a month to write about it simply because I have not been that excited. I am trying to realize, though, that if I want to reach my goals, I have to accept the good and bad - the long approaches, offwidths, exhausting days, parched throats, and poor conditions. Sometimes you have to climb the junky pitches to get to the good ones! I desire the full mountain experience after all. Otherwise, I'd just stay at the crag. So little by little I get smarter, faster, and tougher, and one step closer to my goals.

The Dirty Details

Low snow fall and a hot summer allowed for our early season attempt in mid-June. The log bridge was in place (thanks locals!) and only patches of snow covered the trail. After taking the first shuttle across Redfish Lake about 7am, we reached the wall a little before 10am. I tried to eat some sandwich but my stomach was still in knots. Action is often the best treatment for anxiety, so we set off.

The first pitch gully climbing was relatively mellow and quick. I opted to climb as far as possible for efficiency and linked P1 and P2. Given the broken and easier climbing, I sparsely placed gear, and the rope drag was not much issue. The top of the second pitch offered some heads up climbing moves - climbing out of the chimney/gully over an overhanging block and then traversing to the mantle. Unfortunately I set a semi-hanging belay in a shallow crack system just above the mantle. That left us just below the large ledge belay below P3. It made for a less than ideal first multipitch belay for my partner!

Our second pitch then brought us to the bolted belay below the triple roofs. The climbing was very nice mellow cracks and edges. But the real money was coming next pulling around the roofs. The Perch is already pretty high as it sits in an alpine cirque at the edge of a bigger valley, so the exposure is amplified. The juggy side pulls and underclings of the roof lead right to the arete and lots of air! That was the most I've smiled on a route in a long time! The rest of the pitch is scrappy gully climbing below the diamond.

Coming up to the belay below the triple roofs.

Our 4th pitch was the face below the diamond. Finding a protectable start was the biggest challenge. I found it best to start almost at the top of the gully and then to traverse back out left some, following discontinuous flakes up the face. The top offered either crack climbing up a detached flake/block on the right or airy climbing up the arete. I opted for the flake which felt secure enough and setup our semi-hanging belay right at the arete with beautiful exposure. It was at that belay that our family made it up into the cirque and got some great shots.

 

 

 

  

Climbing next to the diamond is pretty special. It is massive and entirely blank! Plus the next two pitches offer the best and most continuous climbing on the route. As I climbed the fingercrack dihedral of the next pitch, I just wanted to keep climbing. It is probably even possible to run the 5.9 finger cracks of pitch 5 all the way through the crux of pitch 6 for one rope stretching pitch of stellar crack climbing! As I led it, however, I set the belay right where a prominent horizontal crack connects the finger crack on the left with the blockier original route on the right. In truth, I did not notice the horizontal until after I had set the hanging belay in the finger crack. My partner was not appreciating me missing all the nice belays. The crux fist crack bulge came next. I found the climbing to be very secure although the most strenuous of the route. After the crux I opted to run it all the way thru the offwidth type section to the top of the technical climbing.

Really fine climbing towards the top of the route.

  

Elephants Perch Conditions - Summer 2014

I have been going to the Sawtooth Mountains near Stanley, ID, since summer 2009. My wife and in-laws have vacationed there for close to a dozen years now, and we typically spend a week in the area annually. During my first visit, my wife (who was working in the area at the time) took me up to"Shangri-La," better known as Saddleback Lakes below Elephant's Perch. We made an ill-fated attempt at climbing the Central Gully of Super Slab on the approach to Saddleback [that trip is covered here].

It's steeper than it looks. Free-soloing to the first tree was ill-advised.

As a young climber, I was amazed by the towering golden face of Elephant's Perch above me. I hoped that one day I would be able to measure up. Five years later, my brother-in-law and I established plans to highjack one of the vacation days to attempt Mountaineer's Route. I watched mountain project like a hawk and contacted The Elephant's Perch shop in Ketchum for recent updates. Due to the nature of our trip (a family vacation), we were opting for a single day attempt. We would catch the earliest 7am boat shuttle across Redfish Lake, hike the 2-3 miles in, climb the route, and hopefully catch one of the last shuttles back. We figured that would give us adequate time for the nine pitches of the route. If not, we could suffer the slog back to the parking lot around the lake.

Obligatory shot. One cannot resist capturing the beauty of this place. MR is around to the left.

We would be there during the last week of June. Knowing that was pretty early in the alpine season, we expected some snow on the approach and summit, along with potential for higher water levels and potentially cold temps (40s + shade). In preparation, we borrowed two ice axes just in case.

What Conditions Did We Find?
The boat ride is wonderful and the hike is mellow until the traditional creek crossing. In the past, I had crossed on a natural log jam (shown below). This time, however, the heavy runoff had washed out the logs leaving no way to cross. I had read about a potential crossing farther down, so we walked a few more minutes around some bends until the woods opened up some and approached the creek for a look. At this point, the creek was deeper and slower moving. Someone had strung a hand line between trees above a partially submerged log (shown below).

So much for the crossing.

The new, slightly damper, and more adventurous crossing.

We ultimately decided to not risk falling in with packs. The low lying position of the log plus the wobbly hand line wigged us out, and we were thrown quite off guard by the situation. Later in the morning, I successfully and quite easily crossed the log without a pack, confirming my suspicion that we simply wimped out. In fact, we saw several backpackers coming out from the lakes via that crossing.

Scouting Mission
Our plans were foiled and we enjoyed a nice hike into the valley instead. The hike is probably my favorite of all the Sawtooth hikes I have done and reminded me of the Tetons. The trip was not a completely waste as we had fun and were able to take some photos of the route from a rarely captured angle. From the lakes, most of the route is not visible.

This Year
We are headed back this year and hope to make another attempt. Unfortunately, we will be there even earlier, but it seems like snowfall has been a little lower. Perhaps we'll luck out. At least I will feel confident using the hand line this time!

Route Photos Below:

Topo of the route from http://web.stanford.edu/~clint/eperch/mtneer.gif

The whole face, with the MR going up the left side of the diamond.

The top of the route. Click and zoom for more detail. There seem to multiple options next to the diamond: easier but looser in the gully (in the shadow) or harder, more direct cracks on the face.

Lower/Middle route below the diamond. The triple roofs appear to be in the big triangular shadow down low followed by going around the corner and then up to the base of the diamond. The first 3 pitches are not really visible due to their right-facing nature. 

Creek crossing with hand line and partially submerged log. The creek may be fordable just upstream but don't be fooled by the clear water. It is actually probably 5-6ft deep.

Informative trip reports:

https://www.kuhl.com/borninthemountains/portfolio/trip-report-elephants-perch-mountaineers-route/

http://chossclimbers.com/testing/us/idaho/sawtooths/mountaineers-route-on-the-perch/

I Qualified!

That's right! Last weekend, both my wife and I qualified for the Boston Marathon 2016. I ran 3:04 and she ran 3:26. Overall, it was a fantastic weekend with college friends, and it was so fulfilling to complete this yearlong goal!

The Weather
We knew going into the race that it would likely be rainy. However, the temps were pretty good - 50s. While water can add some weight, I thought I still had a chance of running a fast time with good temps. After all, I nice day of running has been rare this winter. I opted for light and fast clothes - singlet and shorts and ball cap. It worked out well, and I never was very cold minus some tingly hands and forearms which I am used to.

Race Breakdown
It was amazing how fast the race went by. With so many people and changing scenery, the miles ticked by. I started in corral 2 and was at the 5k mark before I knew it. Through the initial miles, my pace was too fast (6:30-6:45) but I was feeling good minus a slightly heavy belly from one too many Grab the Gold bars in the morning. In those initial miles, all the half and full runners are mixed together, people are jockeying for position, and it is easy to get caught up in it.

For the middle miles, I fell in with a consistent group of runners. I kept edging up next to a tall, college-age kid running my pace, so I finally asked him what time he was going for. He, too, was attempting to BQ, and on his first marathon attempt too (he did)! We cruised together for ~8miles, through the halfway point, 16, 18, etc. I think it really helped to have a partner through those miles to keep me consistent. We knocked out 7:00 miles one after another. I kept thinking about Scott Jurek, the famed ultrarunner. In one of his early attempts at the Badwater Ultramaraton through Death Valley, he collapsed halfway through, completely spent. He convinced himself that the only way he could finish is if he approached the rest of the race as brand new, like he had started over. He went on to win and set a new course record. I told Geoff, my new partner, at 13.1, "brand new race," and we started the countdown from there.

Eventually I left Geoff and headed out solo. I was still holding steady paces, but starting to feel the fatigue coming in during miles 18-20. Having only single digit miles left kept me moving. Due to the heavy belly, I delayed my first gel until about mile 10. About mile 19 I choked down another 1/2 gel or so. I was feeling OK in energy but wanted to delay the "wall" as I progressed beyond my longest training run of just 16miles. These miles were tough because the half- runners were gone, the bands were rare, and the crowds were absent. I think it's in these middle miles where mental focus and toughness are important to bridge the gap between the adrenaline of starting and the relief of nearly finishing.

The last 10k were both hard and exhilarating. It's only 10k to go. At that point in a marathon, I have run so far and so long, I think what's another 40 mins?! The course winds through a park across the river from main DC and the finish for the last few miles. I was pretty isolated with just a couple runners in sight. My legs were feeling tired, and I dreaded a debilitating cramp. Plus, the second of 2 significant hills occurred from miles 22-23. Man! There was a lot of self-talk going on. "You can do this. You are doing this!" "Keep the pace, Gary, keep the pace!" "Come on - just keep going."

Throughout the last 5-10k, my pace was still good even as the effort increased. I even dropped a 6:40 mile at mile 19. The hill at 22 got me though, and dropped my pace back to 7:19. Some downhills gave some relief and took me back under 7:00, fortunately. In the last 2 miles, I was just hanging on, struggling to put one foot in front of the other. The last 1.2miles were at 7:28 pace. I knew I had done it, though, which kept me going. Coming through the finishing chute, I was very calm, content, and fulfilled. I think I gave a little fist pump even.

Post Race
It was truly amazing how it hit me so abruptly as my legs stopped moving. Running 3hrs and then...STOP. My legs nearly buckled. I ducked for my medal and just took a moment in that position to collect myself. I considered going to the medical tent. In fact, if it weren't raining, I probably would have laid down.

I felt like an alien in the finisher's area. Half finishers were swarming everywhere, fresh off running half the distance in the same time as me. I shuffled by tables, grabbing chocolate milk, water, pretzels, bananas, and gatorade. I gratefully welcomed a wrap of space blanket and asked the volunteer to open my water bottle for me. My cold hands had become claws. Picking up my "finisher's jacket," a real nice piece of swag, I again required assistance to get it zipped.

Our friend Caroline came in at 3:17 and my wife at 3:26. While waiting, I consumed liquids and shivered uncontrollably among the crowds with umbrellas and ponchos. A concerned volunteer asked me if I was OK, and spectators opened my gatorade for me. I watched the girls finish, and we all rendezvoused with our friends Mike and Devon. Mike swiftly took action, stripping our wet clothes and providing dry replacements. I kept imagining myself holed up in a snow cave in the mountains, spooning with a partner, trying to survive through an unplanned bivy.

Wrapped in aluminum-plastic skirts and shawls, we shuffled our way to the Metro Station and back home to rest. Our hosts provided a delicious post-race meal of homemade blueberry pancakes and scrambled eggs. We all showered, lounged, and recounted our tales of glory from the morning race.

What now?
It was such a life-giving weekend! We enjoyed the company of friends, sharing in suffering and celebration. Having all four of us meet or exceed our goals was really special and allowed us to be smiley and cheery all day! We immediately started making plans for Boston.

Monday, our friend emailed us about how hard it was to return to work, back to normal life. Setting and working toward a big goal requires such singular focus. Last spring, I was inspired by this same friend and a professor to try to BQ. My wife and I both had to drop over 30mins off our PRs, and we hadn't run a marathon in 3.5 years. We worked really hard and made a lot of sacrifices. Sometimes it was very rewarding. Sometimes it was a chore. We kept at it and it kept us going through a dreary winter. We're in the best shape of our lives thanks to this goal.

I think we are all kind of at a loss as to what to do now that it's over. All the hard work over a year cashed in for a 3-3.5 hr experience. It's really pretty strange and somewhat anticlimactic. We want the high to go on forever, right? Post-race I'm stuck between "never running another marathon because it hurts so much" and "I bet I can go faster in Nashville in 6weeks." Visions of grandeur rise up like carbonation to replace the completed goal as it drifts into memory. I'm grateful for the ability and privilege to run and to climb and to be fit. It's incredibly rewarding and satisfying to push myself and see what I'm capable of. That is why I started this journey trying to BQ in the first place. It was all to answer the question: "What am I capable of?" For better or worse, that question is never fully answered, and the journey is never-ending.

This week is my spring break, which has afforded me time to recuperate physically and mentally. I'm climbing 5 days here at the Red River Gorge, and it feels great to get vertical again. I have climbing goals too, and look forward to really investing in those, but I cannot escape wondering what else I can do on my feet. I will likely give another hard effort at the Country Music Marathon in just 6 weeks. I'd like to lower my BQ time to increase my chance of being admitted to Boston. Who knows? Maybe I can go even faster ;) This time I plan on running more consistent paces and holding back for the first half. Hopefully, I will have some plans for next April in the northeast!

Another Pair: Kinvara 5 Review

The old cliche states one cannot fully know another without walking a mile in his shoes. It turns out, one cannot fully trust a shoe review or hype without trying it for oneself. Case in point: my experience with the Saucony Kinvara.

The Kinvaras seem to be a wildly successful shoe for Saucony and a trendsetter for minimalist(ish) shoes. Glowing reviews abound on the intrawebs. Being a researcher, I dug and dug and was fully convinced that the Kinvaras would be perfect for me. I even tried some on a few months ago at a local shop but chose the Brooks PureFlows instead. Even then I planned to buy the Kinvaras if I did not fall in love with the PureFlows.

That is exactly what happened. The PureFlows were not perfect, so after about 400 miles, I purchased some Kinvaras to try. I intentionally purchased from RunningWarehouse.com so I would have the option of returning the Kinvara if they did work out.

First Impression
The Kinvaras are light and streamlined. I like the feel of the shoe and the stride. However, I sounded like a cantering horse in the shoes for the first 100miles or so. Click clack, click clack. I could not figure out why. The soles are almost entirely foam and I am not a big heel striker. While the shoes were quick and light, the cushioning is vastly different from the PureFlows (read nonexistent). That is how it feels. Perhaps the foam is denser but there is not much plushness or noticed absorption of shock. I figured I could deal with the noise and firm strike for the marathon, and I started using the Kinvaras for my marathon pace and faster runs.

After Some Time
It did not take long for me to notice some increased soreness in my legs. When my PureFlows started rubbing on the inside of my big toe and midfoot, I switched almost entirely to the Kinvaras. Soon thereafter, I developed significant soreness in my left calf, ankle, and foot. One day I could barely walk in the morning. I chalked it up to making the shoe change and figured I needed some time for my legs to make the transition. In addition, I was in peak mileage (over 60mpw), so maybe the soreness was a byproduct of that. Regardless, I continued using the Kinvaras and holding onto hope.

Finally
The final straw happened this past week. Due to record-setting snows, I was forced to run on the treadmill 4 days. On the 3rd day, I developed a pea-size blister on the side of my big toe. I don't remember the last time I got a foot blister. The next day, I made 8.5 of a 16miler indoors before relenting. I had developed an identical blister on my left big toe. I could not identify what was causing the blisters, but I cannot risk that happening in the marathon.

Overall
I wanted to like the Kinvara and tried hard to overlook their flaws. Like a relationship, we were "slow dancing in a burning room." No matter how hard we tried or for how long, we just weren't meant for each other. The leg soreness, lack of cushioning, and blisters are evidence (albeit circumstantial) that the shoes are not working, and I cannot take that risk with the race.

What now? I have the same pair of PureFlows with almost 500miles on them. I've been surprisingly impressed with their durability (much better than the kinvaras). I know they work, so I am strongly considering just sticking with them through the next 3 wks (that's it!). Why spend $70 on a new pair to wear for a couple hundred miles if the old ones are working? I think I'd rather stick to them and save that money for something else (maybe some trail shoes)! Hopefully they last and don't irritate my feet too much (calluses are building).

I'm glad I used Running Warehouse and will be mailing the shoes back this afternoon.

My First Epic

Climbing chalk is sometimes referred to as powdered confidence, and many of us cling to it like a child's blankie before facing our own potential boogie men on cliffs everywhere. What about new gear, though? Don't you feel stronger and braver from slipping on a fresh pair of shoes? Doesn't the fresh snap of unblemished cams lead to thoughts of running it out (and paradoxically not using those same cams)? I know that is all true for me, but I learned it the hard way during one of my first multi-pitch trips.

The cliff was relatively short, not to mention slabby, and it was a beautiful sunny day in the Sawtooths of Idaho. Riding high from reuniting with my new girlfriend after a couple months apart, I was not alarmed by the late hour. We had a plan that we were going to keep! She had just graduated and was spending the summer and fall working at a guest ranch. I was a year behind and spending my summer in Leadville, CO, learning the ropes of being an Outward Bound instructor. I'd been honing my trad skills for the past year in Tennessee, had received further instruction and practice through OB, and was (in my mind) fully equipped with a new trad rack through my prodeal. After a brief demo of how to remove my new gear, we were ready to make our first multi-pitch ascent as a couple!

Our progress was initially delayed by a middle-aged, local couple bailing from the second pitch. Amateurs. Surely we would easily dispatch this backwoods 5.7 in the next couple hours, possibly with them even witnessing our prowess. Then we would celebrate with pan-cooked pita pizzas, creek-chilled wine, and starlit skies.

The first pitch followed a shallow runoff groove choked with dirt. Rather than grovel up that, I decided we would ascend the clean, adjacent slab. Given the easy nature and lack of gear, we would simul-free-solo. We tied in, and both set off up the 5.6/5.7 slab. Fortunately it was easy climbing but the slab arced upward as we climbed higher toward the tree ledge. About 85% through, my girlfriend got spooked. I talked her anxiety down and traversed to the tree ledge to offer a belay. Good thing we were tied in already. We would see that tree ledge again.

The second pitch followed a shallow corner up to a jumble of tat around a giant choked chockstone. Suddenly I found myself in the same spot as the previous party. From the belay cave I could not tell where to go for the 3rd pitch. Without a topo and with little multipitch experience, I swallowed my pride and we set to descend. Thus began one of most tense experiences of my climbing experiences.

A half-rope rappel from the belay cave could not take us the full pitch to the tree ledge, but I remembered there were two pitons about  four feet apart mid pitch. I rappelled first set a belay using the two old pins. For the next rappel, I sent my lady down first. The rope was thread through a screwlink on the bottom pin, while I backed up the rappel with my body and a runner to the higher pin. She recalls how stern and quiet I was during the experience. I imagine now that it was probably to hide my foolishness from her. Safely reaching the tree ledge, I don't think she realized the gamble I took rappelling from the single pin with no backup. I was grateful for the "near miss" of the situation.

It was nearly nightfall and cold by the time we made camp that night. Our celebration was dampened by fatigue, fright, and a lack of matches. We drank unchilled white wine and choked down our cold, lunchables-style pita pizzas before turning in.

My wife and I have gone on to successfully complete (and bail from) several multipitch lines since then. I've acquired more gear, and sense, and we always carry an extra lighter in our first aid kit.

When Running Isn't Fun

It's week 15 of 18. This is the last big week of training, peaking at 65miles before trending down to race day. That's the good news, because I'm tired, and I don't really want to run any more.

The training has really worn on me, but in surprising ways. My muscles have rarely ever been sore, even after the hardest workouts. Man have they been tight though! Over the past few weeks, my calves and achilles have gotten ever tighter, requiring diligent rolling and stretching. I woke up one morning this week and could barely walk due to foot pain. After rolling my sole with a racquetball all day at school, it slowly loosened up, but I skipped a workout because of it.

Overall, I've been able to deal with the aches and pains. Compression gear, rolling, stretching all really help tightness and soreness, but they don't make me feel any stronger. The longer I train, the more frail and unstable my legs feel. I step on a patch of grass and tweak an ankle! It has made me really miss trail running and regret running exclusively on pavement.

More than leg soreness, time management has been the major obstacle. On top of school, work, marriage, and surviving, running consistently is difficult! To put in 10+mi in the middle of the week is hard physically and logistically. Up to this weekend, I had 16 straight days of work, school, exams, or combinations of the three. The cumulative load of everything has hurt me most in quality of sleep and rest. I've been able to make most workouts but I've been generally exhausted, and I've noticed the effect on my quality of running. With soreness and stress, I've missed my weekly mileage for the last couple weeks (peak weeks).

Hopefully, the last few weeks of tapering will give me the rest I need to succeed in the BQ attempt. At this point, I'm having doubts, though. Have I run fast enough? Have I run far enough? This was going to be the benchmark week for me, especially with the last 16miler this weekend. Here we are on Monday, though, receiving about a foot of snow. That does not bode well for the week! Shoveling snow is roughly equivalent to running 8miles right?

Compression Gear

Runner by day...

Ladies know the sexy and supportive feeling of tights, leggings, hoes, and spanx. Even the men out there (at least those willing to admit it) know the feeling of strength and power associated with some under armor or football pants. There's a reason superheroes wear tights!

In my own effort to gain superhuman strength and speed, I purchased a couple compression garments for this marathon training season - the CW-X Stabilyx Tights and Smartwool Graduated Compression Socks.

Look how cool this guy looks! Don't you want to look cool too?

Far less sexy form of compression garment.

Background
I wore under armor back in high school much more for the sweat management than anything else (perhaps besides looking good). Now compression gear is making a real move into the mainstream with promises for better performance and recovery. I've known about CW-X and their muscle and joint supporting claims since my first foray into distance running back in 2008, but I was too poor and too self-conscious to buy any. Fast forward 6 years and I started really considering them. Why?

As much of my current running and body maintenance does, it comes back to Kelly Starrett of MobilityWod.com. In his book Ready to Run he illustrates the uses of compression gear in promoting blood flow, lymph flow, and therefore recovery. With his encouragement and reading some of the peer-reviewed research, I became convinced that compression could benefit me, so I bought some socks and tights.

It should be noted that the science and benefit of compression gear is not yet entirely settled. It seems evidence is strong for compression socks promoting recovery and blood flow, hence their use in bed-bound hospital patients to prevent blood clots and in those suffering from edema (e.g. the elderly). However, the results are mixed whether compression socks improve performance. I've not looked at research regarding compression tights, but if the lower leg compression is graduated, it should have a similar effect. I cannot say how scientifically sound CWX's muscle and joint supporting exoskelton (if you will) is. I can speak to my personal results though.

CW-X Review
There are a few standout features of the tights.
(1) Support: Compared to basic running tights (e.g. one layer of consistent stretchiness, CWX offers much more support. The comparison is like a regular car seat vs a racing bucket seat or soft handshake vs a firm handshake or (for the guys) boxer-briefs vs straight briefs. My basic Asics tights fit like tight pants but don't particularly support me. They feel sleek for sure but not like a shrink wrapped support web of my legs. That's what CW-X feels like, particularly around the knee joint. That support feels good - powerful, strong, tight.
(2) Material: My basic tights are one consistent layer of shiny slick stretchy material (lycra?). The CW-X tights have multiple layers of a softer, tougher feeling material. The support network is over the top and seems to provide extra tightness, reinforcement, and support. The result is a tighter, more substantial feel to the pant. That extra thickness and matte finish leave me less self-conscious about going outside in my skivvies.
(3) Warmth: Simple - being somewhat thicker, I comfortably wore these tights alone down to about 20 degrees F. The wind can cut through them, making wish I had some windbriefs. Being winter, I have not run in them in temps warmer than ~45F.

Smartwool Compression Socks
I have zero complaints about these socks. I wear them a few hours nearly every day post run and sometimes all day before or after a hard workout. I have washed them maybe twice now. They have held up well, don't smell, fit tightly, and are comfortable. I prefer wool and found these on major internet sale, which is what persuaded me to go with them rather than a big name compression brand.

I decided to buy socks rather than sleeves because I thought I would use them more regularly. The jury is still out on whether compressions benefits during performance, so I did not think I would run in them. Since I was not going to run in them, I was not worried about getting them dirty quickly or them working with my regular running socks or wearing out from running wear. This allowed me to buy only one pair to wear as much as possible and afford the ability to wear the socks with normal clothes just fine (mostly as dress socks and not having to put a sleeve over or on top of other socks). I saw no advantage of a sleeve.

Results
They look good and feel good BUT DO THEY WORK? That's a very difficult question to answer. I have not organized a self-trial comparing them in the same workout to another pair of tights. Even trying to do that would have too many other factors to be apples-to-apples. However, I do credit them with decreasing my soreness this season.

It has been rare that I have been sore the day after a run this season despite doing track work and tempo intervals for the first time and ramping up mileage relatively quickly. How is that? I'm not in better shape. I think it's because I am using these pieces of equipment (along with committing to mobility work). I wear my CW-X tights for nearly all my hard workouts: track, tempo, and some long runs (total of 2-3x/wk). I wear the socks after almost every run. Very often I'll come home sore and worn down, but after wearing the gear for a few hours and getting a night's sleep, I rarely ever have morning time soreness after a workout.

I cannot say that the gear has definitely improved my recovery or made me better able to handle my increased training. I believed it would; that's why I bought it. And I do believe it has, which is why I recommend both.

Come March 14th at DC, I hope it's a bit chilly so I can wear my Stabilyx Tights, and I will definitely being wearing my Smartwool Compression Socks on the plane before and after!

Handling Travel and Time Off

It's the new year and things are settling down as the spring semester gets going. While winter break is a privilege, but training is a discipline easier to practice with a consistent routine and environment. For my wife and me, winter break included some really good training but more time off than was planned (isn't that always the case).

Between Dec 18th when my classes ended to Dec 30th, we were away from home traveling between KY, TN, Chicago, TN, GA, and FL and back for over 30hrs and 2000 miles of driving and flying.

Modifying the Plan
Initially the schedule didn't look to bad and my intentions were to train right through the travel. The original plan is shown below and had me running 92mi during the timespan. With some slight rearrangement of days and a couple rest days for travel, I could get most of the workouts in and 91% of the original mileage. However, treadmills, travel, busyness, and general low motivation when faced with food and family contributed to me only putting shoe to pavement for 46% of the original mileage and about half of the modified mileage.

What's there to say? Is it possible to run through the holidays and maintain a schedule? An emphatic YES! Did I manage to do it? A more emphatic NO! Why? Mostly because I did not commit to doing it. The adage is true that the hardest part of the run is getting out the door, and it still holds true for me nearly every day.

Good News
I really enjoyed the holidays! I also got some quality runs in at my favorite place Percy Warner Park in Nashville and felt rested coming back. Since the break, I've been much more consistent, getting back into routine. If I am to miss any portion of the training, missing relatively early is much preferred to missing later when the training is more marathon specific.

Project Week: Shoe Care

How should I take care of my leather shoes? I have black dress shoes, classic brown desert boots, some wingtip brown boots, casual brown shoes. They are all different quality and colors of leather, and I've never really known how to properly care for them. Until now. After perusing the web o' knowledge and visiting a cobbler, I've put together a strategy.

Why do I have so many shoes?

Leather Conditioning
Leather dries out and cracks if it is not kept supple and conditioned. I remember an old leather jacket of my father that sat in our front closet for years. It looked great but the leather was like beef jerky it had dried so much. To keep leather shoes (and other leather goods) well conditioned and soft, using leather conditioner once a month or a few times per year is appropriate. Personally, I have used Clark's Weather Guard (more of an oily semisolid) and Lexol Leather Conditioner (creamy liquid). Both noticeably soften the leather. The Clark's leaves some sticky residue to collect dust. In general - rub it in liberally, let it sit awhile, wipe off the excess.

Waterproofing
Water is the enemy of leather and will lead to rotting and stains over time. Treating leather to resist water, therefore, is an important step. Fortunately, many of the leather conditioning products are effective for this as well. Applying Leather Honey, Lexol Conditioner, or Weather Guard periodically should protect your casual shoes from water damage (along with being careful how you use them).

Dress Shoes
If you polish the shoes, you are waterproofing them with wax, so you get a BOGO deal - shine and protection! A rare conditioning may be needed, but occasional polishing should work fine.

PROJECTS:

Dyeing Leather
Last winter I really wanted some nice leather boots I could dress up or down. Being drawn to high quality items, I coveted the Allen Edmonds Dalton boots seen first below (oh how nice!). At $425, though, that was not going to happen, so I looked around.

Allen Edmonds Dalton boot - $425 msrp
www.allenedmonds.com

I looked around and found these Hawkings McGill boots from Urban Outfitters. They had a similar wingtip look but were on sale for 40 BUCKS! I never did like the oompa loompa orange color, but at $40 I could deal with it. For the last year, I've worn them quite a bit with my navy suit or slacks for a nice contrast.

Hawkings McGill boot - $88 MSRP - $40 on sale at Urban Outfitters
http://dappered.com/2011/08/the-88-ships-free-wingtip-boot/

I can tell the HM boots are pretty cheaply made. For instance, the insole is constantly slipping, the leather is plastic-y, they are about as comfortable as walking with woodens clogs. But they were so inexpensive and I did not plan to wear them a ton. This was a fashion over comfort/quality decision. I never did like the color, though, so I sought to improve them.

Voila! With some acetone to strip the original polish/coating and some brown leather dye, I turned them into these. While darker than I intended, I'm much happier with the color and more likely to wear them!

Stripping and Repolishing

Back when I was in high school, I did ROTC, where I was a pretend navy sailor for 4 years. I dressed the part, underwent competitions, drill, and uniform inspections. Part of the uniform was standard black dress shoes, and one of our first responsibilities was to polish them to a high gloss shine. 

Master Chief showed us how: liberally apply traditional shaving cream all over the shoe, let is sit, scrub off the polish and coating down to the bare leather. I just now realized the implications of that for my face while shaving. Hmm. Anyway, once the leather is stripped, we applied Kiwi black polish with an applicator brush, lightly buffed it with a brush, and then spit shined with more Kiwi polish. I always took pride in doing this and having glossy shoes. That is why I've kept those first shoes for almost 13 years. However, there were always a few blotches where I either did not completely strip them or caked too much polish, so I decided to start over. 

I stripped them by rubbing acetone nail polish remover all over the shoes, leaving a nasty black rag. Whether I gully stripped them, I doubt, but I definitely removed all shine. Then I simply started over, but applying a light coating of polish with a brush, buffing, and then spit shining. After one coat, they look as good as ever and more consistent.

Polish is (maybe) Important

I had only ever used Kiwi polish before. I've used black, neutral (clear), and Kiwi Parade Gloss. They worked fine, I guess, but I started reading recently how they have lots of additives including gas and turpentine like compounds. Is that important? I don't know, but I figured I'd try something different at least. So I got some polish from the cobbler mentioned above - some Kelly's black and Lincoln brown. The big difference here is that the polish I got has stain in it (apparently Kiwi does not), so it works to both restore color and shine. Whether it is any better, I'm not sure, but the end product worked well, so I'll stick with it for the time being!

13 years and going strong!

Conclusion

That is what I've learned so far. I will definitely be paying more attention to using conditioner to protect my shoes form water damage. This is a big problem for my wife who wears boots all winter. We may need a bigger bottle of conditioner...

Here is one final plug for a new company called Nisolo. They make handmade leather shoes in Peru, fair trade. I got mine in Nashville courtesy of my very generous mother-in-law. They are super comfortable with all leather soles too and thick leather requiring break-in. I've been enjoying mine for a few weeks now.

Very sleek and stylish Emilio LE boot
http://nisolo.com/