500 Mile March Day 12- Wednesday (SNOW DAY!)

Old man winter is one grumpy SOB. I get up, it it still mild, do an easy 5 miler, then as I am going to school, it really starts to come down. REALLY STARTS. No way I am running outside again today. I was relegated to the indoor track YET AGAIN! Luckily I was able to meet up with my good buddy James and we ended up doing a 70 minute long run on the outside lane of that indoor beast.

I am getting REAL tired of your shit winter. I am so ready to have a solid week out outdoor mud runs. No tights, not hats- just shorts and some trail shoes.

MILES: 16.2

TO DATE: 189.1

"What is this Trail Stuff anyway": Shoe Review: Salomon S-Lab SENSE

Trail folk are a different breed. They seem to take enjoyment in doing silly things like running 100km or an ungodly sum of miles as a race. They pass off 50km on single track trail with technical climbs that have you crawling up hand-over hand as if it were just a gentle day in the park (I will probably get yelled at by said trail folk because they claim it is a lot more difficult than that, but I stand by my bias). They prance like graceful deer along through the forest, infuriatingly so, that of course I had to do something about it.

When asked about what shoes are the "best" for running trail (what brand should I look at), you'll get a vehemently definite but different answer from every serious trail runner. They stick to their guns. One that had always piqued my interest was Salomon. I mean, come on, I don't want to be running in skis here; they make shoes? Yet, after Carl and I had done some more in-depth research, we learned that Salomon in fact does make shoes and heck, they make some pretty slick ones at that. So of course we had to go out and see for ourselves just what the hubbub was about.  This seems like a long build up to get into a pair of shoes right? Well yes, but it's fun and the allure of fluffy writing is oft at times too great to pass up. And with that out of the way, on to the review.

Please note the dirt and fading of the white- I have done some serious trailing in these puppies.

The Salomon that I had to get my hands on were these new S-Lab Sense, Salomon's high performance shoes (my inflated opinion of myself obviously makes me think of myself as being the highest of performance) made with Kilian Jornet, the Western States Endurance Run 2011 Champion. These are pretty wild. Having never stepped foot into the mythical realm of trail and ultra running (I still think cross country is way out there), I didn't know what to expect. (If you are looking for a more durable and sensible trail shoe from the Sense Family, check out the new Mantra).

Coming in at just 7oz the S-Lab Sense is one of the lightest shoes I've ever run in. I had always expected trail shoes to be heavy because of all the tough rubber and protective uppers that so commonly grace these types of shoes. But these things are light. There's very little to them in terms of an upper and big thick lugs. The S-Lab Sense, like all Salomon shoes, uses Salomon's speed laces which help to keep the foot snug and fixed in the shoe very well as well as keeping the weight down. The Sense also sports what Salomon has dubbed ENDOFIT. The upper is all seamless and the tongue is attached to the sole via stretchy mesh which creates a very sock-like fit within the shoe. The S-Lab Sense won't be moving around at all while you're foot's in there that's for sure. And with the seamless upper it is very comfortable, so much so that a guy like me who likes to wear socks in my Nike Victory spikes actually felt pretty comfortable going sockless in the Sense. The upper is made of very thin mesh which means the shoe moves and breathes very well while on your foot, aiding performance greatly in muddy and rainy conditions to prevent water logged feet. 

These shoes are built for speed in mind. Heel (13mm) to toe (9mm) drop is a low 4mm, and helps give the under foot impression that these are very much the trail version of a track or road racing flat. And along the bottom we also see some evidence that these aren't exactly your typical trail shoe and that they are built with the sole purpose of running fast, not necessarily with heavy trail in mind. 

 

The bottoms are pretty flat for a trail shoe (and even a road shoe for that matter). The lugs are almost non-existent and very minimal. You can tell the shoe is meant for forefoot striking based on the location of the lugs and where Salomon has placed their new PROFEEL FILM, a thin layer of carbon along the forefoot, strething into the midsole.

 Now for my qualms with the Sense. This is an expensive shoe. Coming in at $200 it is more pricy than a lot of the other racing shoes on the market today. That's not to say that it's not worth it; this ultra light racer is packed to the brim with new and cool technologies and tons of fun little nuances that make the Sense stand out in a crowd. I also find it odd that for being a trail shoe the lugs seem to be a bit of an after thought. True, they have dynamic lug placement meaning that the lugs are offset in certain places to allow better grip going up, down, sideways, long ways and whatever other ways you can think of. But I just don't see them being useful in very wet, technical terrain or especially over wet grass where you'll be sliding all over the place. These are great if you are going fast over packed, single track dirt paths or a little loose or through some straight muddy sections where you need something light that dries fast. One of the other issues I found what that the landing is very stiff or hard. The shoe itself is very flexible and responsive, but if I ever went on the road with the Sense I found the shoe made for a just a little bit too stiff of a landing. Road transition proved to be a bit of a no-no. The only other issue I could see with prolonged future use of the Sense is the durability. Being as light and as minimal as they are, I could see heavy trail use (like some of the serious trail nuts put their shoes through) could cause the shoes wear out slightly quicker than some of the heavy, built-up shoes.

In conclusion, if you are looking for a light, comfortable, forefoot trail shoe for doing some serious speed work on soft surfaces but aren't afraid of spending a little more, the S-Lab Sense is a great shoe to try out. It may not be your typical trail shoe, and I think it's more inspired by racing flats from the road as opposed to the heavy trail grinders, but the Sense sure is fun.

As always, if you have any questions about these or any of the other shoes Runner's Mark carries, let me know! If you just like to talk running and the sport in general, shoot me an e-mail and I'll be more than happy to talk with you.

For our Men's Salomon Selection.
For out Women's Salomon Selection

~E
@runners_mark
facebook.com/runnersmark

On Sports Drinks: HoneyMaxx

 

Do you live in the GTA? If you do, I feel sorry for you (I feel sorry for myself too, but I can deal with it). It's hot out. Grossly hot. Stupid hot (why weather why?). Mainly due to the humidity but regardless, it doesn't make for the greatest running weather. So what do you do when it's blisteringly hot out and you have to get your workout in? Well, the key, as always, is to stay hydrated. The human body is comprised upwards of 60- 70% water in grown adults, more so in young people. And humans sweat to stay cool; although there is great variability between individuals, humans can lose up to 2 liters of sweat per hour of very intense exercise, or one liter during moderate exercise. This only worsens during hot weather and can be compounded by the fact that sweat can evaporate so fast that people think that they aren't actually sweating. Then they keel over due to dehydration and heat exhaustion. 

So hydrating yourself while you workout is a must. But what a lot of people fail to realize is that sweat has a lot more to it than just water. You can drink all the water you want but if you don't hydrate properly, your performance is still going to suffer. Through the course of your workout you'll lose not just water, but you'll have expended your sugar reserves (glycogen), as well, a lot of your "salts" (electrolytes) will have been lost through sweat. Someone was smart enough to realize that if you added sugar and salt to water, you could get a boost in performance- thus Gatorade was formed. This Florida-based sports drink is heavily credited as being the first major sports drink on the market (in North America at any rate). It would soon lead to the revolution of sports drinks we have today- different sweeteners being used, different electrolyte profiles, protein content, calories, etc, etc. 

Why are there so many of them though? There must be a single, best drink out on the market, shouldn't there? Well, no, not really. With there being so much variability between individuals there can't be just one that works for everyone. One of the main reasons is because of the science of the sugars that each sports drink uses. If you've ever chugged a Gatorade then tried to go for a run, I'm sure you felt it- the feeling of being bloated, sluggish, or suddenly getting cramps when you KNOW keeping hydrated prevents cramps (that's part of it but not the whole story-more on that another time). That feeling of being bloated is because of the sugar content. Sugars delay gastric emptying and cause those gassy, bloated feeling stomachs. One of the main culprits is high fructose modified corn syrup. The same sweetener that is in everything you eat these days is by far the worst form of sugar for you. It causes you to be extra gassy and instead of being converted into glycogen like most sugar molecules, it is preferentially converted into fat. 

Fructose and Glycogen Pathway- SCIENCE!

  

 That is why so many other sports drinks exist. They use alternate sweeteners that are "easier" to digest and more efficient at giving you energy (glycogen is your main source of energy for any activity over 65% VO2max). That is why you'll see things like maltodextrin, sucrose, brown rice sugar, etc, most of which are usually just glucose polymers or different glucose molecules. Some are easier to digest than others, but again it relies heavily on the individual's ability to break down certain molecules and use them as an energy source. Where a lot of sports drinks fail is when it comes to their electrolyte profile. Most sports drinks seem to get at least two things right: Potassium and Sodium- these two ions are crucial for electrical stimulus and nerve firing in your body and they are easily lost through sweat. However, there are two crucial ones that Gatorade and Powerade neglect- Magnesium which is crucial for muscle and nerve function (producing energy), and Calcium which has its most important role intracellularly causing muscles to contract (if you can find one with chloride in there the better- you need chlorine to balance out your nerves and muscles during impulse firing). Having a good profile of all four (or five) of these electrolytes is hugely important to overall health and to maintain peak performance during strenuous exercise.

In short, the best sports drink is one that is going to sit well in your stomach (so as not to make you feel bloated and crampy), provides a suitable carbohydrate profile to keep you glycogen reserves up, and has an adequate profile of the four/five main electrolytes. Somewhere in vicinity of 100mg Sodium, 50-60mg Potassium & Calcium and 100mg Magnesium would constitute the electrolyte profile of a very well-rounded sports drink. The one that I would recommend trying is HoneyMaxx.

HoneyMaxx is unique in that it is the only sports drink on the market that uses honey as its base sweetener (mixed with maltodextrin). Honey is sweetened by a multitude of sugars including glucose, fructose, maltose and sucrose. You might be thinking, "Hey! You said sugars were gassy and bad and fructose was the worst of all! What gives?" And you'd be right. But remember, this is all-natural fructose- untampered by modification processes. So even though it gets converted to fat faster than any other sugar, it doesn't come with any of the chemical baggage associated with the corn processing. And the make-up of honey is such that it isn't so dependent on any one carbohydrate source for its sweetness. Rather, it has a wider profile of sugars in lesser individual quantities which means it sits a lot nicer in your stomach. The sugar profile allows things to be broken down more easily and efficiently which causes less strain to the gut which means less cramps and gastrointestinal problems for you on your run. For those diabetics looking to get into shape or if you are worried about drinks that raise your blood sugars too much- especailly for children growing up these days, HoneyMaxx is a great alternative. HoneyMaxx's sugar profile alters gastric emptying and helps decrease the blood sugar hit thus altering the insulin response. It is more of a time-released formula to keep you going for the long haul.
 On top of that, Honey Maxx has a great electrolyte profile. 

It has the four main crucial electrolytes, Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium and Sodium, in effective quantities. Compared to the original Gatorade mix:

Nutritional value per serving
Serving size	20 US fluid ounces (590 ml)
Energy	50 kcal (210 kJ)
Carbohydrates	14
- Sugars	10
- Dietary fiber	0
Fat	0
Protein	0
Potassium	30 mg (1%)
Sodium	5 mg (0%)

Now, to be fair, Gatorade has changed quite a bit in the past two years. Since the 80s, Gatorade had been using that high fructose modified corn syrup as their main sweetener in their sports drinks. In 2010 they went back to a cane sugar base because "it's what the customers like" and they've upgraded their product line to include pre, during, and post drink formulations to include a little bit better performance. But what a lot of the larger companies fail to do is ensure the electrolyte profile is well rounded as well as taking into account the sugars used within their drink. Gatorade seems to be half way there, and some of the other sports drinks seem to be looking like they are fairly good, but I have yet to come across anything that is as complete, sits as well and tastes as good as the new HoneyMaxx drink. 

But again, that's my opinion. I'm sure you all have different ones. And as always, I'd love to hear them! Let me know in the comments section, or e-mail me about your experiences with some of the sports drinks; what are your favourite and if you'd like me to look at one in particular that you want to know more about. If you're interested in trying Honey Maxx just swing by the Runners Mark store, we just got some free samples of their two flavors Lemon Lime and Orange, and we'd love some input as to what you think of it.

~E

It's the pits: On Anti-odor Garments

I've just had the pleasure of sitting through my first round of product-rep "displays"/ meetings. It's an odd thing to have all these sales people come into your business carrying racks of blue-bagged clothes and wheeled bags full of the new shoes that are coming out with. Sure, you get some free stuff here and there, it gives you the chance to try it out, and I will be writing about some of the coolest things that are coming out in the next little while. But you start to see come commonalities between the companies. One of the "neatest" is the new anti-odor clothing that they have all been working on. While each manufacturer has their own unique and special name for their technology, and it goes without saying that each maintains that their new product is the best, it seems that all the high-end garments are headed towards anti-odor fibers.

All the new high-end tech and performance gear is headed towards these anti-microbial and anti-odor garments. And they all seem to be using something of the same sort of material as well- a silver nano-particle weave. Silver's use as an anti-biotic dates back to the 19th century where it was used in many bandages and disinfectants before anti-biotics started gaining wide use. Silver dollars were dropped into milk bottles to prevent milk curdling before the pasteurization process was made common place. The same thought process is now being applied to create these new antimicrobial running garments.

First, a little background info on how silver may work against microbes. While silver's antimicrobial properties have been know for hundreds of years, we still don't know exactly how it works. Some of the proposed mechanism are that it can bind to thiol groups and inactivate certain enzymes by altering certain bond types within cell membranes. Changes in bonds can alter protein shape and ultimately alter their function, usually for to the determent of the microbe. Silver has also been hypothesized to alter the actual DNA of these microbial organisms by again altering bonding between the two strands of DNA.

Running garments make perfect mediums for bacterial growth; they are damp and warm. Bacteria thrive in such an environment and when they reproduce and colonize, they create metabolic by-products. And while some bacteria can smell nice, a lot smell musty or just downright awful. You'll know from opening up your compost bin and getting a nice face full of that smell. It isn't exactly the most pleasant smelling bucket int he world. What the silver weave does is prevent the growth of these odor-causing bacteria.

Previous incarnations of anti-bacterial/anti-odor garments focused mainly on anti-bacterial sprays. These "fumigated" shirts worked well... so long as you never washed them. The problem with these old technologies was that the anti-bacterial spray was completely gone in 10 washes. This new silver weave allows for longer shirt life and keeps you smelling great. And who likes to smell rank all the time anyway?

Said no one ever

Not only that, but some of the companies have even developed new anti-bacterial sprays that last longer. For instance, the New Balance rep came in and said that the new spray they were working with depleted to 80% efficacy after 10 washes but then after that the efficacy remained at around 80% for the rest of the garment's wearability. This represents a huge step forward to creating performance garments that you aren't afraid to wear to the gym or on group runs as well as on your own daily runs.

**Remember to always wash your workout gear with a sports-specific wash. This will preserve the efficacy of both the silver fibers and the spray treatment.**

There's a bunch of cool and exciting stuff coming out in the next little while. I'll be sure to keep you posted on all the newest developments and products as I get them. Team Runner's Mark Signing off!