I did make it to the mountains, just around the middle of them instead up up ’em.
Beinn Vane looks good from any angle.
Phil, Craig and I went on a training run as the date for the WHW*Falldoon approaches. That date is probably the third weekend in October, which is later than we’d hoped as it means it’s got more of a chance of being on the wintry side, but it does give the old bloke an extra couple of weeks training…
The three of us have been out on a mix of wheels and feet before and the yo-yo effect happened again. We raced to the trail and immediately slowed on the ascent where Craig caught us up. We needled each other until a flat spot saw Phil and I stretch out a wee lead. When we both reached the highpoint of the trail (this time, both of us in the saddle, it was the same route as last week), Craig passed us after a couple of minutes and I never even looked up from my position of hanging over the bike trying to keep my breakfast down. The extra heat and slightly fuzzy head really made life difficult on the long climb this time.
The easily angled descent to the burn was slow, I felt burst after the climb. Phil was waiting for me when I got to the weir and he just had to cool down. I resisted the cold water and just sat down instead.
Some Nuun, a look at the view, a pee and a walk up and down saw me feeling better. And when we left for the return leg I knew that the climbing was over and and I had to actually ride the bike as opposed to sit on it and spin the pedals.
I was a wee bit worried as I was a bit shaky on the technical stuff last time, but the first sketchy descent on a slate chute went well and I was boosted by that, making the rest of the rough singletrack less of a looming adversary and more of a ride-able funscape.
We caught Craig in the woods before the singletrack section and we stayed pretty close from here on.
When we got back to Arrochar we were pleased indeed. Team handed trips are fun, and it’s good to train together as it showed that Craig’s running is on the money and if his feet hold together it’s looking good for that 96 miles.
We had lunch at the wummin in the windowcafe at the Esso garage across from the carpark, it was heaven sinking my teeth into that scotch pie I’ll tell you.
What a great day out with my chinas indeed.
Now, I’m supposed to be in Glen Coe next week. Repeat to self, tent not bike, tent not bike, tent not bike…
Will I remember how to do all that stuff?
is that x-bionic Phil’s got there? Just bought some of their stuff on YOUR recommendation. All I can say is it had better be bally good to justify the money. But I like the idea of a superzoned compression, and it will look gorgeous if all else fails :)
Looks a fun day. That Craig is super human fit. What is his training program ?
yes, I think we’d all like to know that :) Somebody’s clearly doing something very right.
ACS, it’s the Energizer version Phil’s wearing. He has mixed results with it, but I reckon that’s because he’s a roaster :o)
Tell me how you get on with yours, good or bad, I can take it!
Martin, Craig runs Crossfit Glasgow (click on his name for the site, or it’s on the left under Alternative…) and his training largely follows that stuff. He’s strictly diet controlled as well.
It does work for him, the boy is annoyingly fit. It’s all part of the event, training for running 96 miles by lifting weights and only doing short days like today to toughen up his feet.
We shall see.
That would be “on the right under Alternative…”
Jeez.
aye, I get a little hot and sweaty, but the running version t-shirt (which I’ve ordered, not the energizer) should be fine to cope with that. I actually think this might be one of my most versatile pieces of kit ever if it all works out: I could potentially use it for gym, tennis, road-running, off-road, scrambling, climbing…whatever really. Love the futuristic aesthetic too.
96 miles.. ach that’ll be easy after all this training and scotch pies! Good stuff people. :o)
btw, is that last picture a caption competition?
The look is pretty cool right enough.
Versatility is the thing, I’m finding out what works and what doesn’t quite quickly spending so much time on the bike.
Short back lengths are a no-no.
Ange, pies and Irn bru are all I’ll need.
Caption? Wire in.
None along the lines of “Dad can I have my shoes back?” thanks.
Aye, Twas a mighty fine day.
Martin, PTC* was right about the training, but I certainly cannot profess to being ‘fit’ by my self-imposed standards.
The general idea behind the training is mixed-modal metabolic conditioning (metcon), lifting enough weight to be properly scared while under the bar in a low rep range and monostructural workouts – in this case running.
The metcon days can be working on techniques like the snatch and clean and jerk followed by a hard workout, like 21-15-9 reps of thrusters (a front squat / push press combination) with 50kg followed by pull-ups for time. So 21 thrusters, 21 pull-ups, 15 thursters… you get the idea – all as fast as possible, so brutally intense and short duration. That’s about it.
The next day is max effort (ME) strength. It consists of say, 5,5,5,3,3,3 reps of power clean or deadlift or a squat variation with 90% plus of my 1 rep max (1RM).
The next day I will run – usually taking cues from my dear friend Brian MacKenzie over at CrossFit Endurance, doing a 5km best effort or simply working on my POSE running technique.
Then a nice wee day off. It’s CrossFit mixed with strength training and some more focused specificity. It’s been named the Max Effort Black Box or MEBB and was invented by Coach Rut. Genius.
That’s the theory anyway. My current workload / life results in me doing much more resting and much less training at the moment. Good thing is that volume is low against the level of intensity. Much better than all those poor misguided endurance athletes who think that they can only get better at running by running more. They couldn’t be more wrong.
Diet is simple. My good mate Robb Wolf‘s blog is a great resource for it. Basically it’s optimised portion sizes and as much pre-agricultural, high quality food as possible. Pretty much meat, colourful fruit and veg and a ton of fat, mostly in the form of nuts.
PTC* may have me write up a wee post about it. We’ll see.
but I certainly cannot profess to being ‘fit’
Yes, yes.
PTC: Right ahm starvin, are we goin for pakora’s noo?
Bobinson: Well I bought the pies so ahm no buying these..
Craig: Well I dinnae eat pakoras (cos the meat isnae pre-agricultural) so i’m no buyin!
minutes of silence pass….
PTC: Ach for ‘ks sake, come on then… i’ll buy!
Are we wearing the wrong beards today? I’m sure that one’s mine…
‘Right we’ll do a wee 5k cool down run now?’
‘nah i’ve got blisters’
‘..and that pie’s coming back on me’
I’m trying out the X-bionic running shirt at the moment. I love the way it hugs the body even though that means it’s not exactly flattering (though that’s certainly an incentive to training!), and the micro-fibre feel of the flat sections of the shirt are just loverly. I can overload even that though, so I’ll be interested in how ACS gets on with his / hers. I’m not as enamoured of the relatively low-cut neck though, and prefer the higher mini-v neck of the Energiser.
Overload as in turn into a sweat bath? I’ve just been watching their youtube promotions and apparently that’s the point. Certainly a novel take on things, but could be very interesting.
(oh, and it’s Andrew, by the way. Virtual handshake :)
Hi Andrew :-)
Will head off to youtube to have a look. That may explain why the soaked top felt deliciously cool against the skin rather than soggily chilly. There’s an additional problem for me though – unfortunately X-bionic don’t (at least yet) make sports bras, so I’m missing out on some the of effectiveness of the space-age tops.
Aye. The theory is that keeping some of that sweat on your body means it gets re-absorbed by your skin, hence cooling your body temperature and preventing overheating. This strikes me as particularly smart for playing fast-paced tennis indoors, something I do a lot of during the winter. But would work equally well for running and fast-paced walking. I like this theory. Whether my stupidly stuffy club will take the same view of one of their more non-traditional members breaking out the compression-wear remains to be seen.
I must say that video of the chap fainting on the treadmill in normal gym wear and feeling pretty good on his second try in x-bionic kit was pretty impressive.
My club just insists on proper tennis shoes, I don’t think anyone would be too worried if I turned up in a compression top. I quite like indoor tennis, but it’s not a patch on playing tennis in the snow! Only done that once, mind, and it didn’t settle.
That last photo is scary – like 3 out of work bouncers.
Crossfit is good stuff – I know Davie Easton who was running a Crossfit Gym in Motherwell for a while…
Just watched the videos – I’m going to have to try this stuff in the winter and see if their claims that it’ll keep you warm in the cold after sweaty exertion are true. Could be ideal for me all year round :-)
Unexpected Pakora ????????
Explain please !
Caption
Phil How come you get to be Richard Burton
Craig When do I get to kill someone
PTC Cause I am the daddy, lets go get cuppas !
Like my post titles ever make any sense?
There was a pakora incident yesterday, but that was much later…
I took the 2.35″ Nevegals back off and stuck on the Maxxis Ignitors. Still fat but with a less draggy tread, we shall see how that does.
What is it with you and your 2.35″ fetish? Believe me, I understand the Lawmaster aesthetic, in fact I am an advocate of making ones’ steed look as badassed as possible.
That said, surely a set of two point wans with a Thunder-from-Big-Trouble-in-Little-China amount of pressure in them can’t be a bad idea for a monster exped?
Big Trouble in Little China – my first ever video rental off the ice cream van. (Circa 1988/89 – cos films took longer to be released to video’s back in the day).
I have the theme tune on my iPod.
Renting videos in the 80’s, now that I miss. It much more of an event than a DVD or a tellybox pay to view. Ah…
I will run 2.1″ tyres for the event. 2.35″ just has so much more steering confidence for my shoogly knees.
Thanks for the info Craig. Sounds like a good all round training regime. I shall check the websites and read more.
Crossfit certainly sounds interesting, being able to run an ultra without having to spend hours beating out the miles sounds too good to be true!
I presume Craig has a strong running background before this, can I ask what his furthest distance to date has been?
Craig has always been fit, and did his first marathon last year using this same training.
The WHW will be his longest run though, and he has cursed me several times for engineering us all into this daft venture.
The WHW has been a focus for us for a couple of years, various attempts to do in quick times on foot and bike either failed of didn’t work out right, and last year when I walked it in less than three days kinda set the ball rolling for this thing.
It’s a showcase for Crossfit, a whole bunch of gear and hopefully the six of us having a good laugh.
There’ll be a lot of coverage here and elsewhere, so all the training, nutrition and mission details will be easy to get a hold of.
I’ve got confidence in the guys, it’s just the fat old heating engineer we have to worry about…
Keith,
I hate running. I never run. Ever. Except maybe for a CrossFit workout, a bus or off mountains because I’m bored of descending. I am a pathetic runner, genuinely.
That said, I’m certified by CrossFit Endurance to teach POSE technique and integrating it with CrossFit workouts – which I have applied to myself.
The story of how I discovered CrossFit can be read here, but to cut a long story longer, my mate Iain (who will be the other “manpower”) on the WHW*Falldoon signed me up for the 2008 Edinburgh marathon in about October 2007. We had ages to train, so set about it. He had done 4 previous marathons and I had never run further than 6 miles. I was doing CrossFit in my flat and running with him as he followed the usual marathon build up regime. Short run, short run, long run build ups each week. I had read a great deal about POSE running and tried to implement it, but Iain deemed it impossible and I didn’t really know what I was doing.
By Jan ’08 I was capable of 11 mile trail runs at about a 10 minute mile pace. Nothing spectacular. That said I had pull-ups, press-ups and could sprint blisteringly fast in comparison with Iain (read: conventional middle of the road runners). I had forced him to change to a Zone/Paleo diet which I (correctly) theorised would result in never hitting “the wall”. He was not convinced, but obliged. I had been eating Zone/Paleo for about a year and it took him a while to transition from having a carb-burning system to a bodyfat running one, but once he did, energy was consistently available.
Training was patchy, but in March I managed a 20 mile run from Renton to Glasgow on the canal tow path that PTC* oft speaks of. In April I left to the US for a month and did all my CrossFit certs. They changed my life. I came back with 25 days to go demanding that we never run further than 5 miles in training and hammered technique, technique, technique. We seldom ran. Iain had a new born child and I couldn’t be arsed running. I really just did Metcon workouts and we lifted heavy. Much more fun.
From May 01-25th (race day) I think we must have done 20-30 miles in total. Iain had a marathon PR of 4’19” and said anything under 5 hours was great for a first time out. I wanted to run 4’00 dead and planned our speed accordingly. The race itself went a bit wonky. We were too slow on the first couple of miles, missing the first mile marker altogether and then worrying that we were going too fast. This was coupled with Iain’s paranoia/experience that going out too hard meant ending the race walking or crawling. We were too conservative.
The run was, quite literally, easy at that pace. Going so slowly meant it was easy to maintain POSE throughout and we consistently passed people for the whole race. On the run we had a quarter of a Honey Stinger Protein Bar each 5 miles with 250ml of water. This was probably unnecessary, but it alleviated any FAIL paranoia. By mile 20, Iain was hurting. The reason was simple, his muscles were failing him. Not enough strength training due to family commitments. I on the other hand was fresh. I upped our pace on mile 20, 22 and 26, with a 200m sprint finish. People were falling over the line and holding on to the railings where I felt largely unaffected, a little frustrated (people randomly stopping in front of you or talking on their phones) and frankly, bored. We finished in 4’23”:04. I wasn’t happy with the time at all, but Iain was astonished. It was the least he had ever trained and was only 4 mins off his PR. With that in mind, he said if we committed to doing “my” kind of training, we’d be capable of a 3’30”. Someday we may revisit it.
The next day I had little leg pain and considered a visit to the gym, but couldn’t be arsed. So, that is the total amount of running experience I have. Once you do 26.2, it kind of feels like 50 or 100 is attainable. Perhaps not fast, I’ll never be fast, because that would mean specialising in running, which I’m not prepared to do. Running long is largely pointless in my opinion. We’re designed to walk far and sprint out of trouble. Spending time in the third metabolic pathway – the aerobic one – is the same one I’m in as I type this. It doesn’t help me lift heavy things, increase bone density or my cardio-respiratory endurance by much. Hence, I don’t really bother with it. This isn’t designed to be an acerbic commentary on those who love to run. They are specialists and I have a lot of respect for that. I simply would rather specialise in not specialising – pursuing GPP (general physical preparedness) as a sport.
The weekend run was really a test to see if I would suffer any mechanicals from equipment – either footwear or backpack wise on mixed terrain. I only run when I have to and that’s usually when someone has signed me up for a long distance misery fest, like my dear friends Iain and PTC have. Bastards.
On what evidence ae you saying this point “We’re designed to walk far and sprint out of trouble.” As a race we developed due to a good source of protein, coming from meat. Neanderthal should have beaten us, they were stronger but we outsmarted them. Evidence points to man being persistence hunter, chasing prey to exhaustion, this is still practised by a few on the plains of Africa;
* Running on two legs is slower in a sprint, but more efficient over long distances
* Humans have toes that are far shorter than all other primates. This has been shown to be a big advantage – but only when running over distance
* Hairless bodies and our all over sweating allows running in the heat. Antelope aren’t nearly as efficient at getting rid of heat – they must stop to pant
For a great read and interesting book on the subject of ultra running try “Born to Run: The Rise of Ultra-running and the Super-athlete Tribe by Christopher McDougall”
Pose running, to me this seems a technique that replicates the running style when running barefoot, flat shoes are recommended I believe? Since I went to Vibram Fivefingers earlier this year my running as adapted and I run local trails happily with no support.
Craig – great explanation of what you do, why and how well it works. (by the way I know Davie Easton that has trained with you a bit learning POSE)
Crossfit is in general a superb programme and approach. I sometimes think that some of its adherents – especially in the States – get a bit cultish in their worship of Coach Glassman, but by and large for most people it is an excellent programme.
I tend to keep my interests in fitness/diet – http://www.conditioningresearch.com – separate from blog about hill walking – http://cairn-in-the-mist.blogspot.com – but on the conditioningresearch blog there is a fair bit about using interval training to develop endurance and of the natural gait for long distance being the barefoot walk. Walking and sprinting is what we are made for.
Diet is an interesting one – I tend to be moderately paleo most of the time but must admit that stoats bars get in my pack for most walks. There is an interesting discussion of the potential benefits of potatoes as an adjunct to a paleo diet in some of the paleo blogs recently too.
Anyway – really well written stuff
DNF –
Brilliant to hear that you run in Vibram Fivefingers. I do too and they are great. You’re right that barefoot / POSE are branches of the same tree, but I seem to remember Dr. Romanov suggesting that running barefoot didn’t actually help with POSE technique, which seems mental.
In terms of what evidence I have for my conjecture that we’re designed to sprint short and walk far, rather than run far is based on logic and a couple of things I have read (somewhere). I remember seeing that fossil records points our we scavenged more than hunted and picked from carcasses until we started using weapons. It seems a ludicrous proposition (to me at least) that we would risk so much energy chasing something down. Fair enough, it’s a great payoff if you nab the animal, but running for 10 miles requires a bunch of time spent in our aerobic pathway and thus depletes glycogen, something that won’t be replaced very well by eating a beast. I realise that there have been a number of theories about us evolving into distance runners, but that’s from scientists, but from a practicality point of view I just don’t buy it. I know I would rather eat dead things and forage than kick my own ass chasing down a deer! Evidence and theories are all well and good, but sometimes scientists forget to think practically about their implications. Just my two cents. I may be completely wrong!
Finally, Born to Run has been on my wishlist for ages and I haven’t yet read it. I can’t wait to get my hands on it. I saw Christopher McDougall on the Daily Show and he seemed like a great guy.
Chris –
I reckon this whole cultish following of Coach Glassman thing is largely perpetuated by people who aren’t actually CrossFitters. Granted we call it a fitness cult and all the rest of it, but it’s out of fun. I don’t know anyone (and I know A LOT of CrossFitters) who gushes about the man. I’ve met him and he was very engaging, that’s for sure. Mostly due to it being sense coming out of his mouth. There are now so many amazing people in CF, that I look at Glassman more as a facilitator than anything else. He certainly bucked the trend in the fitness industry and perhaps deserves the accolades he gets.
I’ll check out your blogs at some point. They look good.
Potatoes can eff off. I don’t care if Paleo man ate them. As much nutritional value as a bowl of paper mache and sugar. I believe the Aztecs munched on them. I don’t much care to be honest. Death food in my opinion.
Glad you liked what I wrote, I just hate people thinking that I’m some kind of fitness machine when I’m actually rubbish at everything!
My understanding re Pose / barefoot, from reading the Pose book and the comments on the Pose forums is that running barefoot is one of the quickest ways to learn how to adapt to running in the pose style. But that running barefoot doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have good technique, you have to work on that specifically with drills and training until you can maintain correct form. Running barefoot is the easiest way to perceive what you’re doing right and wrong though and is therefore a useful training aid.
Some of the top coaches seem to suggest that once you can run pose properly you can effectively do it in any running footwear, it’s just easier in flats.
Re long distance runners you’ve got to admire the crazy mad men like Anton Krupicka surely?
Crossfit and zone/paleo look interesting, I’ll need to read more. Is this the same stuff Mark Twight studied and adapted for his own purposes?
Born to Run is a good read.
Craig – no offense meant re the Coach – he has done a lot to bring sensible training to the fore. Tatties – there is some interesting discussion here: http://donmatesz.blogspot.com/2009/09/primal-potatoes-part-2.html
All the best.
Benjamin –
You’re spot on. I got mixed up. You’re right about the whole barefoot is good but doesn’t mean your technique is correct thing. I couldn’t remember how Dr. Romanov was coming at it. I was convinced he had the whole calf-pump toe-running argument against it too, but maybe I dreamed that. Running in Fivefingers is the way to go. I used to rock New Balance (US) MR 790’s, now discontinued. Great flats they are. Super thin sole. New balance seems to have completely shat the bed in terms of shoes now. All big stupid clumpy efforts.
Top coaches reckon you can run POSE in anything? They’re mental. Maybe in a 5K if you’re a beast, but if you try to run POSE for distance in a pair of those horrific Salomon XT Wings for example, your technique will never last any length of time. The amount of weight in the heel of these types of shoes utterly ruin ones chances of running with good for for any length of time. I also saw a guy attempting (and failing) to learn POSE in a pair of Nike shoes with that daft ‘boing’ heel. We ended up suggesting he run in his socks and all of a sudden he could do it.
I love Anton Krupicka. In fact, it was he that had me chase down several pair of La Sportiva Skylites at tremendous expense. We’ll be doing the WHW in them, weather permitting.
Twight went to a CrossFit seminar and was totally humbled by it. He apparently didn’t complete one of the benchmark workouts, then fell in love with it, then fell out with it and now has his own training methodology which seems to have been influenced to a fair degree by CrossFit. He’s a big proponent of GPP, though he seemed to bash CrossFit a while back because it didn’t mean you could cycle amazingly well and win races – somehow he missed the fact that would be called specialising. Anyway, I read an account (by a seasoned CrossFitter) about one of his seminars and he definitely has some interesting ideas. The intensity component is pretty big in the workouts, though they seem to not be as obsessed with technique and power output as the CrossFit fraternity are. There is a large psychological aspect to it also that comes though and it seems that comes from Twights on super-ego. Probably because he trains hardcore climbers and soldiers, he makes sure there is a lot of mind-hardening going on. Sounds like a barrel of giggles eh?
Chris!
No offence taken mate. Glassman, Rippetoe, Starrett, MacKenzie, Wolf, Burgener, Rutherford and Everett should all have effigies made so that I may worship them.
That tatties post is WACKY. He has some interesting points, clearly a smart man with a limited first-hand knowledge of biochemistry. He somehow managed to omit the whole leaky gut / high glycemic load / blood sugar stabilisation / insulin sensitivity issue, but that’s often the case when someone’s trying to state their case. I have mashed sweet potatoes with cinnamon in post workout meals sometimes, but regular tatties will never pass these lips. They’re rubbish. Interesting stuff though. I seldom trawl the web for these kinds of fringe geezers these days, but I love them.
The other similar approach – again a modification (rip off?) of Crossfit – that is worth looking at is Rob Shaul’s Mountain Athlete:
http://www.mtnathlete.com/page.php?page_ID=9
Heavily inspired by Glassman
Anton’s movie Indulgence is great viewing, but one interesting thing is watching what he does with his brand new La Sportiva’s, take a knife to the heel and chop it down.
Don’t know if I have POSE technique or not, I doubt it, but the moment you start barefooting your running has to adapt to using the body otherwise you’ll never walk home, never mind run!
I recently came back from trail running in Chamonix, people looked like I was mad wearing VFF’s whilst they had boots on, it’s down to letting my legs & feet work like nature intended rather than getting muscle atrophy binding my feet up all day in boots. The argument for wearing lightweight footwear to move faster, etc. is true but imo anyone using trail runners in the hills, would benefit from mixing some barefooting into there walking/running. Depending on conditions I wear Millet Pulsions, La Sportiva Wildcats, Salomon Speedcross or various XA’s but prefer to run local woods, bridleways in the VFF’s.
You also need to understand why barefooting is good and buy into the theory, as you’ll get so many lectures from people about how you NEED support in your running shoes and a wedge of supprt under your heel.
Extract from Born To Run here;
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1170253/The-painful-truth-trainers-Are-expensive-running-shoes-waste-money.html
I ended up quitting my local gym, too many lectures from personal trainers with closed minds, now training revolves around kettlebells, barefooting and cycling. Result better CV, muscle build, a nice saving in my pocket, plus a better vibe than the metrosexual haunt that is the gym!!
Yeah the thing with Pose is that it’s striving to run with perfect form so that you’re super efficient, but going by the comments on the boards, barely anyone, even the top level coaches actually runs in perfect pose, they just try to keep improving their form and efficiency and get as close to it as possible. It’s an ongoing learning curve basically.
As DNF says barefooting is certainly the quickest way to find how we’re actually meant to run, because if you try and heel strike you’re buggered. Pose then gives you some tools to help try and perfect your efficiency and form , as it’s still quite easy to do things inefficiently barefooting. Hence why atheletes focus on form (Haile Gebrselassie runs on treadmills infront of mirrors to work on his form for example).
Re VFF’s what’s the fitting on them like? I’ve been tempted but haven’t found anywhere that isn’t a hassle to get to so I’s can try them on.
Re: New Balance, I believe Anton Krupicka and his equally crazy and talented mate Kyle Skaggs have designed a new trail flat for them to replace the 790. It’s lighter still designed to suit their running style and to be worn without socks. I think it’s called the MT-100 ands out November time.
Good old Twight and his ego eh.
I went a size down on the VFF classic, the toes were too tight two sizes down although they fitted. I found KSO’s size up larger than the classic, and Vibram recommend two sizes down than regular shoe size. Their website has guidelines for measuring your feet
I tried all the models, whilst at the UTMB event village, the vibram guys were quizzing me for feedback as I was the only person who wandered up to them in a pair! Non of the other models gave the same feel as the classic, but the KSO is definently a goer for this winter, match with Injinji socks, I’m running a half marathon, on road, at the beginning of February and the plan is to do this in VFF’s so KSO’s are the best solution for me over winter.
To me barefooting is like single speed mountain biking, it isn’t for everyone, but those who try it may find something in it. I prefer the single speed, it made me a better rider – stronger, better line choice, cardio. Barefooting – makes you stronger, better form and better line choice :o)
Okay,
I officially have a man-crush on you guys now. I have been screaming into the abyss about this stuff for so long, it’s becoming obvious that times are-a-changing.
I run Fast & Light too, though it’s down at the moment due to having another part-time job, running CrossFit Glasgow, doing a bit of freelance web design and generally not having enough time to give it the attention it deserves.
In terms of sizing, mine are pretty spot on. I used the sizing chart popup at the bottom of their website for the KSO’s and found myself to be an M41, which is cool, because that’s the same as the Pulse Rifle in Aliens. My feet aren’t particularly foot shaped. They have a tendency to drop off at the pinky toe (see image) more than the VFFs, meaning I don’t fill the last couple of toes properly, but this hasn’t caused me any grief and I’ve done a lot of stuff in them.
You’re dead right about the form thing. It’s something the CrossFit Endurance guys talk about a lot. In fact, you should check out the film that them and Patrick from Again Faster are making. It’s called 100 mile movie. I think you’ll love it.
I’ve been trying to get an account with the VFF distributors here in the UK, but what they ask of me is beyond my budget. Currently too risky. That said, if you guys want to buy some, and we can get enough people on board, I will put in an order and give you 30% off just so we can all get our hands on them.
Something that might get you excited is the KSO Trek for the mootins. No info on price as of yet.
Those MT 100’s LOOK rubbish, but if those two psychos designed them chances are they’re awesome. Give PTC* a shout if you’re interested in the VFF deal.
Oot.
The KSO trek looks great, but I want/need that sole putting on the Classic too!! Now that would be an awesome trail running shoe for warm weather!
Can’t wait to try a KSO trek with my Kahtoola spikes, if I got funny looks in VFF’s, MRT will ban me for life from being in the hills ;o)
HAHA!
Injinji Merinos + VFF KSO Trek + KTS = the ultimate in hill heresy! I’m up for that. PTC* should organise a meet for winter.
KSO Trek’s here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dki6TtyT5W0
Ha ha. Those KSO treks look the business alright. Soft Kangaroo leather. Nice!
I’d certainly be up for a deal to get some of them! PTC will be shouted at.
So I have to find a ruler to measure my feet to see what size I am. Marvellous.
The MT-100s do look a bit ‘special’ compared to the 790s but I’m prepared to believe they’d be good. Though having said that, Krupicka supposedly modified his for the Leadville 100, no doubt with a knife to make them lighter still.
i’d definitely be up for some deal on VFFs
I’m keeping a list for the VFF’s, anybody wants in. just email me or post here.
I’m in as well, my last set were too big and I didn’t get to use them properly.
To big eh? Was that even using their size guide on the site to measure up your feet?
Nah, this was when they first came out, I was guessing.
I’ll do better this time if I measure properly.