Thursday, March 28, 2013

The AltraPedestrian Project, Installment zero1


The AltraPedestrian Project, Installment zero1
   


by Ras

     Long ago in my backpacking career I came to the realization that big, heavy boots which incapacitate your feet are unnatural, uncomfortable, and unhealthy. I began wearing minimalist trail running shoes (Inov-8 Roclites) to backpack in long before I began running ultra distances. It was simply logical to me that at most a shoe should be a tool for your foot to use, not a device to alter or inhibit the natural foot and lower leg functions of flexing, splaying, gripping, and (dare I say it?) pronating.

     But I like shoes and am very interested in them as an ancient human technology. 
Ötzi, the 5300 year old paleolithic man discovered frozen on a glacier in the Alps in 1991, wore rudimentary (i.e. minimalist) shoes. And the modern equivalents are fascinating, if cumbersome. I often walk around the start of races scoping out people's shoes, occasionally meeting a look that seems to say, "My eyes are up here."

     Last year, preparing for the Pigtails Challenge 200 Mile Endurance Run (see my Race Report Here and Nutrition & Fueling Report Here) I knew that I needed a shoe with some midsole. Again, a tool for my feet to use. When retrieving a piping hot casserole from the oven one uses an oven mitt; there's no possibility of going 'minimal', one needs a tool to do something with one's hand that would otherwise cause harm or damage.

     I began the race with only 18 training miles on my new Altra Lone Peaks, and finished with no blisters and no hotspots, and that was just the beginning. 
I went on to wear the same pair of Altras for the Echo Valley 50 Miler, 3 days of a four day recon run of the Wonderland (68 miles), the White River 50 Miler, the Angel's Staircase 60k, the Cascade Crest 100 miler, the Double Wonderland (186 miles), the Baker Lake 50k, the Deception Pass 50k, and the 2013 Fort Ebbey Kettles Trail Marathon, as well as a running of the Looit Trail around the base of Mt St Helens and all of my training mileage. 

photo by Ras

     I lost track of the cumulative mileage on that pair of shoes at 1600 miles, and that is a conservative accounting. Altra Zero Drop Footwear has blessed me with an Ambadassadorship for 2013 and sent me a brand new pair of Lone Peaks. So in a spirit of research and exploration I am going to publish a precise running total each month on this blog of the miles run in my new pair of Altra Lone Peaks, as well as photos showing wear and tear. Hence the title, The AltraPedestrian Project.


photo by Ras

     Witness, in these two photos, the passing of the baton, the changing of the guard, the handing on of the mantle. My new pair of Lone Peaks is all shiny and clean and new on the top, with my preferred alternate lacing pattern already in place. They have 10 miles on them as of this photo, and I am just heading off to the Badger Mountain Challenge to put the first 100 on them.  

photo by Ras

      By comparison, my original pair of Lone Peaks, at bottom in both photos, looks broken in and worn out, but nowhere near as destroyed as one would expect with nearly 2000 miles on them. I made no repairs on them and in the photos at top you can see a few holes in the upper and the metatarsal flex point. It will be fun (and hopefully both challenging and exhausting) to watch the miles add up over this season and document the life of the new pair.

     I mean, realistically, what's more fun for an ultra runner than beating up a pair of shoes?





8 comments:

  1. 1600+ miles on your first pair! If that's not a ringing endorsement, I don't know what is! Amazing.

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    1. Yeah, Man, seriously, these shoes are just getting broken in when most manufacturers recommend replacing your shoes.

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  2. Cool! One question...how does one go about preventing the back part of the shoe (the part that rubs against the heel) from fraying. I had to stop wearing a still perfectly good pair of Lone Pines due to this very reason. The resulting rubbing against my heel was ANNOYING :) I am currently wearing the Superior and I'm back in Altra love. Looking forward to your results :)

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    1. Blessings, Lynette.

      The inside of the top of the heel cup starting wearing on my Lone Peaks very early on, but it never bothered me, so it just wasn't an issue for me. Same thing with Kathy's. She said there was one run where she noticed it, but hasn't worn those socks again, and it hasn't been an issue.
      I can think of two things to try if it causes heel irritation: apply 2Tom's Sport Shield to your heel before your run, or apply a small piece of Kinesio tape vertically along your achilles at 10-20 % stretch>
      Also, I messaged Brian Beckstead, one of the founders of Altra, regarding this issue and the new Lone Peak 1.5 coming out June-ish, which looked to me like it had a lower heel cup. Here is his response:
      "The whole upper is much softer and more supple. I think people will love it. UltraPedestrian Ras, I wouldn't call it lower but I think it will wear better on the heel. Enjoy!"

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  3. So Ras, great running into you on your triple r2r2r... I'm sure all faired well... we climbed out that night and ready to go back for more.

    I'm very interested in this discussion on shoes. I wear NB minimalist shoes... and have for other ultras, JFK 50, a couple of North Face 50Ks, etc... all not to rocky... however, almost a week later, my feet are absolutely destroyed from the canyon, bruised, hurting, and hard to walk... can you give me some additional insight on your experience with the altras.. they are a zero drop cushioned shoe?

    You are a fan and I'm not suggesting they are right for me... but for me to keep going and doing other ultras, I have to find a shoe to protect my feet.

    thoughts?

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    1. Blessings, Andy. Great meeting you in the Canyon!

      My running is based on technique and natural biomechanics, so I have always sought out shoes that accommodate and promote natural form and function. I found Altras when I was specifically looking for a zero drop shoe, but with some midsole to protect my feet for extremely high mileages. That is specifically what the Lone Peak by Altra is. They also make a number of other models of varying substance, all the way down to barely extant super-minimalist models like the Adam. Even though I have been wearing the Lone Peak exclusively for all of my training and racing and trail projects, I am still a proponent of minimalist shoes. I wear extremely lightweight, flexible, minimal shoes in my every day life to strengthen my feet. With the Lone Peaks my foot is able to move and spread and flex and grip within the shoe, while the shoe interacts with the ground. There is a rock plate, but it is placed high in the sole, between the midsole and the insole, unlike other shoes. To my experience, this still allows a good amount of proprioception and ground feel, although I have talked to others who disagree.

      I am indeed a fan of Altra shoes, and have a relationship with the company, but I sought that out after being so impressed not only with their shoes, but with their philosophy of running (every box has a guide to natural running form printed inside the box lid, and included in pamphlet form). After the Grand Canyon R2R2RX3 my feet were not sore or bruised or tender. The Lone Peaks work very well for me, and they have just come out with the Lone Peak 1.5, which has a softer upper and is slightly lighter. You can feel that these shoes are meant to be run in with a midfoot strike.

      But regardless of what kind of shoe you are wearing, there could be aspects of running technique you could adjust. The first thing that comes to mind is foot turnover. Especially on trail like the North and South Kaibab where you end up doing a lot of braking, the slower your turnover rate, the more shock your structure has to absorb with each footstrike.

      Feel free to hit me up with any follow up questions.

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