Another sign of the times: the seasonal purchase of a new pair of running shoes. I haven’t been running that much lately for a variety of perfectly defensible reasons, chief among them sloth. But winter exercise means either the icy brown stripe up the pooper or an occasional descent into pedestrianism, and since my shoes are all pretty much blown out, I swung by Colorado Running Company to do a bit of business with John “Usuck” O’Neill, like me an O.D. (Original Dog) and Chief Cur Emeritus of Team Mad Dog Media-Dogs at Large Velo.
John sold me a rather sparkly pair of Saucony Progrid Omni 8s that look like footwear from an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, but a few tromps through the goo will take a little flash out of their dance.
I got started this afternoon with a short jog through Monument Valley Park, which was still a little sticky in spots from last night’s light snow. But I still get the feeling I could click them together a few times and wind up in either Kansas or Oz.
Mad Blog Media 
Be careful. You might click them and end up in Los Alamos. Click them too hard these days and someone might give you the fascist salute in return, thinking you are a fellow traveller. Heil Cheney!
I bought a pair of running shoes in Kona last spring rather than pay through the nose to ship or rent a bike. They are New Balance shoes since I have these extremely wide Southern Dago feet. They provided great running on those shoreline paths on the Big Island. Then again, doing anything on those shoreline paths of the Big Island beats doing the same thing here.
Have not used them much since I got back to the Mainland, but plan on breaking them out for the same reasons as the Bibleburg Dog Patrol–short cold days, long colder nights, and slushy, icy weather.
I’m sorry but after the last run-in (pardon the pun) I can barely walk, running has been a fantasy for me for the last 8 years or so. Not that I did much running before I got hit. As soon as I got out of the Army I was done running for anything except getting away from something. 😉
K, welcome to the club. Running hurts more than it used to, thanks to my disinterest in the sport this summer, but I’m hoping the little aches and pains and general spasticity abate somewhat as I get reacquainted with ground-pounding. It’s a ton more portable than a bike for a guy on the road, but right now I feel something like Frankenstein’s monster.
And Opus, I’m sorry that your run-in left you in such real pain. Most of my little injuries were self-inflicted, so I have no one to blame but myself for my increasing decrepitude. I was grumbling nearly every step this afternoon (“ow wow yow rowr”), but the truth is I’d miss it dearly if I couldn’t do it any more.
Ah, fenders. I love them. No brown stripe.
Hey, Joey,
Fenders. Hah. You’ll love this. I just whipped a pair of Planet Bike fenders on my old Voodoo Wazoo. This ol’ dog sports seven-speed 105, single-ring, 42-tooth crankset and a bar-con shifter, Shimano 600 hubs, 14-gauge spokes, Mavic Open Pro rims, Conti’ rubber, Dia-Compe 986 cantis on one end and some seriously ancient weirdo Brian Gravestock thumbs-down Avid cantis on the other, Control Tech seat post topped by a 1980s Vetta saddle off an old Team Crest Pinarello Prologo TT time-trial bike, Salsa Bell Lap bars, Off the Front handlebar tape and (I think) an Easton stem. The newest bit on the bike is the wheelset, hand-built by Old Town’s Jerry.
Or, rather, it was the newest bit. I snapped the head off a fender-mounting bolt while threading it into one of the fork eyelets and had to use P-clamps instead. So I’ve got that goin’ for me.
Please excuse the running layman question, but what up with the extra loops.
Hey, Getinlost,
I learned that looped-laces bit from a running buddy, Hal of Weirdcliffe. It helps keep the heel from slipping inside the shoe and raising blisters, if I recall correctly. Frankly, I’ve been doing it for so long that it’s become habit rather than science.
Hal also taught me to punch sheet-metal screws into my shoes for running on ice when we (along with his wife, Mary), were doing stupid shit like the Mount Taylor Winter Quadrathlon. He raced solo (brain damage) while Mary and I raced as a mixed pair. Too many toys involved in that one — road bike, running shoes, cross-county skis, snowshoes and all the various backup machinery and weird-weather gear you can imagine.
Hey Patrick! You should join us at Trinity Brewing on Monday nights, 6 pm. There are two courses you can run (4.25 or 8.5 miles) and they all end in beer. Better than the JQ’s run because there are just enough people that you would want to run and drink beer with instead of Briargate moms and dad’s coming downtown to network, and pretend to be cool for a night, and the food is much better.
Pretty shoes btw. I am normally a Saucony girl, but John fit me into some New Balance this year. Not bad, but I miss my Pro-grids.
Hey, Tanya,
John’s reminded me of the CoRunCo-Trinity run a couple times now (most recently today while running my Visa), but I haven’t quite found my running legs yet and don’t want to be weeping into my microbrew post-jog. Maybe next Monday, after I’ve learned to live with the pain and humiliation.
Meanwhile, I hear you about the JQ run. The only way I’m running anywhere with a few hundred people is if we’re all legging it away from the man-eating aliens. Klaatu barada nicto, y’all.
Your Wazoo sounds like my Redline. Bit of a Frankenbike of various vintage parts from the various plastic boxes in the garage. Two sets of Mavic MA-3 rims, one on 105 and one on Sora hubs, straight 14 gauge spokes, my old Selle Italia Turbo saddle on a no-name post, Richey stem, Ahead Set, Nashbar bars and compact crank, 105 front and XT rear derailleur, 8 spd. Shimano barcons, Shimano road brakes, some old SPDs from god knows when, Avid Shorty 4’s. New REI padded tape, just to look nice. Whatever rubber is hanging in the garage…right now Conti Twister Pros on one set and Pasela 700-28 road rubber on the other.
The Salsa gets the nicer stuff. Just took off a set of Vittoria Randonneur Pros and put on a pair of Richey Speedmax Cross Pro folding tires that were squirreled away, just in case I get caught in the snow this week, assuming it really happens. Mike Chapman at The Broken Spoke built a really beautiful set of wheels (Delgado Cross rims on XT disk hubs with DB stainless spokes and Avid disks) and I can’t stop admiring the ride of that bike.
Nice thing about a good cross bike is the versatility. I can run 700-23 road rubber or 700-40 knobbies on the same bike and do all sorts of weird shit with it.
Don’t worry about finding your running legs, I am still looking for mine and have yet to find them. I am one of the slowest runners out there, but I figure I go forward and I earn my beers at the end, and they have yet to send a search party out to find me. So that is a good thing.
Oh, next week, bring a headlamp, it will be a dark run. Hope to see you there!
So, I’m confused:
“…some seriously ancient weirdo Brian Gravestock thumbs-down Avid cantis”
Is it Brian or the Avid cantis that are seriously ancient weirdo? Or both?
I couldn’t resist. My apologies to Brian, he’s a genuinely great guy.
Pat, I’m not in pain (much) just left with spaghetti where my ACL and PCL used to be in my left knee. I can still ride decent when I train. IOW when I ride lots I can ride lots. Just finished hanging some West Coast mirrors on my visor for catching the ones that try to sneak up on the right side to get me. 😉