That didn't take long, less than 24 hours to be exact! I haven't even had my new shoes long enough to name them and they already got me in the local paper. That's impressive. Talk about pressure to aptly name them.
The Article
If you took the time to read the article, then you've probably figured out that it really wasn't my shoes that got me noticed, but my shorts, again. Lets face it, giving my shorts credit is hardly fun at all! People sure love to make a big deal of it, though CT's favorite story of the day was passing a couple of women who made it a point to say "it didn't impress them much" under their breaths. Meanwhile my mind drifts of Shania singing that to me...oh back to reality.
This run certainly wasn't meant to get noticed for wearing shorts on a cold winter day. The goal of the day was testing out my new shoes! With my trail run this weekend, I've been nervous about the conditions playing much more of a factor than I had anticipated. Of course, it was silly of me to expect the mild winter conditions we had last year to repeat this year, but I fully expected to be running the trails with not much more than a dusting of snow. When the race director sends out an email a week before asking for volunteers with chainsaws to help clear the course, things might be a little dicey. I love my Green Mambas, but I've been slipping and sliding in the snow like crazy. Even short runs have seemed like a chore with all the extra effort needed to keep going and upright. The time has come for something with a little more traction, enter the unnamed.
I've looked for a while, but nothing jumped out said "buy me", plus I feel loyalty to the Green Mambas. It's not like I'd replace them, but it would be good to have a good trail shoe. After another attempt of surveying all the shoes, I was almost set to leave again empty handed when one of my Gazelle buddies got excited to show me a shoe on the clearance rack. First impression, that's "flashy", upon opening box. Not sure if bright red is the statement I'm going for, but then again I'm the guy who wears shorts in the winter. One shoe on, this feels so good, much better than I expected. Hmm, let me try them both on. A short test sprint in the store, sold! Jiminy Christmas these feel fast. Maybe, it's simply trying new shoes after years of wearing the same style. This running thing is so mental, I don't care if it's pure BS, psychologically it felt like I could chase down a cheetah in these things. Quickest sales job ever.
A twenty foot test run and a sixteen mile trail run in the middle of a blizzard are two different things. Now, it becomes do I bend the cardinal rule of never racing in new gear. I say bend, not break, because I obviously used the unnamed for the One One run. How did they do? Completely different ride. While not a trail run, the conditions were horrible, a good four inches of snow with all kinds of foot prints all over in it. The start was fairly flat and I could already tell the immediate improvement in traction, but the game changer was on the first hill, people were sliding all over the place and had to really slow down, I could actually increase my speed going up. This is where the sky opens up and the awwwwwwww sound comes with the light shining down, but this is Michigan where we are getting blasted with a storm, so just pretend. I'm calling this a very successful first test. It only would have been better had the unnamed melted the snow behind me.
What does the future hold for the unnamed, I'm not sure, but it's a New Year!
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