Anton Krupicka

First off my internet just got fixed at home after a few days of not having it so this feels great. I never realized how much I love writing here sharing my thoughts and experiences until I was without.

So how did I cheat? It’s not a sexual thing so sorry. Got you with that hook though right? HA! How I cheated is I drove. I was planning on and I even wrote a post about not driving until Feb 12th and how good it feels to cleanse myself from my car for a short time in such a driver specific city but I lasted until yesterday. I went to go see my good friend Mac in Newport Beach. I was honestly contemplating riding my bike down there to see him to stick hard to the car cleanse but I would have been a very tired very boring guest.

I have a lot of really cool really positive ideas like not driving for 28 days but some times these ideas happen to negatively effect people including myself, this is when I usually call it. It’s not that Mac and I wouldn’t have had a good time together were I to ride, all we really do is sit and watch rad nerd movies and buy comics (that’s really what we did) but I would have just been in a very exhausted place as the hangout would commence and that wouldn’t do anyone any good.

I’m super happy I drove. Why do you ask? Well let me tell you fine sir / madam. I got back to the trails today on my super awesome new trail shoes. It felt like returning home to find all my friends and family exactly as they were when I left them. Super welcoming. I am so happy that I have found trail running and incorporated it into my life as I have. I am filled with gratitude to say the least.

I rarely do this but I need to write about my shoes.

A long time ago, back when I started Demonfeet I think I wrote about an incredible pair of running shoes, the New Balance MT101. I kept raving all throughout the post about them and wrote a few folowups waiting for them to break down so I can write negative things about them. They just wouldn’t break! They were the best and still up to right now are the best trail shoes I had ever run. I was just beginning to take minimalist running seriously and those shoes were my intro into the possibilities of what one can achieve when they run in a shoe designed by a company that removed all the unnecessary shit to only what you want to run up mountains. They were and stilla are ultra light, super durable, super fast, super quick drying, and could handle everything I threw at them be it uphills or super fast agressive descents. They were and in a way still are unstoppable. I punched holes through them and they kept going as if nothing had happened. The two issues I had with them was that there was a little too much room up front and there was a permanent foam insole that collected a lot of stink as I got them wet from stream crossings. I also run sock-less when I’m on the trails and the foam isole ended up coming half unattached which wasn’t a huge deal but still was an annoyance. The smallest issue really, I completely obliterated those shoes which I still use as uber comfy walking shoes now. What I ran in today were the New Balance MT110. These are the next step in the evolution of the MT101. Apparently there was a MT100 a while back but I unfortunately never got to experience those. The MT110‘s however are FUCKING RAD!!!! The only two problems I had with the MT101 were fixed! The shoe is cut just like a foot is which pulls in the forefoot a little bit making it perfectly snug with just a tad of extra room and there is no foam insole. New Balance is using some sort of insole-less design which for sock-less runners is a dream come true. I have only run in them once and they felt great. A bit stiff out of the box which to me is a very good thing. This means I get the opportunity to break them in specific for me and my foot fall / foot bend. An in-field form of customization. I have been reading about them for months and I know Anton Krupicka, a trail wizard and the man who designed the MT100 and MT101, designed the MT110 and says they are by far the best shoes he has ever run so for me….sold! I’ll write about them much more as I run in them for a real time review. For now I’m like a kid a christmas.

At least partial success.

I tried to sleep early but to no avail. I am just a night owl. This is actually when I usually do most of my running and bike riding. I like that the streets taht were only a few hours earlier immobile with traffic are suddenly empty at night. It makes me feel free when I ride or run on them. Back to my test: I fell asleep early for me (1:00am) and woke up early for me (8:00) am. I ate a litttle baby bowl of cereal and had a banana. I went to the trail at the south side of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and ran the trail along the inside of the Arroyo Canyon to where it hits Monterey Rd right by the mini-golf course.

I’m not sure how long that is, I stopped worrying about time and distance a long time ago. I’m guessing it’s around 5 or 6 miles maybe. The trail travels through some of the most beautiful parts of Pasadena, It goes underneath some amazing bridges and along side the horse stables. There are also baseball diamonds and soccer fields along the way where I saw families out playing in the beautiful Saturday morning light. Such a great feeling to be in a city yet away from all the normal hustle and bustle.

The new shoes were incredible! I was a bit worried that there was not nearly enough for the run I wanted to do. I specifically chose this run because every mile or so there is a path that leads up out of the canyon to the road where I could turn back at essentially any time just in case the shoes didn’t agree with me. I am happy to report this did not need to happen they worked way better that I expected. Even with the minimalist approach to the shoe there was plenty of cushioning and the stiffer part of the sole on the ball of my feet really did protect me from all of the rocks. It even got to a point where I was steering toward the more rocky areas to see if they could hold up and protect over those, low and behold they did! Taking into consideration that I have never run in minimalist shoes, I have not run trails in a long time, and this was my first run in these shoes so they are no where near broken in, they were super responsive, super light, and incredibly flexible. Maybe there is something to this minimalist running idea. I’m even thinking about going out and getting a pair of the New Balance Minumus. I know that Anton Krupicka, the man who designed the shoes I ran today, the New Balance 101′s also designed the Minimus so that for me is a + taking into consideration how well the run went today. I would love for a pair of road shoes to work as well as the trail shoes did. I have, however, been looking into other shoes as well like the Zoot Ultra Speed, the Saucony Hattori, the Vibobarefoot (these I’m super curious about) and the Nike Free. I’m not sure that I am ready to go all the way to the Vibrams yet. I wear a pair of the Nike Free 3.0 pretty much every day when I work so I know just how incredibly comfortable they are, and I’m on my feet essentially 7 hours a day at work. This actially leads me to my last point…

The big question I have about the minimalist shoes: How will my legs and body feel later today and tomorrow? Are these shoes build specifically for the competitive runner who can relax and get a weekly message or two when they are not running or are they build tor the average joe like myself who is on his feet 7 out of the 8 hours of each shift at work 5 days a week. Will I be able to run in the minimalist shoes before a shift and feel good at work or will I be able to put down some realitively serious miles in the shoes after a full day’s work? The answer to this I will bring to you either tonight or tomorrow.

Until then, eat well and be well.

—DEMONFEET

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