Gear Review: Yaktrax and Deer Tracks

Years ago, an outdoor adventurer was exploring the Himalayas and encountered a seasoned Sherpa striding confidently across the slick and icy surface. What was seen on the Sherpa's feet sparked a revolutionary invention -- the Yaktrax patented coil traction device.

That is how the company began, modeled after the Tibetan Yak. I decided to give their Yaktrax Pro slip-ons a try, with deer rather than yak as companions. The company reached out and sent a pair to me and Rachel for review. We have been inundated with snow and ice in 2015 here in the New York City area, but I have the United NYC Half in less than two weeks and need to get off the dreadmill and be accustomed to elements.

I Shall Protect This House

I was up early this morning to hit our BodyQuest gym with Rachel, and it was a terrific speedwork session with leg weights and core training. "Focus on supreme fitness," Coach Andrew Kastor, the coach for our ASICS LA Marathon Blogger Challenge, told me on the phone last Friday. "Think one day at a time." It was exactly the workout I needed on another day when snow was falling yet again in the NYC area.

What I didn't expect was to basically work out much of the day. The same snow that has posed such a challenge in training for a beautiful Southern California marathon course on March 9 has caused serious problems for people in our area, and on this day I was in position to be potentially a victim.

We have a flat metal roof covering half of our deck behind our house, attached to the back of the house and supported around the edges by upright poles and braces. Last night, the Winter Advisory warning on my Weather.com app suddenly mentioned that "flat roof collapses" are likely. Then the most respected meteorologist who I follow on Facebook reposted a list of symptoms for a possible flat roof collapse, and I saw at least three symptoms that applied to my deck roof. We were in trouble with wet snow on the way.

The roof was bulging in spots, with a couple of leaks. I told Lisa and Rachel to not walk under it, under any circumstances. The roof had nearly two feet of ice and snow covering it, bearing as much weight as possible. Someone walking under it could be crushed, pinned, a disaster waiting to happen. I returned from BodyQuest to defend my house. I didn't want to see a collapse, insurance claim and so forth, but most of all I wanted to make sure we have a safe home. That's my most important job as a homeowner.

Because I NEVER STOP IMPROVING, I went to Lowe's to buy lumber to make a T-frame for support. I got five 2x4x8s, could have used a couple more but time was of the essence, plus I had to get down to the city for work. I knew that temperatures were forecast to rise into the 40s in the second half of this week, but this was an emergency. I took the boards home, measured the distance from deck to roof in the center area. I nailed two of the 2x4s together so they would form the beam that goes longways against the roof, and the other three 2x4s would be the legs. I cut those with a hand saw in our dining room, went out to the deck and wedged the new T-frame in snugly so there would be no way it could collapse in the center.

With some assurance now in place, I then proceeded to start shoveling the exposed deck area, which had at least 2 feet of snow and an ice base. That was a long job and the second part of my workout, heaving shovels of ice and snow over the deck railing. Once I cleared out enough room to place a rug and my stepladder, I got onto the top step and began shoveling snow and ice from the top of the roof. What I saw made it even more surprising that the roof had not collapsed yet. I awkwardly hauled off seemingly a ton of snow and ice, clearing the gutter area, and that was just the left half of the roof. I have more to do tomorrow, but this seemingly has removed the crisis and prevented at least one more collapsed flat roof in our area.



















Are you affected by the big snow this winter? Is the drought out West a serious problem for you? 19 days to the LA Marathon. Stay tuned...

@Marathoner Gear Review: ASICS Storm Shelter Jacket

"STOP AT NEVER."

That is stitched into the neck flap of the ASICS Storm Shelter Jacket, and today I saw that as I zipped up my incredible new piece of running gear and set out for a 15-mile ASICS LA Marathon training run at frozen Central Park. Those words spoke to me and put me in the perfect frame of mind for my subsequent 3:20 run on icy pavement.

This was one of the most challenging days I have had in terms of gear selection since I started marathon running in 2007. We were just coming out of Winter Storm Hercules' wrath, with record cold temps and huge snowpiles. On this day, freezing rain was added to the equation. So I had to deal with brutal cold, icy surface, and now intermittent rain just to make it more tricky. My old jacket wasn't going to cut it.

I drove straight to Paragon Sports at Union Square and bought the plaid ASICS Storm Shelter for $130. (Women's version here.) I had regretted not buying one at the New York City Marathon Expo in November. I am lucky that ASICS now sponsors me and ships me training gear, but this was me doing what I have done for the last 7+ years -- buying ASICS stuff, because they make the best running gear, simply put.



I parked at 93rd and Madison amid piles of snow and entered Central Park at Runner's Gate, running counter-clockwise.



As I ran, it occurred to me that this is a remarkably well-named piece of apparel. It truly felt like a storm shelter. It felt not like a garment, or an object, but like a place, a safe haven, total insular protection. It felt like I was going inside while running outside. In fact, I can safely say that out of the 100+ runners I encountered on the 2+ full 6-mile loops of Central Park, I won the Best Dressed Award. If I was on an Oscars red carpet, I was the woman in Vera Wang who everyone talked about. It was that good.

Let's start with my video product review, just to cover some of the features.



The first three miles, the freezing drizzle was coming down. The running path was a slippery mess, and it had that crackled glazed look that you see on 24-hour-old Krispy Kreme donuts. You tried to run on any available black pavement. We could span out onto the whole road, because this day was off-limits to bikes. That made it feel like a privilege to run there, actually. I saw three guys on bikes later in the day and one of them wiped out, because they were idiots. It was for #beastmode runners only.

Here's what the surface looked like:



Here's what it looked like running up the vaunted and icicle-bound North Woods Hill, which I ran up twice:

Here's a panorama shot of the icicle-covered walls along the North Woods Hill ascent:



Then the precip stopped, and I was starting to heat up so I pulled off the hood that had been my fortress. I had my iPhone safely tucked inside the zipper in the left breast, with a hole for my earbud wire. I listened to Pandora the whole day. I had two Chocolate Outrage GUs in each jacket pocket, and I unzipped the long vent flaps on each side of the jacket to release my body heat. Under it I wore a base layer and a long sleeve NYRR shirt, and I could have done without the second shirt. The Storm Shelter is lined, so that serves as your second shirt, basically. It has a great sleeve liner also, and the Lycra wrist gaiters have a gap for each thumb so it can double as lightweight gloves. The hood is removable, when the weather clears. They thought of everything, and it has a fabulous reflection pattern so you are covered running in the dark.



This was the finish of Week 3 in my 12-Week Training Program administered by Coach Andrew Kastor, who is guiding about a dozen of us who were invited by ASICS to be in the ASICS LA Marathon Blogger Challenge. I had a tough time in Week 2 with a lengthy cough and sinus issue, but I think I'm back on track. This 15-miler brought my weekly mileage to 30. I am doing the Beginner/Intermediate program rather than Advanced, because I want to go back to the basics in chasing my goal of a 5:12 PR.

In fact, you can see "5:12" on the mirror of my bathroom. Coach Kastor said in a CNN article that runners should post a piece of paper on their mirror with a number that they will stare at every day, so that they can make right choices to achieve that. So mine is 5:12, which would beat my PR of 5:13 set at the 2008 New York City Marathon. I have dropped 20 to 30 minutes from that over recent marathons and want to get faster. Next to my number is "1,000,000" for King Bingley (aka Chub), representing 1 million treats. We thought he would want to go after that mostly.

In the last five miles of my 15-miler, it began to drizzle again. I put the hood back on, and used the convenient adjusters to snuggle up. It was fascinating. It was like I was a world away from bad weather. I ran past runners wearing the standard knit cap and jacket look, and they looked so exposed. I didn't want my knit cap to be soaked with frozen rain. That's bad stuff. I am so armed for future #beastmode weather. I cannot recommend the ASICS Storm Shelter enough.

Winter Wipeout Wonderland

Admit it: You have probably wiped out at least once as a runner. It might have been a solo day on a trail when you slipped in the mud, or maybe it was like me in my first (2007) New York City Marathon. Back then, we came charging into Brooklyn for Mile 3 and someone clipped me from behind, and I did a front somersault in a sea of bodies and somehow sprung up with only pebbles to pick out of my hands.

Well, guess what. I just saw the most awesome wipeout EVER in running history. And amazingly, it involved an elite runner. This guy probably finished about 10th-ish in the #beastmode Ted Corbitt 15K that we ran Saturday at Central Park for the start of a big snowstorm. So far, I am still the only one apparently talking about it, and certain people are trying really, really hard to act like it didn't happen -- including the elite runner! But since it happened immediately in front of me, I can't get it out of my head.

In fact, I have to THANK the pavement crasher because he totally took my mind off everything in the second lap of our race, as I kept thinking about how freaking awesome it was that he did a complete whirlybird sideways wipeout and just bounced up and finished the damn race like PREFONTAINE.

OK, let me set the scene. For the Ted Corbitt 15K (9 miles), we start on the upper east side of the park, just under the 102nd Street Transverse on the East Drive. We do a four-mile interior loop first, then repeat it, except for the second loop we add the South end of the park, making it five more miles.

The snow was just starting as the race began at 8:30 am, so there was no need to make this a fun run. We were all there to #beastmode the hell out of this race. So as usual, I know that when I am finishing up my first lap, the elites have just started to pass me and are finishing the course. One by one they flew past me, and as usual I marvel at their forms and give shouts of encouragement as they go by. It's all good.

You have to understand that all the way up the East Drive, first-lap runners are hugging the inside lanes of the main running path, and the leaders are passing everyone on the outside. The lead runner has a truck with him, thanks to New York Road Runners. Then gradually the others come along to our right side and pass us.

With about 400 meters left, roughly near where this race started, there was a crisscross point. The leaders on the outside have to get over to the inside so they can make the left turn and cross the finish line, which is set up on the left side of the transverse. I don't really understand why they don't just make the finish line on the right side of the transverse, which would mean they don't need a crisscross. But it was there.

The crisscross sign said: FINISHING LANE | PASSING LANE. Arrows pointed clearly to either side. That sign was anchored to the roadway with two huge cinderblocks. All around the cinderblocks was thickening and glistening slush, as the snow fell amid freezing temps. It was more and more slippery.

One runner was just in front of me, approach that sign from the left. One of the elites was passing me to my right, and I mean he was flying like a Lamborghini. Then it all happened so suddenly. The slower runner got almost exactly to the cinderblocks, and the elite decided to try to slip right in between that runner and the blocks, worried about losing a millionth of a second in a non-Olympic Trial event.

WIIIIIIIIPPPPPEEEEOOOUUUUUTTTTTTT!

The elite runner's right foot landed on its edge next to the cinderblock, and his leg went underneath him to the left. His momentum carried him around in a full 360 sideways whirlybird, so he was a human frisbee spinning through the cold Manhattan morning air, snow surrounding his spin, a sight that I so badly wanted to photograph or just sit down and start painting. In my mind, he is still spinning, spinning, spinning. Fortunately he did not hit his head on a cinderblock and die right there.

Then he inevitably landed on the slushy blacktop, sliding and skidding about 10 or 15 feet. He wore a singlet and shorts. His saving grace no doubt was the arm warmers he was wearing. I was expecting major roadrash. I have no idea if he bled. All I know is, the dude got up like he never fell in the first place, apparently determined not to lose his position among finishers, perhaps protecting an age-group prize.

I immediately stopped to tweet to #NYRR to please make sure that unsafe crisscross was tended to by more than an overmatched volunteer who is there to qualify as a 9+1 exemption for the next NYC Marathon. This required NYRR management presence. It was a bad place for a crisscross on this day, and what the hell are two giant cinderblocks doing there? They could be lethal.

But enough about all that. NYRR is awesome, and no one is perfect. The runner really lacked common sense and should have gone outside the crisscross and then merged over into his finish lane, and it was partly the weather. Instead, he thought he was Superman and his body failed him. Trust me, this happened...as much as no one wants to retweet it or find out who the injured runner was. I am just amazed at his level of #beastmode -- fucking awesome! What was your worst wipeout?

This was my 92nd overall race since I quit smoking in December 2006 and my last race of 2013. Checked a bag with warm gear, peeled it off and then set out at the start of a NYC snowstorm. The snow was coming sideways the whole time and we ran up Cat Hill each of the two loops. I tend to really love races like this, because I am driven to conquer and then get a warm bath. My finish time was 1:49, lost 5 or 10 minutes tweeting about the party crasher. It was my first "real" run since the NYC Marathon, having taken extra long time to replenish and get ready for a new marathon training program, with a spring race I am about to discuss!

This is what it felt like running the Ted Corbitt 15K -- video I took with my iPhone making the turn up East Drive on the south end by the horse carriages in mile 7.