Initial Review of Altra Superior Trail Running Shoes

I made the complete switch to Altra a while ago and never looked back. The Instinct 1.0 pretty much eliminated any lower body pains I had from previously ill fitting/improperly designed footwear. And being a gear nerd for a while I tried quite a few options. As I did with road running, I made the full switch to the Altra Lone Peak long ago as well (reviewed here). As much as I love that shoe, they are tanks, literally smashing everything in its path. With that indestructibility, however, comes bulk and weight. I was too excited to learn of the slimmed down, yet still tough, Superior. I couldn’t justify a new purchase at the time they were released though…that’s what birthdays are for! And it helps to rack up a couple hundred miles on the Lone Peaks as well. 


Out of the box, I immediately noticed the difference in weight. While the official specs have them fairly close, I simply did not buy it. Indeed, they’re a bit closer than I thought, but a noticeable difference nonetheless. The Superior in at 11.13 oz, and the Lone Peak at 12.88 oz. 

The materials are completely different though. The second thing I noticed was the increased flexibility. One of my beefs with the Lone Peak was that they’re stiff. Not the case here. How? Less padding on the upper I’d imagine as well as the removable insoles. Yes, there’s a removable rock plate, which is nothing more than a flexible piece of rugged plastic. Unless you’re running in an industrial construction yard, it’s perfect. Lighter day on gravel or all dirt/mud, remove the plate for more comfort and response. On my everyday limestone rock trail I’ll likely keep the plate in there. 


The upper. Less padding, and I’m okay with that. They went with a much lighter, thinner tongue as well, which is nearly fully connected to keep pebbles, sticks and shit on the outside where they belong.

One other much welcomed change are the laces. New laces. If I had another nit-picky problem with Altra it has been their choice of laces. They’re really thick and you have to double lace just to keep them secure, not that I wouldn’t anyhow, just makes for a wonky knot with the laces going everywhere. The laces here are seemingly lighter and more flexible. I know, it’s just the laces… at this point I’m just focussing on differences. 

Lastly, the upper is indeed much lighter as well. For the one or two rainy days we get here in San Antonio, I suspect the drainage will be much improved. When I first got the Lone Peaks I was able to actually test them out in nasty weather. While the traction was always amazing, the drainage was lacking. This, of course, came after wearing the Brooks PureGrit, which is the best draining shoe I’ve worn. The style and comfort of the Superior reminds me a lot of the PureGrit, but with the zero drop and toughness I expect from Altra.

A quick 4.5 today on the trails and they’re as awesome as I expected them to be. Much more comfortable than the Lone Peaks and even the Instincts. No break in period required… at least that’s my initial impression; no pain or the usual signs of blistering whatsoever which is generally the case with any new shoes. More to come for sure!


Side note: it’s hard to take a proper picture of your own legs!
Read more at: AltraZeroDrop

Thanks for reading!

Hugs & crap, 
j

Today was somewhat of a laid back, relaxing day. I was up early to watch the Celtic match. We grabbed some breakfast from our local veg joint by the house. I hit the trail for a bit where I saw a dead armadillo (dead or alive scares the shit out of me re: leprosy), a dead possum, two very large vultures (not near the corpses), and a very large owl who was interested in my movements. The latter I’ve seen before but never this close and never his/her face. It looked at me and moved its head around a branch to get a better vantage point, then flew off. A most beautiful creature and definitely a highlight of my trail running thus far. There’s a mansion I run behind who’s animal collection never ceases to amaze. They have quite a few peacocks, which I’ve seen before, but today there were probably five or six very large llamas. Legit? Who knows, but today they were very interested in a lady walking by with her dog. Not in a timid manner, however, rather they looked as if, given the opportunity, they’d prefer to make a quick lunch out of the little guy. —> My thoughts go in many directions on the trails, folks.

I was able to also watch this documentary, “Occupied Cascadia”. The official outline starts as follows: “Occupied Cascadia is a journalistic and expressionistic documentary film which explores the emerging understanding of bioregionalism within the lands and waters of the Northeast Pacific Rim.” It was a beautiful film, informative, and was thought provoking, which in my opinion are marks of a good documentary. I don’t know that it had much of anything to do with what we associate “occupy” with now, as far as the movement goes. While I’m not spiritual, I can appreciate the utility of why they outline certain themes, especially for learning and passing knowledge through spoken word. Otherwise, I can mostly do without anything astrology save for entertainment. The only other criticism I had is that there are many legitimate condemnations of our current state (on many topics), however, some did not offer solutions. For instance, at one point a couple folks admonish solar panels, windmills, and other “clean” energy source options we currently have at our disposal. Indeed, what they said is true, there are harms associated with everything, but at this time where we are the “lesser of all evils” approach is perhaps the best alternative. Otherwise I’m not sure what the argument is, live without power? Utopian to some but it’s just not based in reality. Overall it was a very good documentary and containing multiple topics I hope research further. 

altrazerodrop: Check out this infographic on shin splints. Get the full article here: http://bit.ly/Zj03oO #LTRchat http://on.fb.me/XofrnQ For anyone who faces this dilemma. I once suffered from debilitating shin splints back in the day. I started with a proper fitting by a legit running store pro. With a changing running gait as I improved I slowly progressed to lighter, lower profile running shoes. I finally ended up running in Altras where I’ve remained. Currently all of my running has been on the trails in my indestructible Lone Peaks.
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altrazerodrop:

Check out this infographic on shin splints. Get the full article here: http://bit.ly/Zj03oO #LTRchat http://on.fb.me/XofrnQ

For anyone who faces this dilemma. I once suffered from debilitating shin splints back in the day. I started with a proper fitting by a legit running store pro. With a changing running gait as I improved I slowly progressed to lighter, lower profile running shoes. I finally ended up running in Altras where I’ve remained. Currently all of my running has been on the trails in my indestructible Lone Peaks.

Good vibes needed

Too much political garbage over this past week. It clouds my brain with negativity. Today’s about grounding myself with the good stuff. Over the past couple weeks I’ve reconnected with my local trails; something I’ve missed out entirely the previous few months. This needed to and has been remedied. In about 15 minutes I don my Altras, and with a new Dirtbag Diaries and some StarTalkRadio, I’ll pound on some limestone for a bit. Relax the soul; relax the mind.

This afternoon we make the three-hour trek to Houston for a little guy’s birthday party. This translates to good food, good beer & wine, and plenty of time to reflect. Oh, and when I have some in-between time, this will be ready to go:

I’ve put off buying this for far too long. 

Good vibes shall be had by all. Try it out for yourself!

Aggieland Beard & Moustache Club

If you read my BCS Marathon recap from last week, I mentioned a group of awesome hooligans who made my day around mile 22 or so. Well, I found them online and they found me via email. There were a few far more legit beards than what I rolled out there with. Not too shabby indeed. Anyhow, I’m facebook famous! If you’re the facebooking type (I am not) check it out…  Respect the beards. 

BCS Marathon Race Recap

***Disclaimer*** 
I apologize for my self-denigrating photos to follow. I questioned whether or not to post them, then I thought, I’ve never held back for the possibility to offend so why start now!?

Where can I start? First and foremost, in case no one reads past these few lines, let me say this was an amazingly organized race, at every single level. For being the second year, and such a small scale compared to other Texas (and most city) marathons, I was honestly blown away. Please understand this as well: if you are a new half marathoner or marathoner, find me a better race in the world to begin. That’s right, WORLD. I don’t know how many newbies there were yesterday but I’d estimate around half. Then I realized, as good as they have it here, this race has potentially ruined marathons for them, regarding the organization and support. It was that good.

Okay, let’s get a little more specific. From almost day one of signing up I was receiving updates via email from Chris Field, the race director. This continued up to race day. The info included everything from packet pick-up to weather. I decided to stay at the Hilton in College Station, where the packet pick-up and pre-race events were located. I made the assumption right from the moment I booked the hotel that they had the support of Bryan & College Station businesses as the hotel “special rate” was really good (at least compared to A&M football season). This turned out to be completely true regardless. As expected, it was pretty busy at the small expo there at the Hilton. As we were actually staying there, we dropped off gear in the room and headed down to pick up my bib. Volunteers were everywhere and there was zero confusion from there on. This was small but shows precisely the amount of care and attention to detail Mr Field and team had in organizing this race: at my door in the morning upon waking up at 0500, a bottle of water and a brown bag with a banana, a granola bar, and a bagel. I look down the hall, at nearly every door, one or two of these bags! Folks, I paid $80 for this race! And I didn’t even make the first cutoff before the prices went up. $80!

One point of contention I’ve had in previous runs is the disaster that turns out to be race day parking. Mr Field and his team obviously took this into consideration starting/finishing the race near a shopping mall on a Sunday morning (nothing opens in BCS on Sunday ‘till noon). Crisis averted; zero problems parking and walking the, oh, 200 feet to the start line! And the race began…

As I mentioned above, the support was beyond amazing. Roughly every mile and a half were aid stations, all with water and gatorade. The later stations had oranges, medical aid, gummy bears, and other things I didn’t use. EVERY 1.5 MILES! One of the later emails from Mr Field explained because of the hot weather (~80°) they were adding wet towels to the later aid stations. I did partake and those were lifesavers! At each station, there were tons of people, a couple dozen. Kids, volunteers, Aggies… all represented, all awesome! There were multiple road closures which multiple police agencies and Aggie corps members had covered. And I cannot neglect to mention the support beyond aid: the families, screamers, sign holders, kids with drums, and just all-around buffoonery in between the aid stations. The signs were great, typical of Aggie wit and humor. My personal highlight was the group of folks who were supporting the bearded runners… somewhere around mile 22 or so, a group of 5 or 6 with signs, oranges, cameras, and beard love! I’ll spend some time to find out who these folks were. They made me laugh. 

The finish was better than expected. Hundreds of people, pics at the line as you’d expect, then the best part of my day, a small girl (maybe 5-6 years old) with Downs Syndrome who put the finisher’s medal over my head. Naturally, I held out both hands for some low-fives, which she gave! Best finish ever! Immediately after, I collected my race shirt (a badass Brooks tech shirt) and actually passed on complimentary beer and food. I know, right… I actually passed on the beer! Nevertheless, free beer and food were part of the race package, along with a long-sleeved cotton race shirt, and the obligatory coupons and snacks. 

Let me say, this is a complete stretch, and quite honestly nitpicking, but I feel it necessary in any proper review to at least cover any details warranting improvement. Again, I’m really going out on a limb to criticize here. I’d say, as far as I noticed, there weren’t many porto-potties available, at least starting off. I didn’t notice one for the first 5-6 miles. I could be wrong, but I had to pee nearly immediately crossing the start line so I was keeping an eye out for them. There were not toilets at each aid station, not that I’d expect them to be… The only other complaint I had was actually from my girlfriend who met a volunteer who was pretty rude regarding a road closure. She asked the volunteer about alternate routes and the girl both had no response and was rather nasty giving it. I suppose I’d recommend that volunteers at road closures be more knowledgable of alternate routes… not sure anyone can do anything about attitudes however. That is it. 

Now as far as my results go, they went something like this:
Perhaps it’s the dark, an optical illusion, my beard, or compensation for the amount of brains, but my melon looks friggin’ huge here! 
My initial thought: first guy I see sans shirt, I’m loosing this thing. Starting off, I felt pretty good, but again, I own what I am, a slow runner. I don’t care for times, and I honestly don’t like pacers as you inevitably start to contemplate finish time. Perhaps if I were elite that would be different, but I’m not so I don’t give a shit. Either way, first leg started well. My thought at this point: how many miles will I go before I have to take a dump… runners know what I’m sayin’. As it turned out, that wouldn’t be necessary until mile 18; pretty much a miracle if you believe in those things. Not a miracle, the GF there to capture me exiting. I saw her before so I knew what was coming, hence the dumbass grin.

I’m fairly certain this was right there as well. Not sure what the hell I’m so smiley about at 18 miles. That waned a couple miles after for sure.

And then the end…

A couple of notes, I disrespected my hydration and the sun. How do I know, I’m still dehydrated and I have a pretty nasty sunburn- proof that you can still get burned even without direct sunlight. About 20 minutes later I was in an ice bath in the room. 

My times and stats are as follows:
Finishing time- 4:17:03 (I hoped to get under 4 but don’t really care; blame the beard)
26/43 males age 30-34
139/349 all males
193/609 all marathoners 

And for now, this culminates my long distance running career. I am retiring from marathon running… (I said this last time too, but this time for reals).

Official photos will be posted tomorrow evening we’re told. 

My gear for the BCS Marathon tomorrow morning. I’ve not run with a bag of food in my shorts so that oughtta be an adventure, but figure it to be plenty worth it. My order of Picky Bars just came in; pricier than your average energy bar but far better! Also going to bring the old iPod with some Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History loaded…just under 4 hours to be exact. We’ll see how it goes.
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My gear for the BCS Marathon tomorrow morning. I’ve not run with a bag of food in my shorts so that oughtta be an adventure, but figure it to be plenty worth it. My order of Picky Bars just came in; pricier than your average energy bar but far better! Also going to bring the old iPod with some Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History loaded…just under 4 hours to be exact. We’ll see how it goes.

BCS Marathon offer to NYC Marathon runners

The director(s) of the Bryan-College Station Marathon have extended an offer to NYC marathoners of 70% off registration, or $25. What they neglect to mention is that I will be there running. This fact alone is worth $24! So you’re basically running a marathon for a buck. That’s unbelievable!  

Regardless, I don’t know that I have a solid opinion one way or another on the NYC Marathon being cancelled. If the stories were true regarding the necessity to restructure much-needed resources to support the marathon, I don’t support that. However, Bloomberg should have immediately made this call. Tens of thousands of people travel into the city for this run. While it’s certainly insignificant compared to what people have lost due to Sandy, making this call on Friday was not the proper choice. Twitter absolutely went bananas yesterday! 

I love the community’s effort to help where they can. I saw a push for those runners to donate their hotel rooms to displaced Sandy victims. Or groups of runners instead electing to assist in cleanup efforts. And then there’s the larger running community, such as the BCS Marathon and others, who’ve extended offers such as this.

Thoughts on this morning

I’m fairly certain today is going to be pretty rad. That is my outlook today. There may be some heavy posting, political schtick, and music. It’s Fired-up Friday here! Or Feisty Friday, depending on wine consumption… later tonight.

My second mini-semester began this week with two more classes. The first one is a required kinesiology course, Adaptive Physical Activity and Sport. I have to volunteer with an adaptive sport program for a day or so; should be interesting as my last involvement in ‘99 had an interesting twist. Naturally, the smartass that I am, my first inclination is to drop a “There’s Something About Mary” line. I don’t gather it would go over too well. Of course, I feel the need to mention I don’t talk nor feel like that, I just love that movie and it’s a funny line because he’s such a dick about it.

This was the first time in school I immediately had to drop a class; my second mini class. It’s an organizational development class, essentially a business admin-esque class. Holy balls, what a nightmare. Not that I’m adverse to hard work, but an elective, and one that I really wont be able to apply the benefit anywhere. Foook that! I couldn’t get outta that class quick enough. So I replaced it with the obligatory sports management course. Eff the b.s.  

Speaking of people not getting in school not getting my humor. This was the cover of my presentation I did last semester. So I says, “The bottom left here, is the legendary Thornton Mellon. Not sure if you’ve heard of him but I’d recommend you look him up.” ***blank stares*** “Maybe you’ve heard of the Triple Lindy?” ***crickets*** Story of my life in grad school. I’m not that effing old, people! 

Only 16 miles to run today. Last week’s 22 was a joke. My motivation to run the Friday long runs has waned. I’d rather wallow in my own stink and drink coffee all morning. I’ll press on… 

Sometimes twitter is amazing. Sometimes.

There’s so much bad information flowing around, especially here on tumblr. It’s a bit disconcerting at times. What’s more, I need a larger audience. I’m saddened that complete tools have thousands of “followers”. I think I do myself a disservice with these posts. When I set this up a couple years ago I chose not to pigeonhole the spectrum of my posts. I tend to like it. Others (looking at you “tag” admins) do not. There’s somewhat of a “good ole boy” system here on tumblr regarding the main tags. The #politics #election 2012 are a couple. I wouldn’t be concerned otherwise but there’s some real shit they allow through and I can only assume it’s because of “who” posts it. Sad really. Either way, I’ll accept that a very few stumble onto this blog as a result but I’ll continue my buffoonery with topics about politics, farts, running, punk music, beer, pooping, hockey, and breakfast tacos. It is what it is.

I need to go run. Thanks for reading.
Hugs and crap,
j 

The business at hand

I’ve purposely stayed clear from debate analysis today. The only thing worse than the actual debate, are the goons afterwards claiming some sort of meaningless victory while siting even more meaningless poll increases. If there was even a remote possibly of worthwhile exchange over issues that actually mattered, I’d care more. It’s just too much. 

I did, however, clean, wash my sheets, spar with Sōcrates the bitchass cat, and deal with Time Warner Cable. Speaking of, you want a real “lesser of evils”, take a look at our cable TV options. What a complete farce this is. Time Warner infuriates me. Dish was shit. Direct TV is no different. Comcast is horrible. Talk about a race to the bottom… all while nickel & dime-ing me to upper-lower-to-higher-middle-working-class. But I’m a student, so I actually don’t know what that makes me! I’m sure there’s some sweet category I fit into. 

I do like the possibility of my self-inflicted titles though. I think today I was called a billy goat, a mountain man, and Grizzly Adams. And no, these were not in conjunction with any bedroom shenanigans. Rather, pure joning! I’m fairly confident my hair is not the longest it’s been in 15 years. I’m really hoping the top/back catches up with the sides and back. Seriously. Thinking of hair, I don’t keep up with the rags, and certainly not British rags, but I guess Wayne Rooney got a hair transplant! I had to look it up as I was watching ManU the other day. I mean, he used to be bald as a mug. Now dude’s got a full top! I guess given his contract I’d probably go that route as well. Fuck it, why not!? Either way, my head is going bananas and I haven’t shaved in a few weeks. I didn’t shower today and my beard smells like cheese… or cheddar cheese Beanitos, which isn’t a bad thing, I’ll tell ya. I’m still going for a year!!!

I’ve been thinking a lot about my running lately. First, my Altra transition is complete. While I love Brooks, think they’re a rad company and all, Altra Instinct is where it’s at! I’ve now run many long Friday’s with ZERO soreness, where before I’d be out of commission for the day at least- at shorter mileages too. I’m over 200 miles into the gray pair and will crack open the blacks tomorrow. I’ll probably need one more pair for the BCS Marathon.
 
So I was thinking about taking a break from distance after the marathon in December. I’ve never done so but perhaps I’d like to focus only on 5K and 10K distances. I wonder what my times could be? Anything respectable, maybe for an old fart? 

Finals week! My courses are split into mini-semesters. The first two end next week. One test is a presentation where I’m examining middle distance athlete’s biomechanical adaptations to a prescribed workout routine. Bah. It’s okay, I wanted to focus on 5/10K runners, which I started to but another dude is doing the same. (Incidentally, resulted my thoughts above…) So I took the 1500m for shits. My other class is an Epidemiology course and is a legit test, albeit a take-home test. Here is a mathematical certainty: No test > take-home tests with a week to complete > all other tests. While it’s a total pain in the ass, I can work at my less than leisurely pace… with up-to-minute tumblr updates and rambling blog posts about my jackassery. 

Saturday will be pretty dang awesome. Fredericksburg Texas is an old German-Texan town. It is Octoberfest. That is all. Oh, and it’s supposed to be 79°!

Enough. Thanks for reading this.
Hugs and crap!
-j 

El classico! Truth be told, I was not always an Iggy fan early on. It wasn’t until much later that I learned what an influence he was on an entire genre which has influenced me (not musically, obviously). And how can you not respect a guy who still brings it like Iggy?! Shit, if I look half as good and have a fraction of his intensity at 65 I’ll be in a pretty damned good place! 

Otherwise quite unmotivated today. I ran 18 very long miles this morning. The sun was hiding but it was grody humid out so my bollocks were sweating all over the place. Seriously though… I did dick for school work today. I haven’t read anything which has forced me to produce a worthwhile thought. Scratch that, I’ve read plenty to get me fired up, I just am not motivated to type any reaction and comment out at the moment. 

You know what helps!? Wine and dinner!!!

It is almost October. October & November are my favorite months of the year! Even with this bullshit excuse for autumn I get here in Texas, I still get stoked for October. I shall celebrate with music. I decided today I will devote a post a day entirely to The Misfits. I will chose a song a day, give my thoughts, maybe a lyric or two, and perhaps some ancillary anecdotes. This is certainly self-serving but I’m pretty pumped about it… and you should be too! Stay tuned for that.

Hugs and crap,
j 

Source: SoundCloud / user9504163

How to measure heel-to-toe drop in running shoes | Runblogger

AND his previous post: Heel-forefoot drop, foot length, and ramp angle: How shoes alter the orientation of your feet

Good nerd fodder here for runners. I can now attest to the benefits of running in a zero drop shoe, the Altra Instinct. I haven’t tried the 1.5 as of yet, although I can only imagine the differences are indeed improvements. Initially, I figured I would alternate back and forth between the 0mm drop Instinct and the ~4mm drop Brooks PureFlow. I’ve since experimented enough to alter that plan. I’m currently running exclusively in the Instinct. Zero leg/foot/hip pain. I’ve even noticed some lower back improvements, however, I cannot say if that’s a result of switching to the Altras. 

If you’re having trouble running, pain, lingering muscle/joint soreness, or otherwise, perhaps reevaluating your shoes is a good place to start looking for a remedy. 

What I’m Listening To

I figure it’s past time to give some love to the few podcasters [mostly] who keep my miles not only from being horribly monotonous, but also keep my brain engaged and give me tons to think about. Sadly, much like my time standing in the shower, my best schemes to fix the world’s problems are hatched whilst pounding the San Antonio pavement. Most of these can be directly attributed to these great podcasts; in no particular order. Links included…

Dan Carlin’s Common Sense: For anyone visiting my actual blog page, not only the tumblr dash, will notice I link to Mr Carlin’s podcasts. His Common Sense podcast is his take on current events and it’s one that I’ve yet to disagree with. He is a true independent (as I consider myself), unbiased by any political affiliation but uses a, hello, “common sense” approach, with a good bit of historical context, to interpret the state of our, our world events. While I recommend all of these podcasts, obviously, this one is truly perhaps the most enlightening, and refreshing, one available. 

Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History: Along the same vein as Mr Carlin’s Common Sense podcast, he has developed his own peculiar way to not only analyze major historical events and eras but make them amazingly entertaining. I’m a self-proclaimed history nerd so it’s all interesting to me. However, I believe anyone, even those ignorant to anything other than the revisionist garbage we were all taught in grade school, would not only benefit, but enjoy listening to this podcast. And by the way “hardcore” is exactly what it reads like… Mr Carlin does not hold back any necessary but gruesome details. Think molten gold poured into the eye sockets and mouths of living (albeit condemned) Roman leaders… yeah, it’s that good!

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics by Bruce Carlson: What Mr Carlson does is truly unique and probably the most relevant podcast I’ve heard. Basically, he takes a certain subject, say the question of who Mitt Romney’s Vice Presidential nominee was going to be (before Ryan was picked), then he’ll give you a brief (in time), yet very detailed historical account of previous VP picks. But not in the sense of just listing names, dates, and other insignificant facts, he explains using the historical context of what the people were thinking, why choices were made, who and what and where were involved, and he’s able to roll it all up to where we are now so we’re able to have a little bit of historical perspective as to whatever the subject may be. The best part about it, Mr Carlson is able to remain completely unbiased, while hitting on very sensitive political issues. Another amazing podcast I highly recommend.

The Dirtbag Diaries by Fitz Cahall: Well as I’m typing this out, it’s abundantly clear I cannot pick one favorite; they’re all my favorite! How can I explain the ‘Diaries’. For one, they’re by far the most uplifting podcasts I’ve listened to. Perhaps I look forward to these the most. Most of what I listen to focusses on history or current events, which let’s be honest, is nearly entirely negative. When I need to take my brain to a level of calm, a place where “you know, it all aint that bad…”, I’ll throw on an old episode of the ‘Diaries’. Basically, Mr Cahall and his wife, among a few others, compile anecdotes, largely based on the outdoors, climbing, and environmental issues, into short essay-style stories (think, by the campfire). Most of the time, they’re great, uplifting stories of adventure, heroism, or just outdoor shenanigans, but told much of the time from the people who lived them. And, of course, the music episodes! 

StarTalk Radio by Neil deGrasse Tyson: You could say I’m a little bit of a fan of Dr Tyson. That, of course, is a complete lie; I love Dr Tyson! In his StarTalk Radio podcast he’ll dive into anything and everything science and Astronomy. There’s really not much else to say about it. If you like him, you’ll like his podcast- simple as that!

Russian Rulers History Podcast by Mark Schauss: Yet another history podcast. I don’t want to give anything away here, but it’s got something to do with the history of Russian leaders. As I’ve made clear before, I have a weird interest in Russian history. I find it somewhat fascinating and Russian people amazingly resilient. I’ve jumped around a bit in this podcast to listen to eras that I was really interested in- the October Revolution and after as well as more modern times. Right now he’s at Leonid Brezhnev’s takeover. Mr Shauss does an amazing job connecting the dots in a way that is both entertaining and easy to digest. 

Escape Velocity Radio with Chris Hannah and Derek Hogue: A brand spanking new podcast from Mr Hannah, of Propagandhi fame and Mr Hogue, naturally. These guys do it right up there in Winnipeg. They get into everything from anarchism, current events, veganism, history, ethics, you name it. Only two episodes in but I certainly hope they keep it going!

The Nerdist Podcast by Chris Hardwick: These guys are great. While I don’t listen to every single episode, they’ve had, or I’m betting they will have on every single awesome person alive! Bill Nye, Henry Rollins, Alton Brown, John Lithgow, Morgan Spurlock to name a few… the list goes on an on. These guys are forging the “nerd is the new cool” path!  

Point of Inquiry: This is the podcast and radio show for the Center of Inquiry, hosted most of the time by Chris Mooney. I enjoy the topics very much on this podcast. There is a definite need to bring secularism into the forefront as I think it’s a generally disrespected, albeit broad, topic. The problem I have with this podcast is, while I like Mr Mooney, he is an extreme liberal and I think he fails to disassociate his bias. I feel as though many of his criticisms of the “right” can also obviously be made for the “left”; he fails to do so. Otherwise, it’s a very informative podcast if you’re interested in secularism and science.

UltraRunnerPodcast by Scotty Sandow and Eric Schranz: I’ve listened to a lot of random podcasts about running and these guys and the following podcast are two of the better ones out there. While there’s certainly a ton of good info to be had, many of the podcasts are just way too boring…i.e. what it would probably sound like if I were recording. UPR, however, is totally different. They have on great guests, anyone from nutritionists to the top ultrarunners out there. While I don’t consider myself an ultrarunner, the podcast is entertaining and worth listening to even if just for the wealth of knowledge. And they present it in a manner that’s very “beginner”, as in, they ask/answer questions beginners on up would ask. AND they talk about BEER!

Trail Runner Nation with Don Freeman, Scott Warr, and Faith Goss: Very similar format to URP, very entertaining, and great info from great guests. Another very good listen for any runners really, not just trail runners. 

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