Product Review - Under Armour Spine Shoes

I received a pair of Under Armour Spine Shoes from Kovas as a result of a product give away on his blog. I didn't win, outright but when the winner didn't claim the prize, I was the beneficiary of the roll down. I was pretty excited since I love trying new gear and writing about it, specially gear I probably wouldn't buy on my own.

I've been doing a lot of trail running the last few months and have been using my trusty New Balance 1080 road shoes. I always wondered if a trail shoe would be better but never got around to really looking into it, until now.

I received the shoes a few days ago and at first glance they look like a normal shoe. Flip them over and they don't look so normal. The tread pattern is very aggressive with deep grooves for traction. The other major difference between these shoes and typical road shoes is the tread material. The tread has a relatively hard plastic feel vs. the rubbery feel of traditional shoes even though the Under Armour website says they are made of rubber.

Yes, I was too lazy to crop out the trash can in the background :-)

Nice deep treads

Last time these will be clean :-)

Once I put the shoes on I noticed a nice fit up top with a nice roomy toe box. The soles felt a little stiff walking around but not too bad. The shoes squeaked like basketball shoes when walking across the tile floor in my kitchen, nothing a little dirt won't fix :-).

I headed out to some of my favorite single track at the university and gave them a try on a nice, warm 60 degree day in January. With some heavy rain just a couple days earlier, I knew I would get in a good test on some slippery spots. I wasn't more than 10 or 15 steps into the woods when I immediately noticed the fantastic traction these shoes offer. I've honestly never experienced the sure footed feeling I had and was excited to put these shoes through their paces. When I reached the first slick spot, I didn't even have to change my gait where with regular running shoes, I would shorten my stride significantly to make sure I did t slip and fall. What a great feeling! Slick hill? No problem. Muddy stretch at a slant? Not an issue. Now I realize what I was missing trail running in a road shoe.

About 40 minutes into my run, I ran on a paved multi-use path to get to the next set of single track. The shoe felt stiff and made a clomping sound. Kind of like running with wood soles. I definitely won't be retiring my road shoes any time soon. After a brief stint on the paved path, I was back on the single track and enjoying the superior traction of these shoes. I'm not sure if its the shoes or the fact that I was running late for an appointment, but I PR'd my 6 mile loop by over three minutes without trying too hard. Being able to take full strides through tricky spots had to be a big chunk of that 3 minutes.

Overall I'm impressed with these shoes and would recommend giving them a try if you are in the market for a trail shoe. For running on pavement, I would stick with what is already working for you.

(Disclaimer: I was given these shoes for free from Under Armour. I did not pay for the shoes, receive payment for this review, agree to give a positive review, or agree to review them at all. Aside from information gleaned from the company website, the opinions are my own.)

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Product Review: Kiefer Mach 5 Goggles

Steven over at Kiefer sent me a note and asked if I would review one of their products. Kiefer makes performance swimwear, so it's obvious Steven hasn't looked up any of my swim times :-). I have a habit of leaving goggles in the shower! so I decided goggles would be the way to go.

The goggles came in a small plastic case with a couple spare nose connectors.

There were protective plastic pieces over each lense.

I tried them on before heading to the pool thinking I would need to adjust them a bit but they fit perfectly right out of the box.

Sporting some hat hair for a goofy picture.... No pool pics, sorry :-).

On to the pool. The goggles fit well again. They fit in the eye socket and the fit reminded me of Speedo Vanquishers. On the first lap I had some minor leakage on the nose side on the left and ear side on the right. A quick press on both goggles quickly corrected that. The goggles were comfortable and didn't fog at all. It wasn't long until I forgot I was even wearing goggles, which is always a good sign with gear.

Kiefer also has goggles with vision correction which would be nice for people that wear glasses. I wear my contacts in the pool, so they weren't for me. Kiefer also makes other swim gear like fins, buoys, paddles and flotation devices. If you are in the market for some swim gear, check them out.

(Disclaimer: I was given Kiefer goggles for free, courtesy of Kiefer. I did not pay for the goggles, receive payment for this review, or agree to give a positive review. Aside from information gleaned from the company website, the opinions are my own.)

 

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Product Review: Aqua Sphere Kaiman Goggles

The folks at AquaGear sent me a note asking if I wanted to review some gear of my choosing. That is a no brainer for me, I love trying out gear and sharing my experiences. So I went to their website https://www.aquagear.com/ and started poking around. They have quite a large selection Of items and I was having trouble choosing something. I thought about getting some paddles, then thought better of aggravating my shoulder injuries. I thought about getting some fins or kick board, but I just use the ones at my local YMCA. So after a drawn out, indecisive stretch by me, I went with something I already know and love, Aqua Sphere Kaiman goggles. I went through the painless Aquagear ordering process and within a couple days, I had my goggles in hand.

I ordered a pair of black goggles with smoked lenses since I already have a pair of blue with blue lenses for the pool and a pair of black with mirrored lenses for really sunny days. I've also lost several pair over the last couple years. Sometimes I leave them in the shower at the Y and sometimes I give them away. I gave a pair to a friend that just did Knoxville 70.3 and he loved them too ( and lost them in the race :-)).

nice big lenses

Easy adjustment clips adjust in seconds

When I first started swimming a couple years ago, I experimented with several different brands of goggles and once I tried these Kaiman's I knew I found the right ones. The adjustment is super easy to pull, yet they lock in place. They are wide for a good field of view and no "goggle eyes". I really haven't found anything I don't like about these goggles except that I keep leaving them at the Y :-).

Had to throw in a cheesy pic

If you are in the market for some new swim gear, check out Aquagear.

(Disclaimer: I was given Kaiman goggles for free, courtesy of Aquagear . I did not pay for the goggles, receive payment for this review, or agree to give a positive review. Aside from information gleaned from the company website, the opinions are my own.)

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Product Review - Zippfizz

The folks at Zippfizz asked if I would do a product review of their energy drink.  I've been getting tired in the afternoon after lunch wears off so after checking out their website and seeing it contained only 10 calories, 0 grams of sugar and a bunch of vitamins, I thought why not give it a try.  I received the water bottle plus sampler pack last week while out of town and decided to try it this week.  The product comes in a powder you mix with a 16 ounce bottle of water.  

Sampler pack and water bottle

Six flavors to try

Today after lunch I tried the citrus flavor and the taste was pretty good.  I didn't notice any huge changes (no racing heart beat or jitters), but I did notice I didn't run out of energy at all.  I also felt slightly more alert.  After 4-6 hours, I still felt just fine, no crash at all.

You can check them out on twitter, facebook, their blog, and their website. It's also available at Walmart and Target (according to presentation they sent me).  If you are looking for a last minute unique gift idea for an athlete, check them out.


(Disclaimer: I was sent this product for free to review on my blog - courtesy of Zippfizz corporation.  I did not pay for the item, receive payment for this review, or agree to give a positive review. Aside from information gleaned from the company website, the opinions are my own.)


(Disclaimer #2, I borrowed the above disclaimer from Kovas's blog.  He does a ton of product reviews)