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On October 30th I will be participating in a fundraiser called “Barbells for Boobs” to raise money for Mammograms in Action at my CrossFit gym.

Mammograms In Action‘s mission is to provide funding for qualified women who need screening and/or diagnostic procedures in the prevention of breast cancer. By supporting MIA you help low-income and uninsured women.

The fundraiser event itself is named Amazing Grace because the main workout is known as “Grace.” The workout is 30 clean and jerks for time. I’ve embedded a youtube video of one of the best performances I’ve seen of Grace performed.

If you are interested in sponsoring me in the fundraiser, get in touch. I don’t know what the easiest method of collecting donations would be, but I’m sure we can work something out.

Counting down to Amazing Grace 2010

So a few months ago I wrote an update about how I wanted to run more. Or at least I think I did. Anyways, I’ve been running more. Around the same time I remembered how I had read on Tim Ferriss’ blog about Vibram five fingers and thought what better time to try a new style of running shoe then when I was going to start running. So a few weekends ago, Stacy and I went over to Zombie Runner to try some on. Before I get into the review of these new model of five fingers, let me just say it’s definitely a good idea to get yourself sized before you purchase a pair of Vibrams. The fit is very important, and one foot is likely bigger than the other, so it’s important to make sure you get the proper size to ensure the best experience.

So at the store I tried on a whole bunch of different models of five fingers. I started with the classics, then moved on to Bikilas and KSOs. The staff was very helpful, and I was close to narrowing down my decision when the guy next to me almost exploded with excitement that a new model was available. He had talked to me about the different pairs he had, and the faults some of them had, and then showed me the Trek Sport model. He pointed out the toe reinforcement (more on that later) and the treads on the bottom. They looked like the perfect model for me, who planned to do mostly running, as opposed to walking, and some off-road/trail as well as road running.

Overview
The Trek Sports are not bulky, but are somewhat more rigid than a classic five finger. They are definitely much more sturdy than a classic model as well, but like I said, they accomplish this without adding “bulk.” Here is a picture of them from the top down:

One of the really nice design decisions that Vibram made on these was to make the top material mesh aka breathable. This is an improvement over the Bikila model which has a solid material across the top of the foot. Another design improvement over the Bikila is the strap, which is a wrap around model that not only goes across the top of the foot but also behind the heel forming a really snug fit between the foot and the shoe.

The Toes

When I was talking to the guy next to me in Zombie Runner one of the flaws he was quick to point out to me with Vibrams was the wear in the area on top of the toe. The classics he was currently wearing showed a hole forming on his big toe, and he told me they were 6 months old with some moderate running. Given that he had multiple pairs of Vibrams, I took that as a warning. He did show me that they realized this problem and improved on it with the Bikila design adding reinforcement to this area. But the Classic and the Trek didn’t have this improvement. I just so happened to be in luck that the newly released Trek Sport model was in stock, had just been released that week and wouldn’t you know it, had the toe reinforcements.

The Sole

Here is what really was impressed with. I ran around the store in most of the models that Zombie Runner had, and I was concerned that going from standard running shoes, so something with such a light sole would really be too drastic of a change for me. Luckily, the Trek Sport has a (somewhat) sturdy sole. It’s definitely not a running shoe like experience, but it also provides some grip and protection when running on trails. While it is sturdy by comparison to other Vibrams, it still allows for much more toe flexibility than a typical running shoe, and completely enables the barefoot running style that I was hoping to learn.

Conclusion
I feel really lucky that I happened to walk into Zombie Runner on the exact day that I did. Considering all of the different models of five fingers that exist now, and how long I’ve been thinking about getting them, it took a fair amount of luck to wait until all of the design improvements and feature sets that I was looking for was available in one model. I’ve probably logged 20-25 miles already in my new Trek Sports and I’m totally satisfied with them. If you are looking for a durable (toe reinforcements!), sturdy (thicker sole than other models), grippy (is that a word?) model of Vibram five fingers, than the Trek Sport definitely wins out over the previous Trek, the Bikila and the Classic.

If you have any questions about the Trek Sport or running with five fingers, feel free to drop me an email or send me an @ message on twitter.

I’ve been meaning to write up a blog post for a few weeks now, and I just couldn’t seem to find the time. The idea behind my post was that I realized that a few things are all going to be happening in the month of December and I’ve started to really look forward to it.

The first big thing is that I will be graduating from business school. In some ways it feels like I just started, but it’s been a pretty intense journey. Taking double courses the entire way thru, and finishing in roughly 15 months, all while still working full time hasn’t been easy. It will be nice to fully reclaim my weeknights and occasional saturday for matters other than school.

Secondly, this will be the first December that Stacy and I get to go home to our families during the holidays. Since we moved out to California, she always had to work during the holiday season, but since she is now independently employed, we have the freedom to go back home. It will be great to spend Christmas with the family again.

Thirdly, December is my birthday month, so I’m always looking forward to that. But this year might be interesting if Jawk’s idea to go to Vegas works out.

And overall, I just think December will be a good time to look back at accomplishments, enjoy time with friends and family, and then start to look forward to the coming year.

Just a quick update on my MBA progress. I recently completed BUS202 – Managing in the Global Economy and got a B+. I’m glad that the class is over as it was a real disappointment. The course curriculum was not executed well and the only highlights were the guest speakers from BMW and Ericsson. The class was so disengaging that I began to lose interest in the entire program.

The good news is that it is over, and I am back engaged in two courses for the second session of the summer semester.

• 200W – Research and Communication
• 238 – International Marketing

For the 200W course we are focusing on a qualitative research project on companies within Silicon Valley incubators. The 238 course is focusing on taking a prototype product from Project Enable and putting together a comprehensive international marketing plan.

From the New York Times:

Diageo said Thursday it would transfer ownership of £430 million, or $645 million, worth of whiskey to a pension funding partnership. Diageo employees would not receive their pensions in whiskey rather than cash, but the move does give them a guarantee that they would not walk away empty-handed should the company default.

I like the idea. U.S. Automakers might have been able to do this with their pensions. Give the pension fund a few Corvettes to sell instead of going bankrupt?

Last night I watched an incredible baseball game. At the end of the season, it will most likely be in the top 10 games of the year. John Gruber even brought it up and linked to this story in the NY Times. There were points where I almost turned the game off, but my opportunities to watch the Yankees in California are few and far between, so I was going to suffer through what seemed like an impending loss.

Then the comeback began. It was that familiar feeling I’ve had so many times over the past decade when you just know they are going to win. But what really caught my attention was something Jon Miller said after the Yankees had scored four runs in the 9th against Jonathan (Guns of) Broxton and he was walking off the field to the dugout. Broxton came into the game with a four run lead, so it wasn’t a save opportunity and giving up those four runs in the ninth wasn’t a blown save. Broxton didn’t come back out in the 10th, that honor was bestowed upon George Sherrill. Since the game was tied when Sherrill came in, Broxton wasn’t the losing pitcher.

So Broxton doesn’t get a blown save or a loss, but his four runs in one inning is good for a 36.00 ERA. So his stats aren’t completely unscathed, but I think I said it best with my tweet last night.

What a statistical sin that Broxton gets neither the blown save nor the loss in that game.