Nike Air Pegasus +29--A Shoe Review

A Brand New Pair of the Pegasus' +29 Model

    For fans of this blog, you have read about my love for Nike's Air Pegasus running shoes before in several previous posts. If you want to read the main precursory post about them just place your little mouse here and read with pleasure (I hope). I have written about them more than once because to me, they are the most consummate running shoe around. I don't say this flippantly, but rather because I have been wearing them on and off almost exclusively for the past six years. They have been my go to training shoe and at times racing shoe for almost every race I have trained for during that time. 

A little boy trying to figure out why his dad sits him down to take pictures of an old pair of shoes. 

       

     The Air Pegasus is Nike's most popular and most successful running shoe. They have been making it  since 1983 with a few lone exceptions somewhere around the early to mid-90's and a couple times in the early 2000's. They stopped for some reason and then brought them back somewhere around year 2000, 2002, and 2005. (If you can read French or at least like to look at pictures, a French fellow wrote a pretty complete little history of the shoe line or he at least found some good pictures of the shoe line from the first version to the latest version and you can check that out here) As I mentioned previously, I did not  start wearing them till around 2007, but my older brother ran track in high school and he had one of the early 90's models that he passed onto my granddad and he sported them around into the early 2000's. Each year, Nike tools around with the shoe and changes something about. All shoe companies do this, but Nike is famous for it and this has caused much dismay and because Nike is so popular other shoe companies have followed this line of thinking to the constant frustration of the running hordes. If fact, there is a little phrase you will hear often among the running community and that is, "just the time you finally find the perfect shoe, ___________ (fill in the blank with the company name of your choice: Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Brooks, etc), will go and change everything you like about it." I have heard it from others and I have said it myself a time or two.

 
What a pair of 29's look like after they have a quarter of a XC season in them, a little over 200+ miles on them, and track season conditioning on them. 

      However, since 2007, I have owned either one or two pairs of each current version minus the +26 version. I was even at the store to buy that model when I stumbled upon a two year old model for $20 and instead bought those. Each year, I run somewhere between 850-1250 miles. A well built running shoe can safely handle somewhere between 300-500 miles on them. Sometimes its more and other times its less all depending on the runner and the type of running he or she is doing. If a runner is a heavier runner (above 150+ lbs.), a heel striker, and does most of their training and racing on concrete, it would be best to go with the lesser number of miles. I say this because the runner will get injured in some way, not because BIG SHOE COMPANIES are paying me because if they are, then I'm not sure how. However, if the runner is in-shape, does most of their runs on trails, and maintains a healthy weight, then one can get far more than 500 miles out of a pair of shoes. (The guy I coach XC with got a 1000 miles out of one pair of Pegasus +25's last year).

"Enough with the pics of old shoes, dad. Pick me up and let's do something I want to do for a change!"

     So, you are now into paragraph four of this post and very little has been said about the +29 model of the Air Pegasus. As the song goes, "be patient, be patient, don't be in such a hurry...", you are in the thick of it now. The +29 model was released early last summer at the starting price of $100, but I don't actually know anyone that paid that much for them; most places sold them for $79-$89. Unless you got a special model (Trail, GTX, Shield, etc), then you paid more for those and you got what you paid for. I bought my pair in the last month of XC season out of desperation.  I had purchased an older model that I was sure would last me over the 500 mile mark, but I lost the sole of the newish pair of shoes in the clay one day during a very wet and muddy run which I was shocked by because I have owned around 8 pairs of Pegasus shoes and not one of them has ever even tried to tear up.  

   The +29 model ends up being much different from the previous models I have owed in a variety of ways. The liner of the shoe is called the FITSOLE 2 and it was a descent enough liner and contained much more padding than the previous models, but if you do any real running, you will desire an orthotic or some other inner sole. The actual sole of the shoe is composed their patented Cushlon materials, but it ends up feeling more like the Nike Lunar series of  shoes instead of what I have come to expect from the Cushlon. The toe box is wide, which is good because as you run your toes splay outward and you need the room. The mid-foot portion of the shoe is firm, but padded. And the heal is a little high, but you don't notice that much while you are running. The upper part of the shoe is breathable and the middle portion of the shoe is held together with an early version of what is now Nike's Fly Nit technology. The +29 model is similar to the +28 model, but is a far cry away from the other previous models. 

   Some pros for the +29 model is that it is a great all around shoe and can be depended on to be just that on a variety of surfaces and for a variety of uses. I have enjoyed them on long trail runs and have enjoyed them on a track during lengthy and fast interval sessions. I have also used them as a casual shoe and for race distances ranging from 400m-10k. The only con I can really think is that I at times wish the ride was a little less plush. I have only owned one pair of Nike Vomero's and they feel more like that pair than the desired responsiveness that I have come to love from the Pegasus model. 

   I am not sure if Nike is planning on a +30 model as of right now or I can't seem to find any information about it via the web and they haven't started phasing out +29 model options yet. They usually release new models of shoes in the late, late spring or early summer, so we may get a new model just yet. I do know that once Nike releases a model, they let several months go by and then they begin offering a variety of options for that model to be had by the public as I have mentioned earlier in this post. Right now, the current special option is the Shield option which is pretty neat and useful if you are like me and run at night and during a variety of weather conditions because the Shield technology is both to help against water and darkness.And I received a very cool pair of the trail version of the Pegasus for Christmas that I am saving for XC season. 

Happy running and happy reading. Let me know your thoughts on the Pegasus +29 if you have them. I have enjoyed them and plan on buying another pair in the future. 

Enjoy,

   David

Grant Peterson, Rivendell Bicycle Works, and Bicycling Coversion

* Warning. Caution. Achtung. Precauci'on. A winding, passionate post lies ahead at the next scroll turn. This is a long post. Exercise extreme caution. --Editor in Chief of HTH

   

    A couple Saturdays ago, Mel said she needed to get out of the house and get some fresh air, so we loaded up the Subaru and headed out. Our first stop was to the Washington Memorial Library. We had some overdue books we needed to take back and Mel had a list of several books she was in the market for. We didn't want that library guy from Seinfeld to come after us. Well, I guess no one does.

     After I grabbed the books I was looking for, we (FH and I) helped Mel put a couple holds on several selections by standing very close to her and giving her loads of moral support. We also walked around the library looking in some corners we don't usually go to and we made our way to the section that has all the books about every sport or outdoor activity you can think of and I wanted to peruse their selection of bike books since I've been riding my bike more than running as of late and have been sort of consumed with many thoughts about bike design, bicycling, and commuting and if you ask Mel, she could easily say that my brain has looked a little like this:

Or

     And you would get this or at least be a little like this yourself if you would have spent the last month riding your two-wheeled machine back and forth from work for around 14 of the past 20 working days and in town for errands. So, we located the books they had about bikes and we both sat on the floor and pulled several selections from the shelf and gave them a very thorough looking over. FH was surprised they still had the books about or by Lance A. and he did make a couple wise cracks about the fact that, "it wasn't just about the bike", but we did find two great books and one that has made a big impact on my thinking about cycling. And when I say big, I mean gigantic. 

 
    If you know me, you know I tend to be easily influenced. This has been both good and bad at certain moments in my life. And once influenced, I tend to keep up an action or a thought for a very, very long time. I met this fine looking curly haired brunette girl almost 12 years ago and I am still trying to keep her as my girl.  I read my first Wendell Berry book around 10 years ago and I'm still talking about it. I ran my first mile when I was in the 8th grade and I'm still running. I strummed my first guitar 21 years ago and I am still playing. And now, two Saturdays ago, I picked up this book (see pic) and I can see it influencing the rest of my life in relation to cycling. 

    If you read my post about the Strava Base Mile Challenge, you know that I have really been rethinking my views about cycling. When I consider the amount of actual guilt-free, extra time in my life, I don't really have any. And when I think about how much time, effort, and money it would take me to get into the place and shape where I would be considered a real cyclist or a racer of some sort, it is not hard for me to become easily depressed. I don't see this happening in any realistic scenario, but this is where my thinking has been evolving. I love riding bikes. I really love riding bikes with my wife and am really looking forward to putting FH into one of these (see pic) and all three of us heading out into the sunset.

  I have always loved riding bikes even though when I was learning, I acquired the name "Clyde Crashcut" and have never really been that great or strong of a rider, I still love it. So, when I look at my very nice bike, a Trek 1000 SL that God gave me, I have two choices. I can either hang up the bike and walk away with my head down because I will never be a "real cyclist" or I can sell my bike and buy a three-wheeled trike and resolve to use it in a retirement community only. Those are two choices I didn't want to be forced into. I needed a third and much better option. I needed an option that was very similar to the one I had when I was a kid and used to ride my bike for hours around the neighborhood with my sister and friends. That is where my thinking has been headed and then I found a book with a red jacket written by this man:

Grant Petersen

   The man is Grant Petersen. He has spent his life around bikes both professionally and recreationally. He worked for the Bridgestone Cycle (USA) until they closed their North American doors in 1991 and when those doors closed, he opened up Rivendell Bike Works and that is where he is at today. At Bridgestone, he designed bike frames and bike components and now does basically the same thing for his own company, but with a completely different viewpoint. He used to build bikes like this:

  

But he now builds bikes like this:

The Atlantis, aka "David's Dream Bike"

And this:

The Hunqapillar

     He used to build and design bikes for pro cyclists, but now he builds and designs bikes for what he has called the "unracer". This is the term he describes everyone who loves cycling, but is not actually sponsored by a company and doesn't ride the major tours of the pro cycling circuit. Which makes up everyone besides around 500 people on the planet. If you look at the pictures closely, you can see some similarities because after all, they are all bikes, but when you take a closer look, you see how different they really are. His older designs are made of smaller frames, different components, complex gearing, and very skinny tires. While his new designs contain larger, more durable frames, wider tires, baskets and racks, different seats, different handlebars, and much different, and much simpler gear sets. His old designs are made of "racer" specific materials and aren't made to last, while his new designs are made of materials that will last one a very long time.

     Mr. Petersen is not shy about his views on cycling and gets a lot of flack for what his writes and what he says, but it doesn't seem to bother the guy because he keeps writing and talking. And his fame is radipdly growing because he has nit a nerve and a sentiment that a lot of other people are feeling as well. He has been given the name or title of being a, "retro grouch", which I think I know what is meant by the term, but am not completely sure. He ruffles a lot of feathers in the cycling community by dividing everyone into a "racer" or "unracer", but I don't see why, because he labels himself as an "unracer". I think there is a misunderstanding here. When I read Petersen describe an "unracer", I do not have the feeling he wants all cycling to become somewhat of an "Upward" sport where everyone is a winner, but instead wants people to realize that hobbies are things you don't have to do and if you are doing something that you aren't required to do by your life, then it shouldn't be something you dread. I completely agree. He also ruffles a lot feathers by being pretty rough on pro cycling and what designs, equipment, attitudes that come out of it. He feels that instead of good things trickling down from the top, he feels that pro cycling harms the sport instead of helping it. His biggest arguments really hit home with me and how I have been feeling as of late about cycling. To sum up Grant Petersen's core beliefs about cycling, I will use an excerpt from the book:

"...the message in this book is to jettison the influences of racing that make your bike less than fantastic. Don't suffer in the name of speed, imaginary glory, or Internet admiration; don't ride bikes that don't make sense for you; don't wear ridiculous outfits just to ride your bike; don't think of your bike as a get-in shape tool and riding as something you to have suffer to benefit from. Your bike is a useful convenience, and a fun, somewhat expensive, toy, and riding is best for you when it's fun." --page xi

 
     This is exactly the mindset that I've been trying to form and instead found it clearly written in the book instead. The book comes in at 212 pages including the appendix and is chock full of very useful and extremely practical lessons that Mr. Petersen has gathered during his life with bikes and among the cycling community at large. You can easily read the book cover to cover in a few sittings. I did and I'm a slow reader. Mel could read it in a single setting. It is written more like a magazine and less like a book. And if you like riding bikes, it will change the way you think about your hobby or it will at least challenge it. I found this book very, very enlightening and very helpful. In fact, I changed something about my bike after reading the book only for a few short moments. Whether he is discussing bike frames or the clothing one should wear while riding, he never strays too far from the above quoted feeling. The book is broken into eight parts and each part is full of a multitude of 1-5 page articles that if you love cycling and are willing to call yourself an "unracer", then you will find very useful and very rewarding. Here are few things I have gleaned from the book:

• The correct way to pedal.
• How to think about and use the 27 gears on my bike.
• How anytime spent on the bike whether its 5 minutes or 5 hours is enough and worth it. 
• How wearing everyday clothes is more practical and much cheaper than putting on loads of spandex.
• A multitude of safety related matters that I instantly found useful in my daily commutes to work.
• The correct way to wear a bike helmet. 
• Good ways to personally and cheaply keep my bike running smoothly and how to keep it clean. 
• The correct riding posture and position.
• The differences of all the tires and which tires are for what. 
• The differences in frame materials and why steel and aluminum frames are better than titanium and carbon frames.

   These are not all the items I have acquired from the book, but it seems that I got something from all 89 sections of the book. I really enjoyed his section on "Velosophy". It was well-written and changed my thoughts about cycling forever. He spends his time in this section discussing how to change one's "bike-o-meter" and reinforces the idea of using your bike for fun and for commuting. I also really enjoyed his thoughts on how to make your family enjoy your hobby instead of hate it. The section on what he calls "S240's" got me very excited. All they are, are sub-24 hours overnight trips that you take from your house and cycle out about 2-3 hours from your home, camp out, and then ride back home. This is a very simple, yet awesome idea that I plan on getting my family (Mel & FH) to do as soon as Ford is old enough. The pic below is of some of the guys from Rivendell Bike Works on their way back from an S240. 

  If you haven't read the book. Give it a read. It won't take you long and it will be worth your time. If you used to love riding your bike when you were a kid, but have given that type of riding up because you think you need to be the next stage winner of a TdF in order to be seen as legitimate to your peers, but hate spandex and don't have the time, desire, and an extra $15,000 to spend on a bike, but still want to ride around for fun, then Grant Petersen and this book are what you've been looking for. Since I've read this book, I have gotten wider tires put on my bike along with a rack on the back. I have also gone from using blinking lights to using solid lights when I ride early in the morning and at night. I have also acquired two steel framed bikes (for free from a family that was throwing them out) that I plan on converting to either neat, retro touring bikes or fixed-gear bikes. 

   I will end the post here. I could say more, but won't. Read the book. Look up Rivendell Bike Works. Subscribe to their blog. Look up Grant Petersen and read his other interviews. Go throw away your spandex, put on some regular clothes you love to wear, grab your wife and kid, and go for a ride like you did when you were a kid. If someone makes fun of you, feel sorry for them because they are really missing out on something cheap and very fun. And as Grant Petersen says, "don't count the miles, measure the minutes and the amount of joy you are gaining from riding." I couldn't agree more.  

Happy reading, riding, and watch the film at the bottom. It last almost 30 minutes, but you will gain something from watching it, even if you don't ride. 

   David

"That is so over!"

A little clip from one of our new shows, "Portlandia". Too funny and so true about fads and hipsters. 

       Mel and I have a friend who works at a very well-known outfitting store and one of his many tasks is to follow clothing trends among different age groups. I haven't spoken to him in a couple of years, but I used to really like hearing his observations about trends he saw among differing age groups and what you could tell about the life expectancy of certain clothing fads or the life expectancy of certain clothing brands. After hearing his observations, I used to love to test them out to see if he was right, by watching all the students at the schools I have taught at to see if he was correct. And a good majority of the times, he was very correct. A school is a great place to do these observations because in a single day you can see the whole family spectrum and observe what they are wearing and listen to what they are raving about. I am not talking about doing so in a "creepy, yellow-tinted glasses, guy sitting by himself away from everyone" kind of way, but more of the just listening to people to talk around you. 

   One of his constant observations was that trends begin in the age demographic of 18-25. If this age group can be talked into sporting a certain look, then a company has "punched their ticket" as far as success goes. This is why most models are this age. And then their "trend" of the moment goes briefly upwards into the 26-30 bracket, but then moves over a slow period of time into the 17-13 bracket. This may sound like a little hypothesis where you don't really think I nor my friend really know what we're talking about at all, but test it yourself and let me know what you see. And my friend, Mark, says that once you see the brand hit lower middle school and start going to the elementary age groups and you also see those same brands on the 36-45 crowd, the death knell for the company is being loudly sounded. A few companies have survived this by hitting that first crowd hard again (Nike), but the list for doing so is short. 

    I will give a short example. In 2004, I purchased my first pair of Chaco sandals from an online store and I paid $25 for them. I got my first teaching job in 2005 and on several occasions would where them to school and the students, middle & high schoolers, would lose it and call them my "Jesus" shoes and other well-crafted names. I am in no way saying I started the trend because thousands of other people where already wearing them and I bought them because the place I had gotten a job at was full of those super-cool guys between 18-25 who were already wearing them. I would take the teasing and move on.  After all the kids teasing me lived at home, had a bed time, and wore braces. And the sandals are comfortable and last like no other shoe I've ever had. Flash forward nine years and I heard two 7th graders talking about how cool Chacos were and how they'd gotten a pair on sale for $75. And on Saturday, FH and I were at a bike store that was selling them for $35. I won't say the time for Chacos has come to an end, but they are nearing an end of some sort. I hope not because Mel and I are still sporting them like there's no tomorrow and they are one of the best companies we've dealt with, but once an 11 year old is sporting them into Pre-Algebra class, some of the "style" and "cool" points got lost along the way. If this example doesn't make much sense, then insert the infamous, The North Face company instead of Chaco. 10-15 years ago, a very quiet minority owned North Face products and they loved them. Now you can buy North Face products for toddlers at every place that sells clothes and the 18-25 crowd has long moved on to Patagonia and Arc'teryx.

   The reason for this post is to be informative. Here is a little list of brands that I see starting to creep into the middle school vocabulary at my school and am starting to hear little elementary kids talk about. I am merely providing a sort of "public service announcement" for those of you who like to be on the cutting-edge of fashion. 

• The North Face-FH and I saw a Denali jacket for an infant at Dick's last month. TNF is over. 
• Chacos-Every high school and middle school girl has a pair. Chacos, you're so over. 
• Instagram-Each of the 10, 7th grade boys in my 6th Period study hall have an Instagram account. You're over. 
• Facetime-Had a 3rd grader ask me if my phone will do FaceTime. It won't. You're over. 
• Starbucks-Each morning, at least 4-6, 7th graders walk in with the "Bucks". You're over. 
• Toms-They sell them at this baby store in Macon called, The Lollipop Shop. Enough said. You're over. 
• Clark's-Worn by every kid in the middle school at my school and by several of the teachers. You're over. 
• Pinetrest-This is a very popular topic among the 6th & 7th grade girls and boys I coach. They all have accounts. You're over. 
• Facebook-I got a friend request from a 5th grader yesterday. You used to be only for "cool and hip" college kids. Now you're for elementary kids and grandparents. You're over! 
• meme's-Elementary kids have, make em', and put them in their cubbies. You're over. 
• Fixed gear bikes-They sell them at Target and Wal-Mart. You're over. 
• Kavu-Each of the middle schoolers in my study hall have a Kavu something. You're over.

    I guess as you can see, you'd better get busy finding the next big thing. Let me know. I am still wearing the clothes I wore in high school and waiting for plaid, khakis, and bow ties to make a come back. I don't really need to be cool anymore. No matter what, I am a science teacher and I've got to keep my street cred up by being the nerdiest guy on the block. And from the things my kids tell me, it seems to come natural! 

Happy reading, 

    David

And So It Begins--The 2013 Track & Field Season

"I had as many doubts as anyone else. Standing on the starting line, we're all cowards".
-- Alberto Salazar

"You must realize one thing. In every village in the world there are great potential champions who only need motivation, development and good exercise evaluation"

--Arthur Lydiard 

"A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways as they’re capable of understanding".
--Steve Prefontaine

"The will to win is worthless, without the will to prepare."
--Juma Ikangaa

"I still bother with runners I call hamburgers. They're never going to run any record times. But they can fulfill their own potential."

--Bill Bowerman

     So, today it begins. At around 3:30 this afternoon, I will walk out the double doors of our Upper School building and make my way down to our little version of a track and will attempt to say something inspiring and motivational. And then I will send the runners to do their half mile warm up and it will have begun. The "it" I am referring to is track season. To be completely honest, I begin this season with fear and trembling. I guess, I always begin each season feeling like this and there are always good reasons to do so. Nine times out of ten the "unknowns" far outweigh the "knowns" at the beginning of the season and that makes it a little scary. Each season holds the possibility of being the best season the school has ever had, but also shows signs that solving the world's food scarcity problem would seem a little more reasonable than putting together a full team. And in today's sporting/cultured climate, getting kids and their parents to commit to anything is sort of like me dunking a basketball. (If you know me, you get this. If you don't, I am a good 5'7'' on a good day with about a 5-8 inch vertical. Slam dunking is just not going to happen without a trampoline.)  So, this could be the year that my JV and Varsity teams win Region and State and mop up the competition, but it could also be the year I spend 2 months begging, borrowing, promising kids the world only to have them say no and then see them spend the time when we have track practice sitting in front of the school playing games on their phone while waiting for their parents to get off work and pick them up or watch them sit the bench and never get a second of playing time several years in a row in another sport. Oh', the delicate balance! 

    Track shares many items in common with cross country and that makes it hard to compete with the other sports at a school of any size. And to make matters even harder, I live and coach in the South. Boys and girls would rather be on a 0-13 football, baseball, softball, or basketball team than have a spot on a state champion XC/Track team. That is just the cold hard truth and I spend a lot of time trying to convince kids that running track is just what they want to spend some of their afternoons doing. And another obstacle I have to hurdle is the fact that in Macon, as with much of the South, several of the track meets are on Wednesday's and that makes it extra hard because kids love going to youth group and parents love them going as well and both parties guard Wednesday night like it is a bag of rare jewels. And so a student athlete would rather miss a whole track season than be late to youth group about three times. I know this sounds crazy, but after coaching track for five seasons, this is very, very true. I understand it, but I don't understand it. And then there is the length of a normal track meet. I am not going to say that the meets are just the right length because that is far from true, but I do find it odd that the same people who are willing to get on a bus, travel a couple hours, play a two-three hour football/baseball game, and then travel back another two hours are the same people with the same parents who say the meets are too time consuming. I understand this, but I don't understand it. Such is my life.

   And so today we begin conditioning and it is my job to get kids who have been immobile or semi-immobile to begin getting back into shape. I, myself, will also have to get back into shape. I have not run even a half mile in over 40 days. It is hard, but I will attempt to make it enjoyable. This is a part of the always-present delicate balance. The hardest item to get across to my runners is that working really hard in February will make you a flying missile come late April/early May and this is the task I have before me. And I am ready. As I have already stated in my other posts about running is that there are few things more rewarding in life, for me, than to watch someone struggle through the first couple of months of track and then watch them stand on a podium to accept a ribbon or medal later on. I am ready to do this. I am ready to scream my head off watching the last leg sprint into the curves of my 4x400 team. I am ready to speak to my long distance runners and tell them what to do and how many laps they have left. I am ready to do my best to run a couple stop watches at once.I am ready to try to distinguish, with the naked eyes, the difference at the finish line a thousandth of a second can make. I am ready to cart coolers and tents to ovals all around the city and the state. I am ready to play ultimate frisbee on Fridays. Track is here and I think I am ready, but we will see.  I will hope and plan for the best and in three months we will if I have done it correctly or not. The jury is still out about last year. We started with high hopes, but we ended up taking a skeleton of a team to state and winning a few things here and there, but it is hard to win big when you bring 10 kids to race/compete against teams that have 30-40 kids. 

  Track season is here and I will try to coach/run the race that is set before me,

     David