Tag Archives: Gear Reviews

Let's face it, there are few things that an OCRAddict will usually have more than they need. For some, it is pants, others, shorts. For me, I have more shoes than I know what to do with. I don't know what it is, but I just can't rest until I have tried them all. I do have a goto pair for certain races, but Altra thinks they have a shoe that can take the top spot and provide me with a shoe that can tackle it all. Enter the Altra Superior 2.0.

We’ve all been there; we overdid it on Leg Day, on race day, or just not giving our bodies time to recover and now it hurts with every stride. After BFX San Antonio, I couldn’t run more than a 5k before I had to shut it down. Rest, ice, and stretching were not doing the trick and I was quickly growing frustrated. It was just the start of race season and having to shut down my cardio was not an option. I wanted to explore. I found the Opedix KneeTec Leggings and everything changed quickly. These are not your normal leggings and it shows, or more appropriately, it feels.

Somewhere around Independence Day, I saw these Patriotic, and absolutely Sexy, new shoes starting to raise their head like a gopher in your yard. The Shoe was the Acceleritas OCR in Red, White and Blue glory. Honestly, I knew I had to get my hands on a pair. They would look just fabulous with my THEE Lone Star Spartan Jersey.

Call me crazy, but for some reason, I get excited about shoes and hydration packs. I don't really know what it is about them. They don't come with a manual transmission, girls don't go gaga over them, and they don't come stuffed with wads of cash. When I got my first taste of Nathan, it was while shopping for the perfect pack for my Ultra Beast. Nathan VaporCloud seems to have all the features many of us are looking for on paper, but how does it fare in the real world.

When I first found OCR, the two major shoe brands were Reebok and Inov-8. Some people had Speedcross 3s, but for the most part, our top tier racers were wearing one of those two. Out of nowhere, at the beginning of the 2015 season, I started hearing about a new shoe, from a new manufacturer, Icebug. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find them in any stores, or find more info about them, but those that owned them wouldn’t stop talking about them.

There truly is nothing better than finishing a long race through the mud and muck.  Coming out at the other end, grabbing your medal and t-shirt then walking off into the sunset... that is unless you are gimping from blisters on your feet.  Many of us have been there, running through the pain, running with blisters because we spent more time researching which shirt to wear instead of what socks we should wear.  After all, your feet are hitting the ground through the entire run, not your chest.  The right pair of socks can make a difference.  We already know that we loved Mudgear's compression socks,  but Vitalsox thinks they can sway us with their entry, the VT1211 Patented Performance Graduated Compression OTC.