Review: Adidas Adipure Gazelle Running Shoe

The build up

Before I got into running, I wore some beefy, cushy shoes.  I have bad joints, and totally bought into the prevailing logic that you need shoes to fix you rather than realizing how powerful and capable our bodies are when we don't get in their way.  I basically lived in top-of-the-line Air Max 360s, and loved them.  I'd buy 'em on eBay whenever I could find them at a good price and would just stockpile them as I seemed to get uncomfortable in a pair after 4-6 months, and would need to get a fresh pair.  I was wearing them crooked, so they'd skew my stance, and I'd need to replace them.  Not cool for shoes that retail for over $160 a pair.

Anytime I tried to run, I made sure I had the cushiest pair of Air Max 360s I owned, and would be in a ton of knee and ankle pain within the first minute.  Still not cool for shoes that retail for over $160 a pair.

Then I read Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, learned about minimalist running, and decided to give it a try.  I had Nike Frees, and tried with those, but also picked up some Adidas Adipure Barefoot Trainers (basically, firmer-soled Vibram imitations), and tried running in them.  The Barefoot Trainers weren't ideal for running, but they worked, and I found I was running pain-free.  The next step was to get some Vibrams, and I chose the super-minimalist, made-for-running SeeYa model, and really loved it.

Then I had double hernia surgery, and was out of running for a while.  When I got back into it, I found that the SeeYas were uncomfortable and always seemed to cause an issue (blisters, rubbing my foot raw somewhere, etc).  I read about a new model from Adidas's Adipure line in a review at runblogger.com (excellent blog, by the way), and was really intrigued.  Why?  Read on to find out.

What it is & How it works
The Gazelle is a minimal shoe, meaning it's light and has a very low drop - that is, the difference in thickness at the heel versus at the toe. I believe it's 4mm.  Vibrams are zero drop, as are some other non-weird-shoes (or not too weird) like Altras and Vivo Barefoots and some of Merrell's 'Glove' line shoes (like the new Vapor Glove).  The bigger the drop, the harder it is to run on your mid or forefoot which is key to being minimalist in your running style.  This is how I've found I must run or my knees end up in acute pain really quickly.  The Gazelle is in the middle of the Adipure running models, with the Motion being more traditional (bigger drop) and the Adapt being more minimal.

The shoe is basically a spandex-like sock with laces.  The more minimal Adapt model actually really is like a spandex sock.  Up until now, it only came in a horrible color (the same blue/bright red that I show below for the Gazelle, but it looks even worse on the Adapt).  The Adapt lacks laces and, oddly, the 3 stripes (or any other clear Adidas branding).  The Adapt just came out in black and yellow, so I am really interested in trying it.  But that's not related to this review...back to the point.

The Gazelle has a painted on thin layer of TPU dots strategically placed on the spandex-like stuff to help provide some structure.  The material is incredibly stretchy and non-constricting, which I love (more on that in a moment).  The three stripes are hard plastic, providing rigidity in the side of the shoe, though I don't think it actually matters beyond creating solid anchors for the laces.  The sole is a mix of EVA-type foam and rubber for traction up front. The heel is basically just foam, but there's a white insert of rubber.  The impression the sole gives is that you shouldn't be using the heel much.

On the tongue (which is well-sewn in), and at the top of the ankle cuff, there's a little velcro flap.  I still don't totally understand its purpose. The one on the heel doesn't help in getting the shoes on (which is very easy), and the one on the tongue is too small to help keep the laces tied (see My Depressions below).  If someone knows what they're for, lemme know in the comments.

Currently, the Gazelle comes in a sharp black/neon yellow combo (which I have), a gross blue and light red, and a new silvery-grey and yellow, which also looks great.  Adidas had a really nice, strong red version that I bought, too, but they've dropped that in favor of the new grey color.  A shame - they should have dropped the blue.  You can see the red in the RunBlogger.com review I mentioned earlier.  Women's versions come in black and purple (very sharp), and that same red they stopped offering to men but with green rubber pods.

 

My impressions

I absolutely love this shoe. It is by far the best shoe I've ever run in, and seriously just a joy to wear in general.  It's SO light, so flexible, absorbs just enough shock while not robbing me of needed feedback...the list goes on.  I really love this shoe.

One of the best parts, and something I've most concerned with whenever I look at a non-toe-shoe option is the toe box.  I've found I'm more and more sensitive to toe box width, and have gone to stores to get a minimalist-yet-traditional-looking shoe like the New Balance Minimus MR00, but walked away due to how tight I found the toe box to be.  I don't have a wide foot, but because I wear minimalist shoes and run on my forefoot, my toes spread more than they did before, and I like to let them spread when I run as it's such a great and natural source of stability. That's what they're for.  The RunBlogger review mentioned the toe box being fairly wide and flexible, but the photos aren't totally clear.  Sure, it's generally more foot-shaped than lots of shoes (see how it comes out in front of the laces, and doesn't have a clear point to the toe like most Nikes do?), but it doesn't look like an Altra does, either.  It's wide enough for me, and has such a nice way of shaping to your foot and giving when you need it to give that the toe box is a total non-issue.  And it achieves that without making you look goofy.

My depressions
So, it's all good, and I have no complaints, right?  Not quite.  I eluded to my issue above, and it's mainly around the laces.  They just will not stay tied.  I pulled them super-tight when tying a bow, and basically made myself blue in the face with the effort I was expending.  2 minutes later - laces flapping around.  I double knot, and they still come undone half the time.  What I've found works best is to tie a bow, and then double knot just the loops.

This is where I thought I figured out the purpose of the little velcro flat on the tongue.  I un-velcro'ed it, and tried to put the tips of the laces in there.  The flap will fit one tip, but it's too small to take them both.  I figured that would be good enough.  Nope.

Sometimes I thread the tips back under the criss-crossing of the laces, but even that doesn't always work since the tips work their way out sometimes.  As the laces age, they get better (it's like they're too stiff when new).  Adidas, if you're listening, this is my only complaint about the shoe - surely you have other laces that don't suffer from this.  Merrell and Nike have great laces. Look at theirs, copy them, and make me smile.  K?

I did consider getting Lock Laces, but I don't know if I like the idea.  I could just get other laces, I guess.  I wish these laces just worked right and stayed laced.

To buy or not to buy?

Seriously, my only issue is the laces.  I've run well over 100 miles in them, bought a second pair, and am looking to get the Adapt for racing since they're a touch lighter and I wouldn't have to worry about the laces coming undone since there aren't any.  Does that not say these are clear "Buy" recommendation shoes?  They are.  One draw back is the $100 price. The Adapts are cheaper - I take it the crappy laces cost $10 since the Adapts are $90 (though it could be the Adidas stripes that cost the bulk of the $10...that's likely since the laces absolutely suck).  Actually, you can find them on Amazon for under $90.  They're so worth it.  Get them, start running better and enlighten.your.body.

Review: Virtual Active for iOS

The build up

When I first started running, I was pure treadmill.  I signed up for a 5K, and was really getting scared about running outside.  I don’t know why, but I dreaded the idea.  Well, I made myself get outside, and the situation flipped.  I appreciate having a treadmill and the ability to run when I can’t get outside, but I don’t enjoy it nearly as much, and am so much more aware of every minute that passes.  Last summer, I spent a week in London for work, and got to run along the Thames path every day (sometimes twice a day), and totally fell in love with the run.  I used my growing familiarity with the path to visualize while running on my treadmill when I got home.  And you know what?  It worked.  I mean, it really worked – the time flew by and I enjoyed the run.

As the months passed and my memory faded along with the black in my hair and the hair on the top of my head, the trick worked less and less.  I desperately needed a way to see something other than the wall and treadmill control screen, yet not as distracting as a TV show (which I find lowers my performance as I zone out).  An article in Runner’s World about making treadmill running more enjoyable had a sidebar on ways to see scenes while running.  It was pretty outdated in its view of what’s available as they all required special treadmills or equipment.  I did some Googling, and found a bevvy of iPad apps that showed scenes – one of them was free to buy and required no footpod or treadmill connection.  Score.

What it is & How it works
That app, Virtual Active, displays different running (or hiking, biking or walking) scenes and uses the accelerometer in the iPad to sense your movement.  It’s pretty clever.  It comes with a Grand Canyon run for free, and has many additional scenes at a $7.99 per scene in-app purchase price.  Each scene weighs in at about 850 MB, so this thing can fill up your iPad quickly.  I said I’d only use the free scene, but as I use it more and more, I decided the cost of buying new scenes was worth it.  I’ve now bought the Seattle scene (a great mix of downtown/waterfront and outdoors runs) and the Italy scene (a mix of costal runs, quaint town runs, plus Venice and Rome).  You can delete scenes to make more room on your iPad, and re-download them later.  Very smart.

Pre-run startup screen where you can select which segment to start with, and how long to go for

Music can play through (whatever your current playlist is in the music app will be what plays, starting from wherever you left off playing in the music app), and there are pause, forward and back track controls in the app.  You also set the duration of your run.  During the run, it cycles through the segments of the overall scene, and will loop back through if you run long enough.  You can also choose the starting segment.

The app uses the front facing camera to judge movement, so you need to ensure you a) have one (sorry owners of the original iPad or earlier models of the iPhone), and b) it isn't obstructed (e.g. by a case or something you're using to secure the iPad wherever you decide to put it for use).  When you start the run, it shows a black and white pixelated view of you via the front facing camera while telling you this is how it gets info on your pace.  Oddly, it also suggests where to put the device, and includes putting it off to the side on a chair.  How it's going to see you clearly from a chair to the side of the treadmill is beyond me, but it says it can.  You can also set whether you're on a bike, elliptical or treadmill.

My impressions
I found it did a good job of matching scenery movement to my pace, but that will depend on where it sits on your treadmill and any angulation versus your body.  My iPad is naked (case-less), sitting on the control screen (blocking it, actually, to help me detach from how long it’s been), and has a pretty good view of me.  The app will warn you if it can't sense any movement.

Venice - during a run

I have to say, I absolutely love this app.  It has really made running on a treadmill so much less tedious and the time definitely goes by faster.  It's not the same as running outside, but I don't expect it to be.  I expect it to be better than looking at my wall and the clock.  It is, and by a big margin.

The app is made for both iPhones and iPads.  While it works on the iPhone, I think it would be much less immersive, and thus wouldn't help remove the feeling of being hamster on a wheel.  For me, it's iPad or nothin'.

My depressions
Is it perfect?  No.  A common complaint in the App store is that it pauses and looks around sometimes – very unnatural when you’re in the middle of a run to sort of hover and have a look around.  That said, you’re looking at 9.7” screen on a treadmill, so why is pausing to take in the scenery despite your feet moving suddenly such a horrible and awkward thing?  I say enjoy the view and relax your mind a little.

Feature-wise, I would love the ability to skip ahead or back to the prior or next segment.  For example, when 'running in' Seattle, I really didn't want to do the downtown part - I just wanted to focus on the waterfalls, Mt. St. Helens and the rain forest.  You can't.  You can start at one of these segments, but the app will cycle through to everything if given enough time.  Ideally, you could swipe ahead or back (I prefer this to trying to use little arrows like you have to do for music), or pre-pick which segments play or don't play before a run.

Lastly, and this hasn't really been a problem but I can see it not being ideal - the music control buttons are a little small.  The app designers should remember that the user is likely sweaty and moving.  Big buttons are better.

To buy or not to buy?
Overall, I absolutely recommend this for people who run on a treadmill and have an iPad.  You can use it with an iPhone, but I would suggest saving your money.

You have nothing to lose by trying the free version, so I say go for it.  Just be warned that you will likely drop at least another $7.99 on a scene after a few runs through the Grand Canyon.  It can transform something a lot of people dread (whether they love running or not) and keep things interesting on days with bad weather or other demands that keep you home (or in a hotel gym). 

Get it here, enjoy it, and enlighten.your.body.

Recipe: GFV Maitake Spinach Flatbread Pizza

I'll preface this by saying that I am not living a gluten-free or vegan lifestyle.  That means two things:

1. I'm going by what the products I used say rather than my own deep understanding of what makes something gluten-free or vegan.
2. If I loved this food, it's not because I don't 'know any better' - that is, I have eaten 'normal' pizza recently, so loving this recipe is solely because it's damn tasty

OK, now that I've gotten that out of the way, let's get down to business.  This is a super-simple, super-tasty, super-fast flatbread pizza recipe.  It uses many pre-made products, but you could do some of it from scratch (the tortillas, for sure; the vegan/soy-free/GF cheese?  Not so much).  It didn't cost a ton, but the price will vary based on what ingredients you add.  The most expensive component is really the 'cheese'.  The recipe I made is a maitake mushroom and spinach flatbread pizza, but you can obviously switch the toppings as you please.  You'll see my son's pizza in the background, which had spinach instead of the maitake's, though he did put four pieces of mushroom on his pizza, and had a mushroom-heavy bit of mine.

I made these tonight with my son, and we both loved them.  It was literally the fastest dinner we've ever had - he's normally a slow eater, but he scarfed this faster than 'real' pizza.

Ingredients

• 1 package Galaxy Nutritional Foods vegan mozzarella.  It is vegan, soy-free and actually melts (it actually gets gooey and sticky, unlike real cheese, but I've never seen fake cheese that can melt)
• Food for Life brown rice tortilla - 1 tortilla per person (or half if you're a 4 year old, like my dinner date was)
• Pizza sauce - I used Whole Foods prepared organic pizza sauce, but feel free to make your own, substitute another brand, skip it, etc.  You could also just brush on olive oil with some sea salt and minced garlic, which I've done in the past and loved
• 1 package maitake mushrooms (enough for 2-3 tortillas, depending how densely you top them)
• 1 hand full of baby spinach per pizza

Constructions (how my son said 'instructions' when he was younger...much cuter, and perhaps more appropriate)

• Lay out the tortilla, and spoon on 3-4 tablespoons of sauce, spreading around nearly to the edge.  Add more or less, depending on your preference, but be mindful of making the tortilla so wet that it falls apart.  Also be mindful of little kids who like to keep spooning - my son's pizza had 8 table spoons of sauce.
• Sprinkle 'cheese' evenly over the top of the sauce
• Put down baby spinach leaf by leaf, covering the pizza
• Sprinkle chopped up maitake mushrooms over the spinach
• Lay down a bit more 'cheese', or have your four-year-old just turn the package upside down and make a huge pile of it.
• Laugh, and say, "Wow, thanks!"
• Spread the pile of cheese more evenly
• Bake in a wire rack for 8-10 minutes on 350, but watch it to be sure the cheese is melting and the tortillas aren't cracking too much.  Both of ours developed big cracks, but I used that as a guide for cutting them.
• Laugh.
• Eat.
• Hope your kid doesn't finish all of their pizza so you can have more.
• Laugh.
• Remind kid how fun it was to make these, and thank them for their awesome work.
• Clean the sticky, gooey 'cheese' stuck to your fingers while laughing.
• Clean up.
• Done.

Eating smart can be fast, easy and delicious. You don't have to live on rice crackers, kale and water. You can have fun, involve your kids, and teach them to value healthful eating while seeing how easy and normal it is to do.  Enlighten them and you will enlighten.your.body.

Recipe: Optional Chili

There are a lot of great dishes with great names.  This is not quite one of these.  It's great, but the name I came up with leaves something to be desired, but it is fitting. See, this chili leaves a lot of room to experiment, adjust and meet personal preference.  I made it as a turkey chili, but it could be vegan, beef, pork or even seafood.  It has some heat (though not enough for my liking), but could be super hot or totally heat-free.  It's very low sodium, but could be much saltier.  The veggies I put in could be completely rearranged and replaced.  Etc, etc, etc.  Hence, "Optional Chili" - you basically can turn it into whatever you want.  I happen to like what I made (though I'd go hotter next time).

It's chili - of course it looks gross, but it tastes great!

Here's what you need:

• 1 large sweet onion
• 5 scallions
• 2-3 zucchini and/or summer squash
• 2 cups white button mushrooms
• 1 cup shitake mushrooms
• 2 jalapeño peppers
• 2 cups pico de gallo
• 1 cup salsa (find one with very low sugar, but with a good tomato sauciness to it)
• 2-3 cups of beans (I split 50/50 pinto and black)
• 4 cups water
• Seasoning
• Cayenne pepper (I used 1 teaspoon, but I'd at least do a table spoon next time)
• 1 tsp Turmeric
• 1 tbsp Sea Salt
• 1 tsp Ginger
• 1 tsp Coriander
• 2-5 sprigs of cilantro, chopped up
• 1-2 lbs of ground turkey (or other meat, tofu, nuts or nothin' at all)
• 1 cup millet, buckwheat, amaranth or other gluten-free grain if you want a little more meatiness to the chili (got the idea from a vegan chili recipe in Scott Jurek's great book Eat & Run)

2 portions set aside for eating now, 4 ready to freeze for later

Chop up the various veggies as finely or coarsely as you like, making sure everything is rinsed well.  If you are using dried beans, be sure to soak them for at least 8 hours.  I don't like to use canned vegetables due to the BPA exposure, so I picked up some Tetrapak beans from Whole Foods (365 brand has an organic option).  It's for this reason that I used salsa and pico instead of canned tomatoes, which are a common component.  I found that the pico and salsa worked really well anyway, so I would do this from now on regardless.  If you are using canned beans or ones like I used, be sure to rinse them until the water flows cleanly through them - no residue or you'll have gas issues.

In a large pot, cover the bottom in an oil of your choice, but I'd recommend coconut oil or olive oil.  If you can find and afford macadamia nut oil, that would work nicely, too.  Stay away from canola and general 'vegetable' oil.  Bring the oil up to a good heat (have on medium high), and add in the onions, scallions, zucchini and seasoning.  Stir around a lot, sautéing the veggies and spreading the seasoning around for 5-10 minutes.  You want the onions to start to get transparent.

Next, add in the rest of the veggies and mix everything up.  Make sure you're now on a medium heat, and break apart and add in any meat or tofu.

Add the beans, salsa and pico, and stir it all up.  If you are putting in hot peppers, now's the time to do that.  I recommend keeping them in big pieces so you can fish them out if you find the chili is hot enough.  If you want more heat, you can fish 'em out, cut them up, and mix 'em back in.  That's what I did after deciding I wanted more heat.

Just as gross looking in a single portion, but still super-tasty

Pour in 3-4 cups of water - basically, it should be enough to cover everything.  If you're adding a grain, throw it in now, and stir it all up.  Lower to medium low heat, cover, and let it simmer for at least an hour, but ideally two.

If you are adding meat, in a skillet, cook it with a bit of olive oil so you aren't sticking raw meat into a warm vat of veggie goodness that might result in salmonella risk.  I find this also adds a really nice flavor if you let the meat brown a bit.  Once it's cooked, make sure it's broken up, and drop into the chili and stir.

That's it.  If it sounds like a lot of work, look for pre-cut veggies to help out.  There are great diced onion options in the frozen veggie section, and probably others that would work well here (e.g. corn, though I don't want that much sugar in my food).  Whole Foods has lots of pre-cut veggies in their produce area, so if you have access to one, I'm sure you could find a good mix of veggies to use.

All in, it probably took me about 25 minutes of prep, and 10 minutes of clean up and storage.  I got 9 adult servings out of this.  I'm also uncomfortably full from this tonight.

So, go for it, enjoy the process and the result, but don't under-heat and overeat like I did, and you'll enlighten.your.body.