#2016summerolympics

Even if you're just taking it easy and not even breaking a sweat during your exercises, including constitutional walks and family saunters and even really slow rows on your rowing erg, never forget to give yourself a nice stretch every time your done with your exercises, even if you just get just a little bit of a warm-up. Do a little stretching every time and not just at the end of the day--even if you feel like your exertion isn't worth the time. Stretching sucks at first but then, after a while, it's amazing. Stretch your hamstrings, quadriceps, your calves, inner-thighs, outer-thighs, and groin. Then stretch your back and shoulders if you're erging on your Concept2.

I have been spending about an hour every day since Thanksgiving on the rowing machine and have forgotten to stretch at all until just now. Man, I was completely stiff even after warming up. I won't let that happen again--and neither should you! I am participating in the 2017 Concept2 Holiday Challenge but taking is really slow. I should follow my own advice since I wrote don’t swing your kettlebells without stretching your body after I didn't stretch after doing a very aggressive and all-day-long greasing the groove workout in the form of swinging a kettlebell for 90-seconds every 60-minutes and became a zombie, limping, Frankenstein’s monster. Killed my progress dead.

As I told you last week, last Saturday I ran the Four Courts Four Miler.  I finished!

Well, I made it. Dead fucking last, known as DFL, for both my age and my gender. And I couldn't be more proud: 960th out of 970 runners, 433rd of 433 men, and 99th of 99 runners between 40-49. Oy vey!

But you know what? I did it. I didn't watch cartoons, sleep in, binge-watch NetHuluAmaFlix, or even sit over coffee, the New York Times, and some eggs. I got up, got to the race, secured my race bib, and, at the stroke of 9AM, I ran at between a 14:00 and 16:00 pace for an hour. 

I may well have been 960th place out of 970 runners and there were hundreds and hundreds more less than a mile away at the Rock 'n' Roll DC Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K Race 2016 as well, but there were also thousands if not millions of folks in the DMV, the Greater Washington region of DC, Maryland, and Virginia, who weren't out there.

It might seem like rationalization, I agree, and I did feel very self-conscious about how alone I was for most of the run, how it felt like I was doing a race in some sort of post-apocalyptic world where the streets are completely empty. And, as I ran the course that wasn't a loop so much as it was a go away, turn around, and come back, it was both very fun and interesting to see the entire bulk of the runners heading back towards me a half-hour before I crossed the finish line myself.

It wasn't all bad. Still, running out towards the turn around while everyone else was already heading towards the finish like was really great for people watching and there were loads of very cute girls in Irish green regalia. 

Even though I was just ten from last place and DFL for my age and gender, the police officers and race officials and the volunteers who kept me hydrated were all so positive.

In fact, I stopped listening to '70s rock in streaming through my Q7 in-ear Bluetooth headphones because there was so much encouragement from all the checkpoints, all the orange cones and on-ramps and there was even so much support from the 959 people who were faster than me and also the ten people who were behind me. 

By the time I arrived at the finish, even though most runners had already finished 20-30 minutes before me and were already downing free pints of Guinness, there was still enough energy and excitement to get me to gallop across the finish line, as you'll see in the photos.

Thanks to Pacers Running and Ireland's Four Courts for hosting it, thanks to Jeanne Boone for wishing me good luck and thanks to all the volunteers, fellow racers, attendees, police officers and officials for all the support!

Also, thanks to Brian W Knight of Swim Bike Run Photography for taking all these epic and impressive photos of my finish and for allowing free full-resolution downloads! Classy! I am much obliged! I fully plan to register for as many of Pacer's Crystal City 5k Friday as I can starting in April even though I love to ride with my girlfriend and Katie Geffken at 5:45pm every Friday at Biker Barre -- I will be sure to do a 5k every Friday when my girlfriend is traveling, out of town, or in dispose.  

My First Bondi 4s I did a lot of research before I bought my first pair of Hokas and I bought them from Pacers Running's Alexandria location for around $140. This review is not about price, it's about everything else and then price. But I am a big guy so if something that costs me $140 can get me running at 46-years-old, at 300 pounds, and at 6"3", then the price is more than fair -- and quite a lot less than some of the most fancy and popular runners.  The Bondi 4 and the Bondi 3 are pretty identical except for four changes: The 4 has a padded tongue and the 3 has a flat tongue The 4 has more padding in the collar than the 3 The 4 has more exposed EVA midsole and the 3 has more rubber outsole The upper materials of the 4 and the 3 are different

Padded Tongue vs Flat Tongue

Hoka One One Bondi 3 Thin Tongues When I researched the Bondi shoes, lots of people were said to have complained about the Bondi 3's flat, thin tongue, and that's why Hoka revised the tongue of the Bondi 4, adding padding. When Bondi did their revision between the 3 and 4, Hoka added quite a lot of padding to both the tongue and the collar. At first, I thought I would prefer the padded collar and tongue to help me lock down the shoe for runs.

Hoka One One Bondi 4 Padded Tongues Unfortunately, there's just too much padding and it tends to squeeze/cinch my ankles and compete too much with my socks. I ordered an old, lightly-used pair of Bondi 3s and really loved the thin tongue and the thinner padded collar. The 3s and 4s both come with a quick lacing system as well as a pair of regular laces. I swapped out the quick lacing system for regular laces on my Bondi 4s and first pair of Bondi 3s; however, when I bought my second pair of Bondi 3s used off of Ebay, the extra pair of laces didn't make it to me so I have just been using the quick laces and they've been fine and I don't plan to switch them out. I had planned to use that pair only for walking on my treadmill and not for running and racing but there's never the right pair of running shoes where you need them, be it at my office or at my apartment, so I have been running in the quick laced Bondi 3s and they're just fine.

Exposed EVA versus Semi-Protected EVA

Hoka One One Bondi 4 EVA Sole Wear Everyone who has reviewed both Bondis have loved the 33mm EVA soles and nobody has said that the wearing off of big patches of EVA has reduced the lifespan of any of the shoes. That said, I'm a heavy forefoot runner and the bare EVA on the Bindi 4s are really wearing off in hollows.

Hoka One One Bondi 3 Sole Wear While the Bondi 3s are virtually the same, there's just enough rubber outsole protecting the 29mm of forefoot EVA and the 33mm of heel EVA that I feel like the Bondi 3s are just going to last longer. The way the Bondi 4's exposed forefoot EVA is wearing, I am super afraid that I'll start supinating, rolling my foot out instead of getting steady support.   I know from all the ultra runner reviews from Fellrnr and the Ginger Runner that the wearing of exposed EVA is pretty much just cosmetic and doesn't really effect the performance or longevity of either pair of the shoes.

Lightweight Mesh vs Lycra Upper

I don't have a lot to say about this except that my baby toe prefers the boxier toe box and mesh materials of the Hone One One Bondi 3 over the more snug, lycra upper that they call their ComfortFrame upper. I have learned that these Hokas don't need to be as cinched down as other running shoes I have run before because the Hokas tend to be more of a cushioned platform you run on as opposed to the way minimalist shoes need to play the part of being armored and mildly cushioned socks. With the Hokas, you're on the shoe and with other running shoes, you're more in the shoes. Does that make sense?

As a result, you can leave the shoes a little more loosely tied and loosely strapped, especially in the case of my Bondi 3 shoes, because what you're really doing is carrying around a well-cushioned landing pad with you in the form of a shoe rather than the more typical way a shoe fits. If you're having problems with the shoe fitting properly, you might just want to try not tying the shoes so tight.  With the Bondi 3s, I never have a problem with the storied and feared Hoka blisters that result in some crazy cutting and modding of the shoes. That my report so far. I am surprised that I love the "before" much more than the "after," the Bondi 3 much more than the Bondi 4.  

I have been bidding on as many "good enough" men's size 13 Hoka One One Bondi 3s as I can on Ebay just to make sure I have them as far into the future as I can. If I could never get more Bondi 3 Hokas on discount, clearance, or auction, I would be happy to commit much more fully to the Bondi 4s, though I might also be willing to try other Hoka One One models as well as give the maximalist Altra shoes a go as well, since they're known for their wider toe boxes and their zero drop shoes.

That said, let me underscore the fact that I probably would not be (able to be) commute running the 2.25 miles from my apartment to my office twice-a-day, be able to run a 45.5-minute 5k, and a longer 7-mile run without these maximalist shoes. They're essential to what I can do as a 46-year old man with an ACL-rebuilt, a 6'3" frame, and over 300 pounds on my frame. They're my secret weapon and I recommend everyone in my position do the same, even if you, like me, have no plans of becoming an ultra runner or even running a half-marathon. Please let me know what you think. What experiences have you had? What shoes do you use and what shoes might you recommend I try in lieu of the Bondi series of Hoka One Ones?