Thursday, July 18, 2013

The Slowest Neophyte Suddenly Runs More Swiftly

If you are a man living in Northern Virginia, chances are your sneaker situation consists entirely of a pair of grey New Balance trailrunners or a pair of white leather Reebok crosstrainers. It's time to step your shoe game up and rob's Slingblades aren't the answer.

I urge you to step outside your comfort zone (pun!) and try something new and exciting like Nike's new Free Flyknit running shoes.





Before you get apoplectic about wearing sneakers with color go check out Nike's website, they have some more staid colorways to choose from.

If you really want to push the envelop, get a pair of Free Hyperfeels.



You can avoid looking like an old man without having centipede feet like rob. Get out there and pretend you're cool. You might even run swiftly!

55 comments:

Dave said...

I am already sporting kicks like these, but in orange.

Mark said...

So Juwan Howard was riding the stationary bike at the gym this morning. I went over and introduced myself to him. Nice guy.

rob said...

he's all like, 'oh, you're mark! so good to finally meet you. say hi to the teej for me.'

rob said...

and z, i'm buying you a pair of springblades when they come out.

TR said...

Is that supposed to be the gay flag colors?

Not joking. That was my first reaction - that this was for runners who wanted to be fast and fabulous at the same time.

Mark said...

I was tempted to drop a Gheorghe reference on him or ask him if he remembered Shlara. Decided to just congratulate him and go on my way.

Mark said...

I run/train in Nike Free running shoes. I'm not an avid runner (only for days I do non basketball cardio) but I love them. Comfortable, light and still supportive.

Shlara said...

Mark--I LOVE Juwan--one of my all-time favs. He's a legit good guy. Next time you see him, tell him "hi" from me.

And, middle-aged people look redic in these neon-rainbow running shoes. Can't they apply the technology to a monochromatic design?

T.J. said...

some douche on twitter took a shot at Gheorghe, a completely moronic shot at Ghita, so rob and I have decided to have some fun at this dude's expense

Dave said...

i remember when i used to do non-basketball cardio. now i play basketball, and then limp around for four days. i'm not sure why i have a pair of running shoes.

zman said...

They make them in more subdued colors Shlara. I think they even have a snooze-inducing black/grey combo, perfect for NoVa. But the point here is to mix up you sneaker options so get the yellow ones.

Squeaky said...

Every running shoe these days comes in day-glo colors. It's ridiculous. As for Nike's, I haven't run in them for 10 years. They always died before 300 miles for me. So I never buy them.

Just got a pair of Brooks PureFlow2s. Same concept with the natural running style and fit. They aren't going to win a fashion show, all black, but they perform well.

Dave said...

i like nikes, but i rarely run 300 miles. three or four miles is enough for me.

i've done some mild manual labor today -- mulched, assembled a beach cart, and starting packing the car -- and i've already taken two showers. it's only 10:30.

Mark said...

That seems excessive, Dave. I'd ask questions but I don't want/need to know more about your showering regimen.

Danimal said...

own 3 pairs of newtons and a pair of zoots. it's the 3rd pair of zoots i've owned. a couple of ya's might dig 'em (www.zootsports.com)
good tri shoe - laceless, light, comfy as all get out - great for travel. not for every day running but for races and dickin about.

i have owned 2 of my newtons since '10...they each each have at least 600 miles on 'em and i'll get another 100 or so out of both.

Jerry said...

Grey New Balance trail runners. New pair every 9 months for the last 10 years.

rob said...

much like president obama, jerry saves time and mental energy by limiting his haberdashery choices.

TR said...

I second Squeaky on the annoyances of the neon presence in so many types of running shoes.

I'm a fan of running in the Nike Lunarglide 2, but they stopped making most types that don't have neon somewhere. I have an irrational fixation on shoe color (running shoes must be red,black and/or grey for me), which limits things.

Too bad I don't have more of my Body Glove wardrobe from 1990. I'd be hip as shit today.

Danimal said...

Speaking of hip as shit, I bought a neckpillow this morning and at this moment it is on. It is on like donkey kong.

zman said...

Are you afraid that wearing sneakers bearing color will make other people think things about you that you don't want them to think? Or are you concerned that the sneakers will somehow change your personality? Or do you just think they're ugly?

Clarence said...

Need a DC restaurant rec for Saturday night. My dad will be picking up the tab, so I can go pricier than my Dubliner norm. I am not sure he'll want the Capital Grille again.

rob said...

oh, man.

can't go wrong with birch & barley - huge beer selection, great food.

i had a great lunch at lincoln a few weeks ago - never been there for dinner.

had a great meal and even better service at jaleo this week. old standby.

Mark said...

TJ ate at some awesome BBQ place this weekend, right? And what about the place he went last night for beer & bacon night?

TR said...

I choose not to wear neon, even though the cool kids are doing it. I think it's garish.

Clarence said...

I usually defer to Geoff on this matter, but I am now looking up each place Rob mentioned. Mark's recs will be where I go Thurs night.

I noticed the GTB ladies haven't chimed in about wanting to rendezvous with El Clarencio whilst he's in the capital. Way to play coy.

rob said...

samantha loved graffiato when she ate there a few months ago - italian done by one of those top chef dudes

rob said...

also, proof is great

Geoff said...

Rasika, Blue Duck Tavern, Fiola, Le Diplomat and Del Campo is new and supposed to be solid.

Geoff said...

I'd second Proof...for the cuisine and the soft core porn in the men's room.

Shlara said...

Clarence--what kind of food do you want to eat? Graffiato is great, so is Birch & Barley. I also like The Source. Proof is fine, but there are better options in that neighborhood. Courdoroy is good for dinner. If you want hand-crafted drinks with your food, I like Sixth Engine (affliated with the Dub.) Art & Soul on the Hill is excellent. Tosca on F Street is the best Italian food in the city. If you want to venture up 14th street, Posto, Pearl Dive Oyster Bar and Estadio are good choices. Can't beat Rasika for Indian food. I could go on...

Clarence said...

Good question, Shlara. I'd say American / Continental, maybe steak, maybe Italian. Downtown, Foggy Bottom, maybe G'town. Ambience a plus, food most important. And it's not on my dime (so we don't have to stick to Ben's.)

Thank, everyone. Good stuff.

T.J. said...

Art & Soul is where the wife and I had the "BBQ and Pies" dinner on Saturday night, and it was fucking delicious.

Danimal said...

Just landed in san francisco....saw the plane that came in a little too slow. Ho Lee Fuk.

Shlara said...

OK, here are some additional suggestions: Cafe Milano--great Italian meal and you'll see some bold names in DC, Founding Farmers--on Penn Ave, and I like their farm-to-table menu, Bandolero has good small plates and killer drinks (Gtwon), and finally Bourbon Steak in the Four Seasons (Gtown)

As you can tell, I eat out WAYYY too much...

Clarence said...

Shlara, that is awesome. Thank you very much.

Mark said...

The Source has a restaurant? Is Benzino the chef? (joke probably only Zman will get)

zman said...

Bronsoline is/was a professional chef. There's a yootoob of him going to town on the gabbagool at some deli on Arthur Avenue.

Danimal said...

Never get to D.C. But have had a few Bourbon Steak meals. Yes please.

Danimal said...

5 sfpd just arrested some dude that was set to get on same flight as me. I wonder if he still gets credit for the miles.

Mark said...

Bronson showed up on Anthony Bourdain's Hangover for NYC. I was more excited than I should've been.

Jerry said...

Hey ma, how 'bout some cookies?

Jerry said...

Among restaurants that I've been to (so...like Chipotle and The Ground Round), Founding Farmers is the closest to the Portlandia pilot where you'll be able to request a dossier on the chicken you're about to eat.

Jerry said...

Lemme tellya. You eatsa at the Carolijer Lanes on routa 1, or whatevers that places isa called these days. I get the chicken fingers. They donta taste that good, but I know Carlo the chef and he spitsa in all the food but he dont spitsa in mine. So I feelsa good about it.

We useda shoplift at the Caldor and then go to the lanes and hitsa pins. What we say is you hitsa pins, you hitsa skins. Except I never shoplifta the condoms before I hista skins. So now my sonsa cooking chicken fingers at the Carolijer Lanes. I tell you about foods, I gives you a parable. Happy Carnevale Italiano!

zman said...

Caldor was terrible. Always long lines.

Clarence said...

Dave has yet to ever present a good South Brunswick slag comeback.

T.J. said...

Bradlees was also turrrible

zman said...

There was a Caldor AND a Bradlees in one of the strip malls near my hometown. Very fancy.

T.J. said...

Latham, NY could brag of the same set up.

rootsminer said...

In case anyone was wondering, New England Lakes>southern lakes. Sitting on the shores of Rangeley Lake in Maine, watching my boys swim and enjoying a few home state IPAs, after a hike to my wife's favorite mountain, Tumbledown, which has a great pond waiting for you just off the summit. I swam to the island there and didn't die. What a great day!

Dave said...

if you're from north brunswick, you don't need to slag south brunswick. it's like making west virginia jokes if you're from d.c. it's like shooting fish in a barrel.

that being said, i did get busted shoplifting from caldor.

rob said...

rootsy, you familiar with the woodshedders?

Shlara said...

The Source is DC's Wolfgang Puck restaurant--in the Newseum.

Jerry, did you know that you can source your Chipotle food too? Food with Integrity. They did this awesome video a few years ago to make that point:
http://www.chipotle.com/en-us/fwi/videos/videos.aspx?v=1

OK, and that's enough of my geeky work babble for the day...

zman said...

Danimal, how does that boa closure work on your zoots? And what color did you get?

zman said...

Florian Mayer busted out a serve-and-volley game at the German Championship ... which is on clay ... in 2013?

rootsminer said...

Havent heard of em Rob.