Review: DonJoy Performance Knee Brace

So I don't usually do product reviews but I thought I would give it a shot this time.  I was recently gifted a DonJoy Performance Knee Brace by my aunt who is one of my biggest supporters of my running.  A friend had suggested the brand to me and I was curious to see if I had finally found a knee brace that offered the kind of support that I needed while still allowing for good range of motion.

So to start with, you can only purchase this brand of braces at www.betterbraces.com.  My aunt placed the initial order after getting some measurements of my leg from me and the brace was delivered within 3 days.  Pretty good turn around for the shipping.  The brace retails at $100 but we got it with a promo code for $80.  Based on my measurements, she ordered me a large.  My initial instinct was to go with the XL but according to the chart the large should fit.

The brace comes in 3 parts.  The front Webbing, the back and the sleeve.

The large ended up being too small.  The sleeve fit a bit snug on my thigh and the back barely had enough material for me to fasten the brace.  The front webbing has small hinges on the sides that feel as though they should sit on the side of the knee and flex with the knee but on me the hinges did not flex properly.

So after a short trial on the treadmill and talking with my aunt, we decided to exchange it for the XL.

Unfortunately, despite what it says on their website, there are no exchanges.  You have to return the original order and create a new order.  You can expect a refund from the first order within 2-3 weeks and you have to pay to ship it back.


So my aunt orders the new one and it all so arrives within 3 days.  I had kept the Large so that I could compare it to the XL.  After trying on the XL I noticed no difference in the way that it fir on my leg.  I compared the two sizes and found that the only noticeable difference was in the size of the sleeve.  The webbing was the exact same size and the backing was only a few centimeters larger.  According to the Size chart on the package the large is supposed to accommodate a leg with a knee circumference of 15-17 inches.  The XL is supposed to accommodate a knee circumference of 17-19 inches.  My knee is 17 inches and so the Large should fit snug but the XL should have fit a bit loose if nothing else.  But I found that both of them fit very tight, especially in the thigh and did not allow for good range of motion.  I could not bend my knee all the way and that would preclude me from wearing this on anything other than easy runs on a treadmill or pavement.  Trails would be out of the question.  After trying both, I have decided to return them and possibly try a different model but will have to wait until the refund processes.

Grades:

Support: B+
Sizing: C
Quality: A
Cost: B

In Conclusion, I would say that if you have a slender leg and require sturdy support because of a knee injury, this brace would work well for you.  For someone like my that has thicker, more muscular thighs, it's likely not going to fit.  I would love to hear from others that have purchased from this brand in the past.

Been a While Part 2: Ragnar Relay Chicago

2015 Chicago Ragnar Relay

After running the Ragnar Relay on an Ultra team in 2014 I knew I wanted to do it again in 2015.  This time around though, I would be the captain.  Well, co-captain as it turns out.  After discussing it with some friends and making sure I had 5 other crazy people that were willing to travel to Madison, WI and then run 200 miles back to Chicago, my good friend Jose and I decided to co-captain an Ultra Ragnar Relay team for the 2015 Chicago race.  It took a lot of planning but we were able to field a pretty good team of runners with varied background and skill level.

We hit a few bumps in the road along the planning process with having to replace the same runner not once or twice, but three times.  One runner had to pull out of the race because she became pregnant and she would be due around the time of the race.  Her replacement had to drop out because of a detached retina that wouldn't be healed in time.  The next replacement had to cancel due to a scheduling conflict that could not be helped.  Finally we landed a runner a mere 3 weeks before the race due in most part to an awesome run group called the Fox Valley Run Junkees.  A good friend of Jose's, Harish, was able to hook us up with our much needed runner as well as all three of our volunteers.  Without his help, we would have had a hard time filling our team and would have had to pay for volunteers so a special thanks goes out to him.

So now we had our team.  Here was the line up...

Runner 1 - Chris Bork

Runner 2 - Jose del Risco

Runner 3 - Shannon Willer Gore

Runner 4 - Matt Sutton

Runner 5 - Lisa F, Lisa D. Mike K,  Jesus Alvarado

Runner 6 - Ron Ermis

Van Driver - Anson Goode a.k.a. Morgan Freeman from Driving Miss Daisy 

With six runners in the van and our driver, Anson Goode, we hit the road and headed to Madison Wisconsin.  Jose was smart enough to set up a reservation at a nice restaurant the night before the race and so we all sat down for a good meal and to get to know each other.  Several of us had never met and it helps to know the people you are about to spend 36 hours in a van with.  By the end of the night poor Shannon got a glimpse into what is was going to be like being in a van with 6 guys for 36 hours.

Race Morning

The morning of the race came and we piled into the van in a light rain and headed for the start area.  By the time we got there it was a full on downpour and we knew it was going to be an interesting start.  Jose and I had to go gather our packets and attend the safety briefing while the rest of the team huddled under a picnic enclosure to try and stay dry.  By the time we were done and Chris was getting ready to start Jose and I were soaked and the only sweatshirt I brought with me was as well.  Keep in mind it was June but it was raining and temps were only in the upper 60's.

So Chris lines up at the start and after a few minutes the MC starts to get the crowd pumped.  He called out all of the different team names.  I swear, I am horrible at naming teams and wish we had come up with something better than Midwest Vikings Ultra Team 1 but what can you do.  After all the teams that were starting at 7:30 were announced, the horn blew and they were off.

We all quickly piled back into the van and headed off to the next exchange.

Jose was up next and when Chris came cruising into the exchange he slapped the "baton" onto Jose's wrist and he was off.  Jose was our fastest runner and so we had to hurry up and get to the next exchange so as not to leave him waiting.

Jose being the fast and competitive runner that he is, finished faster than his predicted time but we were already there waiting for him to get there and so  he didn't have to wait.  Now as I understand it, that first leg of his had a considerable section that was all uphill but he powered through it and so next up came Shannon's turn.

Shannon would be the one in the Pink Tutu.  Her first leg all so had some pretty good hills in there and she had to work hard to finish in her expected time.  Shannon was a trooper the whole trip.  Never complained even though I'm sure we gave her plenty to complain about and she was always cheerful.  She powered through each run and kept her pace steady.








Next up was Matt.  Unfortunately I have no photo evidence of his first leg, I swear Matt completed his first leg and even came in ahead of schedule so here is a pic of Matt starting one of his other legs(I have no idea which one).

Matt then handed off to Jesus, who having joined the team only 2 weeks prior, came out and put in a consistent performance.  While not the fastest runner, he was methodical and ended up being the runner on our team with the most consistent pace.  And let me tell you, holding a consistent pace over 30 or so miles in 36 hours is no small feat.  Unfortunately, once again I have no pic of Matt handing off to Jesus the first time so here is a pic of a later exchange.


It was my turn next to take the baton and literally run with it.  Jesus handed off to me and I was off.  Now, I will preface this by saying that my first leg, was the longest leg of the entire race at 10 miles.  I volunteered to be the 6th runner knowing that I was going to be running more than anyone else.  I guess I'm a glutton for punishment.  Not to mention I started in the early afternoon with the heat of the day.  Ok, enough whoa-is-me.  I put in my 10 miles on mostly trail and some road.  It was beautiful and hot.  I came in a bit behind schedule knowing that I still had another 7.5 mile leg coming next.  Once I finished my leg we started the whole rotation over again and just like that we were 1/6 of the way done.  It was going to be a long race.

Now I'm not going to bore you with an exact accounting of everything that happened at each exchange, nor do I even recall all of it.  I do know there was a lot of trash talking, van tagging, eating, hydrating, bodily functions and all around good times.

Jose being the math lover that he is, put together a spreadsheet with all of our projected paces and an estimate of when we should be at each exchange and how long it was going to take us to finish.  And we all stayed pretty true to that estimated timeline for the first day.  We didn't have grand expectations of winning the race, but we were confident that we would finish in the early afternoon on Saturday.

That all changed once dark came.  By that time we had all run 3 legs and were starting to tire.  Except for me that is, cause I'm awesome.  Actually, I was just lucky.  I caught a second wind and ran one of my shorter legs in a 8:30 pace.  I will say that an unintended perk of running the 6th leg was that I got to be the first person on our team to see the lakefront.  Running through Milwaukee in the very early morning around 4 a.m. it got really foggy so i took out my earbuds so I could listen for any traffic or other runners.  I started hearing the waves and when I came to the top of a hill, there was Lake Michigan.  It was still very dark so I could only make out the shoreline but I could hear the waves and smell the water and it just gave me an extra boost.  Not to mention it was literally all downhill from there the last 3/4 of a mile to the next exchange where there were SMORES waiting for me.  I handed off the baton to Chris and I think it was Jesus and I made a beeline for the campfires and smores.

We brought some back to the van for the others but at this point we were all just trying to get whatever sleep we could.  Anson was passed out in the drivers seat and Jose was sleeping in the back.  I finished my smore, changed and once we got to the next exchange I passed out for an hour.  When I woke up, it was light outside and Jose was out doing one of his final runs.  Of course it had started raining again.  Might as well start the new day the way the previous one started.  Fortunately, it didn't last long and was over by the time Jose handed off to Shannon.

We grabbed some breakfast form McDonald's(very healthy) and used the facilities.  You have no idea how nice it is to use a real bathroom after a day and a half of nothing but port-o-potties.  We made decent time the second day but we were behind our initial projections.  All of us were tired and sore.  By the time we got down to our last set of legs, we were all excited and ready to be done.

By the time I got the hand off from Jesus it was mid afternoon and it was hot.  7.5 miles to go to the finish at Montrose Beach in Chicago.  By this time I was very tired and sore and the only reason I was able to keep going at even a moderate pace was knowing that it was almost over.  I did the best i could to keep going but I am not ashamed to say that I did a fair bit of walking.  Once I hit the City and started making my way down Sheridan Rd. I got a little extra energy.  There were quite a few runners around and we were all encouraging each other as we passed.  At some point a bystander that I passed made a comment about how I was running weird and another runner close behind me said something along the lines of "you'd be running funny too if you just ran 200 miles".  I had to chuckle at that as she passed me by.

When i finally hit the lakefront path I knew I was almost done.  I run that path quite a bit during the summer so i knew just about how far it was to the finish.  Passing by all the people that were out and about, grilling food and enjoying their Saturday, made me want to finish that much faster.  I kicked into gear so i could finish strong and shortly after I saw my teammates waiting for me.  We got together and crossed the finish line as a team.  I would love to say that we partied the rest of the afternoon and enjoyed our celebratory beers, but we didn't.  We were all done.  Just tired and hungry and ready to be clean.  We took our pictures, hit the merchandise tent and then went home.  Anti-climactic I know.  But as cliche as it sounds, it wasn't the destination that mattered.  It was most definitely the journey.

Special Thanks....

Harish Pai for helping to bring Jesus onto the team as well as finding our volunteers.

Midwest Vikings for providing Gu, Gatorade, Blocks and other items for the team.


A few things that I was asked to add by the team after the writing of this article...

• The exchange that was a mile long and Jose handed the baton off early to Shannon just to find out there was a nasty hill just ahead.  Shannon was cursing Jose out for that one.
• The several instances where Jose Farted at the door of the van and then walked away and left the rest of us to suffer.
• And the time Jose Ran the wrong way out of the Exchange and had to be chased down.
• Anson Snoring in the drivers seat.  At one point he stopped and I though he died but then he started back up even worse.

This summed up our team pretty accurately

Been a While Part 1

So it's been a while since I posted on here.  To be honest I really hadn't felt the need or desire to post about my running in the past few months after the DNF at Frozen Otter.  That's not to say that nothing interesting has happened.  So here we go, a list of all of my racing news since February.

Shamrock Shuffle 8K

I set a PR at the Shamrock Shuffle 8K in March with a time of 42:29.  I was super excited about PRing at this race.  It was exactly what I needed after my DNF in January.  I finished 4,559 out of 22,870 runners and it was the first time in a race that I finished with a sub 9 min/mile.

Lakefront 10 Miler

This was a down race for me and I was unprepared.  I managed a respectable finish of 1:37:32 at a 9:46 min/mile pace.  I was disappointed but not surprised since I really didn't train for it.

Chicago Spring Half Marathon

Unfortunately, another down race.  This was a last minute add to my schedule and I had not planned on running it until a friend had to drop out a week prior to the race.  I filled in for her and suffered through a very humid run along the lakefront.  This was my slowest half marathon in a long time at 2:12:25 but I wasn't expecting much with only a weeks notice.

Chase Corporate Challenge

This is the first year that I ran this race and I was not disappointed.  It was a lot of fun to party with my co-workers at Sargent & Lundy.  Since this was my first time completing a 3.5 mile race it was a guaranteed PR but I set a goal for my self of a sub 8:30 pace.  Even with a cramping calf I managed to sprint across the finish with a 29:41 finish and an 8:29 pace.  You can tell by my finish line photo that I was just a little excited.

Soldier Field 10 Mile

So this was my second 10 miler on the year and I had higher expectations so I set a goal for myself of a sub 1:30:00 time.  I dealt with some knee and calf issues throughout the race and finished with a 1:30:44 time.  Missed my goal by 45 seconds.  However, I did set a PR so I was happy with my performance.

to be continued in part 2 with Ragnar Relay and HIL00PY 100 mile relay.

DNF

DNF.

Three letters that no runner ever wants to see.  You would never wish it on another runner, not even your worst rival.  I am of course talking about Did Not Finish.  Every runner dreads this, but if you run enough races, it is inevitable.

On January 17th, 2015, I experienced my first DNF ever.  It was at the Frozen Otter 64 on the Ice Age Trail in Wisconsin.  A 64 mile race over hills and through the Kettle Moraine State Forrest.  Oh did I mention its in the middle of January.  Now most years, the ground may be packed with ice and possibly, several feet of snow.  Not this year.  This year the snow was a mere few inches and the temperature hung around in the mid to upper 30's during the day.  The whole week leading up to the race I was constantly having to swap out gear to adjust for the increasing temperature.  I was confident in my ability and in my training.  How wrong I was.

The morning of the race I had my pack ready and all my gear on.  I was warm, but not too warm.  I decided to wear a lightweight pair of boots with micro spikes instead of my Salomon Speed Cross 3's.  First Mistake.

My pack, while having all the required gear, food and water, was heavier than I anticipated at around 20 lbs.  Second Mistake.

So before the race, everyone gathered in the shelter next to Lake Mauthe and the race director, Todd, went over some safety issues and rules.  Afterwards, everyone meandered to the starting line.  At this point I put my micro spikes on and I was ready to go.  Standing with my friends at the start we joked and talked about strategy and how we were going to run the flats and downhills and then walk the uphills.  Great strategy.

The countdown began.  The air horn sounded, and we were off.  We had positioned ourselves at the front of the pack and ran down the road about a quarter of a mile and turned off onto the trail.  BTW, micro spikes are very uncomfortable running on concrete.  As soon as we started, Mike, took off at a brisk pace.  It was at that exact moment I realized something.  My gear was heavy.  It's never a good thing when at the very start of a race you are already finding mistakes that you made.  The pack felt heavy on my back as it bounced around and I had on more clothes than were needed given the temperature and the level of exertion.  We all stayed within about 100 yards of each other for the first mile.  It was right about then, on a downhill, that I firmly planted my left foot right into a hole under the snow and rolled my ankle.  I pulled up cursing loudly and stumbled to a tree for balance.  One though kept going through my mind.  One mile in.  I was only one mile in and had already hurt myself.

After a minute or two of working my ankle it seemed to get better and I was able to walk on it.  I started back off and eased into a trot.  there were a lot of hills for the first 8 miles.  I had lost track of the group I was with but cared little.  I knew we would be separated at some point and had no desire to slow anyone else down.  I held a pretty good pace alternating between a run and fast hike the first 8 miles.  I came into the first check point and saw Tata Maam and Chad Weberg there waiting for me.  They were leapfrogging the check points to be there for us in case we needed anything and for support.  When I asked I found out I was about 20 - 30 minutes behind the group I started with.  Not bad I thought.  I was still making good time coming in at 2:30 for the first 8 miles.

I left the aid station refreshed from the Scratch Endurance fuel that was provided by the race and moved some of my snacks from my pack to my pockets for easy reach.  Chowed down on some trail mix to keep my energy up and took off from the check point after about 5 minutes.  I was onto the next 8 mile leg and was making good time when going down a few hills, all of a sudden, my micro spikes started to slip off my boots.  As soon as the slipped off I lost all traction.  I retrieved them and put them back on. This process repeated at least 6 times over the next 2 miles.  The final time I was pissed because it was costing me time, and was dangerous considering I was falling all over the place when I suddenly had no traction going down a hill.  After the final time, pissed off at my equipment, I took the spikes off and threw them in my bag.  This is where everything started to unravel.

Since I took my spikes off, each hill was that much harder to go up because I had little traction.  It cost me more energy and because of the lack of traction, every step I took had my foot sliding out, putting strain on my already tender knee.  This went on for about 2 or 2 1/2 miles.  At that point my knee was aching and the extra strength Tylenal I took wasn't cutting it. It was from about the mile 12 point that I started hiking and was unable to muster a run again.  By the time I got to around the 14 mile mark and checked my time, I knew I was not going to be able to finish.  I continued hiking and eventually made it to the mile 16 check point.  Upon entering I gave my bib number to check in and was asked if there was anything they could get me.  My response was "a ride back to the starting area."  And thus ended my attempt at the Frozen Otter 64.

This year saw the course record absolutely smashed by almost 3 hours if memory serves.  The temperature was warm enough that everyone was joking that it would be know as the Thawed Otter.  But this was not my year.  Mistakes were made with equipment.  I chose to wear boots that while they said they were waterproof, they most certainly were not.  What started off as 15 oz boots, became 2 lbs of wet leather and soggy socks.  The micro spikes I purchased were cheap.  And you know what they say.  You get what you pay for.  My pack was heavier than was needed.  I carried more food than I would eat.

Lessons learned.

I would say that I learned a lot of what not to do for this race.  And I will be back next year.  With proper equipment and a lighter load.  I will finish the Frozen Otter 64 but for at least a year, I will have that DNF hanging over me.  No matter what excuses might be made or how much effort was put in, it is stall a DNF.  I'll be back.  I won't let a course beat me twice.

Ron

2014 Huff 50k

So December 20th marked my second attempt at the Huff 50k.  This race is easily one of my favorites and I was really looking forward to running it in 2014.  My training had gone well and I was pretty well prepared for it.  Unfortunately, the weeks leading up to the race were not cooperative.

I was sick with a sinus infection the entire week leading up to the race and was unable to train.  On top of that, the day before the race I had to work a 12 hour shift and only got 3 hours of sleep before having to jump in the car and drive 3 hours to Albion, IN for the race.

Even after all that, I still felt pretty good at the start of the race.  It wasn't until about 8 mile sin that the lack of sleep and proper training started to take it's toll.  I started to drop back from the group that I was running with and told them to go on without me, not wanting to hold them back.  After that, it was a run/walk combo for the rest of the race.

I managed to hit the halfway point, mile 15.5, in about 3 1/2 hours.  Not too bad, but my clothes were soaked and I need to change.  After changing and being inside a warm ten, it was very difficult to convince myself to go back out into the cold.  Fortunately, I was running with a friend, Jack, who was motivating me to keep going.

We headed out of the check point and back out into the cold to complete our second lap.  The second lap was much slower than the first.  My energy stores were all but depleted and I was cold.  At some point in the first 2 miles Jack ran on ahead and I kept up my brisk walking pace.  After a while I managed to convince myself that running was a good idea if I wanted to finish within the cutoff.  I kept up a brisk walking/light running pace for the next 2 or so miles, until I caught back up to Jack at the 20 mile check point.  We stopped for a minute or two in order to get some much needed food and flat Coke.  After that we headed back out and stuck together the rest of the way.

At the  24 mile checkpoint, they had all sorts of warm food and drinks available.  At this point my hope of a PR was well and truly sunk so we took our time at the aid station.  I made the mistake of grabbing my food and going by the fire they had setup.  The fire was warm and inviting and everything that is good in life.  The only problem is, if you leave the circle of the fires warmth, the cold hits you like a brick wall.  It was a while before we finally were able to pull ourselves away from the fire and head back out on the trail for the final 8 mile stretch.  The plus side to being so cold, was it forced us to run in order to get some body heat going.  Our running was short in length but we were trying to at least get some decent distance each time.

It was getting late in the race when I decided to check the time and realized we were really puching our time and were going to risk being pulled from the course.  I saw that the light was starting to fade and they wont allow runners out on the course after dark.  Jack and I doubled down on our efforts and we started to run at a decent pace for the first time in a while.  We managed to keep it up until we came to within a mile of the finish line.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity, we came to the last check point which is about half a mile from the finish line.  We skipped right past it, not even slowing.  I decided that I was going to run the last half mile and Jack kept up as best he could.  I crossed the finish line with a time of 8:46:09.  That was 31 minutes slower than I did the same race in 2013.  However, at that point I was just happy to be done.  I am not disappointed with my results at all considering all I went through the week before the race But i do vow to finish with a sub-7 our time next year.

Before the start with the Midwest Vikings 

At the Finish with Jack Reid