Sunday, February 21, 2010

Yak Trax

By the way, I miss my Yak Trax. I forgot to mention the forgettable run on Saturday. It was snowy and icy, so I used the Stabilicers for traction. Ugh. These would be great for hiking on snow packed or icy trails, but for running - at least for me - they stink. There are cleats on the ball of the foot and heel, but nothing in between, so it feels weird. Mostly, they are just heavy, clunky and inflexible.

After warming up for 1 mile, we picked up the pace so that Rebecca could do her 4 mile "Race for Haiti." While she and Eby took off, I was struggling to get my feet to be flexible enough to move. It was annoying, and eventually painful. I finally took the cleats off for the last mile regardless of ice. Freedom.

Despite going through two pairs of Yak Trax this winter, I'm going to have to buy another pair for the Snowjoke half marathon next week.

5 comments:

HappyTrails said...

Hi Iris! Thanks for stopping by our blog - I think you definitely have more winter than us - brrrrr! Your photos are amazing - it is so fun to "tour" the different areas folks live in blogger land. I have heard that YakTrax can have some durability issues in relation to running on the snow. They do work, though. Thanks for sharing and have a great week!
Kathleen

Unknown said...

Hi there,
Thanks for your feedback - sorry to hear that your Stabilicers were not a good fit for you on your run. What style were you using? We have 4 different styles - each designed for various levels of activity. Our Stabilicers Sports were designed for running - lightweight, durable with replaceable cleats. Our Lites are more for casual, every day use. Although the cleats are not replaceable on the Lites we do get feedback from runners that they are comfy and can be used for running. All our Stabilicers are made to last - produced in Maine - so you should not have to keep replacing them.
I would be happy to send you a pair of our cleats that are best suited for running. To view our styles go to www.32north.com.
I hope I can help you out - I look forward to hearing from you!
Thanks,
Heather
www.32north.com

YakTrax Services said...

Hi Iris,

Sorry to hear that you have had some durability issues with your YakTrax. We would love to send you a pair of our YakTrax Pros on us! Just send me your shoe size and mailing address to yaktrax.experience@gmail.com.

Enjoy the Run!

Whitney

Iris said...

Hi Kathleen! You are right - blogging is a great way to see the world through other people's pictures, and dream of future vacations. :)

Heather,
I appreciate your comments. I've been wondering if mine are too big? I wear a 7.5 shoes and got a the small sports cleats. It may just be that they were a bit too much for me for running on road? Maybe the lites would work better? My email is irisziegler@msn.com. Thanks for the comment!

Whitney - I appreciate the comment on YakTrax. I emailed you more thoughts. Thanks!

Jo Lynn said...

I'm so happy I don't have to wear Yak Trax. We have them for sale at work but really, nobody buys them here. :)