The Next Generation of Athletic Support

Bryan's recent postings on new cycling gear has left an empty void in my covetous heart. While I've only recently claimed to be a triathlete who can now participate in the fun of getting new bike gear, my roots remain in running. And let's face it: there isn't a whole lot of running gear to get worked up about.

But let's take a brief look nonetheless:

Shoes
Buying a new pair of shoes has the nearly the same euphoric rush as when I went to Buster Brown's for a new pair of kickers back in the day. With a whoosh of sweet neoprene sweatshop air, the olfactory nerves are saturated with delight as the salesperson opens the shoe box, slips it on and laces it up with a maddening fury. Then it's your time to pretend to run around the store while trying to decide if it's a keeper. You jog. You hop. You stop and start. Whew! After a few minutes of this silliness, you can return to your seat. You then see the dilapidated pair that carried you through rain & shine and into the shoe store that very day. They were once as shiny as the pair on your feet. Sigh. Giving the thumbs up, you tell the salesperson to box the old shoes. Nothing escapes being putting in a box at the end of their life.

The Elite Jock
Cinching shoe laces? Big whoop. Racing singlets and running shorts? How depressing. An honorable mention could be the Bike Performance Elite Jock Strap BASP11. This jock has moisture wicking fabric with anti-microbacterial material. Best of all, it has a contoured pouch for "the next generation of athletic support" (Fresh Pair website --sorry folks, I'm not providing a picture for this one). That jock must be amazing, though. At least, that's what the ad wizards would have you believe. What a job: writing descriptive ads for jockstraps.

Hmmm. Do you suppose it pays well?

For the record, I don't jock it. In fact, the only people that I'm aware that wear those things are professional baseball, football, hockey players and high school football coaches.

So there's the big running gear review. Looks like I've got about another 300 miles before my current treads get boxed for the next generation of athletic foot support.