Thursday, February 19, 2015

Endless Summer II: Earth Runners Circadian-X Review and Giveaway!



Ah yes.....  those endless days of summer...   hopefully to return soon!  Don't get me wrong, I love the winter, and am looking to run a 50K Fat Ass (Headless Horsetooth) on Saturday, and it is predicted to be snowing... a lot!  But it's still great to daydream about barefoot runs in the sand, and logging warm trail miles in comfortable huaraches.....


Which brings me to part 2 of my Endless Summer series on new trail running huaraches...    The sandal for the day? Earth Runners Circadian-X! 

I've been working with Mike Dally, and Earth Runners, since October 2012 when they ran their first Kickstarter project...  At that time I reviewed the original Quantum's and you can check out that review by clicking HERE. 

Since that time, I've had the pleasure of working with Mike, providing feedback/input, and watching Earth Runners grow into a top notch, high quality, running sandal company.  Each product iteration gets better, and the new Circadian-X is no exception...   so check out the review, and stay tuned at the end to enter to win a pair as well, courtesy of Mike and Earth Runners!



So, I'm really excited to tell you about the Circadian-X shown above.  Back in May of 2013, I did a review of the Circadian (6mm) and Alpha (10mm Birkenstock) sandals, which you can check out HERE to learn more about the original Circadian.

The original version was a 6mm stack height trail runner, which is a great trail running huarache.  The new Circadian-X differs from the Circadians I reviewed before in a few ways:


  • 8 mm stack height
  • leather foot bed
  • leather lacing



It doesn't sound like a lot of differences, but wow what a difference in feel.  I really like the 8mm stack height. Up until now, my sandal collection included thin (4-6mm) or thick (10-12mm) soles.  The Circadian-X fills a nice spot right in between, finding a new balance between flexibility, ground feel, and protection.   What I like about this particular combination of stack height and composition, is a sole that carries the protection of a thicker sandal, but still retains some really nice flexibility and good feedback.



The Circadian-X's also come in at just under 6 oz for my size 10, which is pretty nice.


The best features to me however, are the new leather laces, and foot bed. They are so soft and comfortable, and it took very little time to get them fitted and ready to go.  The "race-lacing" style works terrific and the leather was very comfortable on my feet while trail running.  I was only able to get around 30 trail miles on these before the weather turned, but I think these may be my "go-to" sandal once it warms up again.  And because they are so comfortable, they'll probably be a well used casual pair as well.




The model I reviewed included the conductive inserts as well, to incorporate being grounded as well.  If that isn't something you are interested in, you can also order these without the inserts.  And if you want to further enhance the grounding feature, you can also get conductive nylon laces, as well as conductive leather laces as an option.



So, if you like what you've seen and heard, be sure to check out the Circadian-X and the other great sandals at the Earth Runners website

And, as always, leave me a note below if I've missed something or if you have a question.  Also, feel free to leave me a note at the Barefoot Inclined Facebook page too. 

Ok... now to give away a pair of Circadian-X's!  I'll run this contest through Friday, February 27th, 2015 10 PM MST.  Open to the residents of the U.S. and Canada only.  Enter below using the Rafflecopter widget... and good luck!




Happy trails!

Jeff
http://barefootinclined.com
barefootinclined@gmail.com




18 comments:

  1. I've been wanting to try Earth Runners. I love my 4mm Xero Shoes but it would be nice to have something with just a little more protection. I'm lucky that I haven't had to deal with the horrible winter but I am excited about eating some nice cold watermelon while sitting on a hot sunny beach this summer :)

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  2. Really getting my kids outside!!! Its been negative for over a month now and its just not great for my little ones to be out in that but they seriously need some nature and outdoor playtime! heck . I need some outdoor play time too!

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  3. dry footing and traction for my daily training runs!

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  4. Wow!! Thanks for the review! So that's the purpose of the "metal dots" (conductive inserts)! Do they become bothersome when the feet/sandals get wet?
    I'm also looking forward to some sandal running weather! Don't get me wrong, I love winter, the snow and cold. But this year will take me to the southwest severable times this year. Let's get the summer party started!!!!

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    1. Hi Lynette... I haven't found the dots to be bothersome in any way really.. the can transfer some heat if you stood still on super hot pavement perhaps, but overall, no issue for me.

      :-)

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  5. Woh! They really like you! Giving away another pair! I still have yet to be able to try the ones that I won. Trying not to veer to far from the norm during marathon training right now. Maybe I'll use them on my shorter run Wednesday or Thursday. Good luck to all!

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    1. I'm not entering since I just won some from you, but I did go ahead and tweet about it.

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  6. I miss running outside! It's too cold for me.

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  7. I miss running outside and not being stuck inside.

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  8. awesome review. i can feel the equalized voltage already!

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  9. I'm not quite missing Las Vegas' 100+ degree summer, so I think I'm going to miss Winter and Spring more during summer. ;)

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  10. Earth Runners look quite amazing! Haven't been able to buy any yet because I'm poorer than the dirt that I walk on, though. ;)

    It'd also be cool to see some sort of gadget invented in the future that one could simply attach to their usual, everyday footwear to allow for grounding.

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  11. I'm missing working in my garden, and picking fresh tomatoes.

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  12. The warm weather!!! My front porch is covered in snow right now...gotta be brave to go in sandals in that weather!

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  13. I miss green grass. And leaves on trees.

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