Icing on the Cake

It finally looks and feels like winter here on the Front Range of Colorado. About six inches of snow have fallen and the temperature has dropped to about 5 degrees. I would rather run in a blinding snowstorm than with the temperatures in the sixties and that nasty wind we can get here so I threw some weight in the back of the pick up and drove down to Eldorado Springs. Six inches of snow had already fallen there and was still coming down when I pulled in to the Dowdy Draw Trailhead.

I put my iphone in a ziplock bag in my windbreaker pocket and headed up the trail. I clearly was the only one out; it was virgin powder as they say in Colorado. The South Spring Brook Trail and the Goshawk Trail are somewhat twisty and rocky; on the way up I was able to at least see where the larger rocks were covered with snow and avoid them. It was a little slower going moving my feet through the snow but the running seemed easier because of the trade off of slower speed.

At three miles and 700 feet of elevation gain I turn and headed down opting for the North Spring Brook Trail which is slightly longer, less steep, but canted to the downhill side. This proved to be more difficult because the upslope wind was driving the snow into my face and the late afternoon light was completely flat so I could no longer visually distinguish any rocks, unevenness of the trail, or holes under the snow cover. They say that if you let a horse run how it wants it won't step in a hazard. I must have had the horse sense in me today because I couldn't see anything and had no mishaps, just a great run that you had to be there to appreciate.

1200 Miles for 2010

I was hoping to run about 1600 miles this calendar year but a stress fracture cooled my heals. I didn't run for about two months and then started back slowly and didn't build back the base I had because of priorities. I am happy with where I am for the moment though. I had a cold a couple of weeks ago that made me miss ten days but I've run the last eight with each day including progressively more elevation. Today's 8.6 miles had 1000 feet of elevation gain mostly in the first half of the run and I felt good all the way so I'm content.

NB MT101 Disappointment

Up until a couple of weeks ago I had been doing some aggressive trail running on the weekend but not much midweek, then I caught a nasty cold just as winter break was beginning. I recovered relatively quick but had to ease back into hills and distance. For Christmas, I made sure I received a pair of New Balance MT101's.

The weather has been mild and we have absolutely no snow. Christmas Day I put the new shoes on and head out to some nearby trails. I liked that the MT101's required me to run with a barefoot gait. The three-pronged nibs on the soles provided decent traction. That is it for the pluses. Descending even the slightest incline did not feel right; my impression is that more forefoot flexibility is necessary for the feel I'm looking for; the rock stop layer certainly makes the front stiff. This also made my foot/ankle want to twist too easily with any uneven step, although I was able to plow through rocky trails without much concern for the bottoms of my feet. The shoe also doesn't come in anything broader than a D width. I had to buy an 11 instead of a 10 1/2 which was snug all the way around. By the time I was done with 6.5 miles my big toe was screaming with every step.

It seems as though New Balance just took a racing flat or cross country shoe and put a stiff piece of silvery plastic in the sole and called it a minimalist trail shoe. I suppose that would be a manufacturer's strategy to get something on the market in a hurry. I hope someone has designed something from scratch and has it on the market sometime this spring that isn't just for the narrow-footed.

In the meantime I'm just running with screws in any old worn down pair of running shoes. I have enough of those.

I Haven't a Thing to Wear

...on my feet.

I have a pile of running shoes in my closet; four of them were purchased this year. None of them suit me and it doesn't seem that anything on the market matches what I perceive as my need. Over the years I've run mostly in Asics Evolutions or a similar medium motion control model. I usually ran on the roads and the typical feedback from my body during those years told me that my limit was about 35 miles per week.

Last spring as I incorporated barefoot running, I switched to mostly trails, and my feet and ankles strengthened accordingly I discovered I could run much more without my body complaining. Unfortunately, the Asics were causing a problem that wasn't apparent until the miles went up and was exacerbated by scanty padding in the FiveFingers or bare foot.

After seven weeks off because of a stress fracture I believed I should ease back in to running while protecting the injured part; I was sold on some big New Balance boats (1226)which allowed Achilles tendonitis to develop in just 44 miles of a walk/jog combination over 18 outings. I've gone back to the old Asics, but the problem of uneven thickening and callus build-up caused by the pronation-limiting features returned. This is what caused undue stress to occur to the second metatarsal that fractured. I've cut a hole in the insole to allow some space there.

I like the flexible bottoms of the FiveFingers although a couple millimeters more in thickness might protect better on rocky trails. They don't protect well from stubbing a toe. They're also quite cold in the winter. I was hoping the NB MT 101 would be the shoe, but they haven't been available around where I live (Boulder) to even try on and they don't make them in a width other than a D. I have the Nike Free. I was sold a larger size to make up for their lack of width so I can tolerate running in them for three or four miles on pavement (they do permit a typical minimalist foot strike) but they're like wearing skis on a trail, not to mention that the tread is unsuitable for trails.

I may venture to market again to see if there isn't something I previously presumed unsuitable. If I do find a shoe I am convinced that it is important to break myself into it little by little. The alternative shoe and the fall back shoe will be the old Asics, the tread worn off, but with hex-head screwed for traction.

Return to Shadow Canyon

I hadn't run Shadow Canyon since early July before I fractured my foot. I hadn't planned on going there but to get Alex to run with me it has to be more interesting than our nearby open space trails. I invited him to Eldorado Springs and from there gave him a couple of options and he chose the steeper one. The temperature was about at freezing and Alex suffers from exercise induced asthma when it's cold. We actually stopped by the pharmacy to get a refill on his inhaler prescription before going but it had expired. We took it easy and even hiked some sections but the narrow rocky trails higher up just want to be run. We still complete the 5 miles in a tad over an hour. I was disappointed the last time I posted video on here but I'm going to try it again.

You may want to mute the volume so you don't have to hear me grunting about filming and watching my steps at the same time. And this is different footage from what I posted of Facebook.

A Runner is Born

At the alternative high school where I teach we have experiential learning outings at the end of each six week term for students who pass all of their classes. Yesterday, they chose from a vertical wind tunnel, a tour of Invesco Field where the Denver Broncos play, slam poetry at downtown cafe, a scavenger hunt at the Denver Museum of Natural History, or mountain trail running with me. Needless to say, my offering wasn't many kids' first choice. They had to rank their choices 1-5. I didn't ask but it occurred to me that maybe the four that signed up for me got mixed up on whether 1 was the top choice or 5 was the top choice; I know I've done that on surveys before. By the departure time yesterday morning, two had been disqualified, one showed up after we had left to catch the bus, so it was just one student and I.

We took public transportation to Boulder and were in downtown at 9:50AM. We dumped our backpacks where I store our vending cart, made a pit stop, and head out walking and connected up with the Boulder Creek Path. We reached Settler's Park where we were going pick up mountain park trails but they were all blocked with police tape because a helicopter was loading power line parts and flying off with them. We bypassed the whole area by walking through a historic Boulder neighborhood.

We arrived at the Mt. Sanitas Trailhead and started to jog. My running buddy for the day had run the Bolder Boulder when he was in middle school so although he wasn't in runner shape, what to expect was not unfamiliar to him. We alternated between jogging, walk, climbing, hiking, and taking an occasional brief breather. At one point after I took off jogging on a flatter part of the trail I noticed he hadn't followed. When he caught up, he said he didn't feel so well, that maybe he should have eaten something. I had advised him beforehand and also offered the option again before heading out. I gave him a gel, which he didn't enjoy but it seemed to revive him. Before too long we finished our ascent of 1400 feet at the summit of Mt. Sanitas. We caught our breath and started down a steeper trail than we had taken going up. In some places we had to climb down facing the mountain to avoid slipping and becoming our own personal mini avalanche.

We made it down without incident and took the gently sloped Dakota Ridge valley access road down to the trailhead. At one point as we're cruising down the path he punches out at the air and declares, "I feel like Rocky".

Perfect. Mission Accomplished.

Bonus Days

Being able to run after work this week was like finding a three dollar chocolate truffle after eating your way through the trick or treat candy that filled your pillow case. It had to be savoured. Daylight savings starts tomorrow so any runs after work for the next few months will be in the dark and cold. The temperatures have been in the seventies all week but with the last hour of daylight they slipped into the sixties; what a treat to run on a November afternoon in shorts and a T-shirt.

I had run a lot last weekend so on Monday afternoon I was content to just get out and take Elliott for a stroll around the neighborhood as the trees began to cast long shadows across their golden leaves that lay underfoot. Tuesday and Wednesday were marathon teaching days with four hours of adult classes each evening after my regular workday with the alternative education congregation. I was content to have chat quick meal and a beer while catching up with Ruth and being entertained by Elliott for a few minutes before going succumbing to slumber.

Thursday, was the kind of day you want to tell everyone you know to get outside and enjoy the day so before changing into summer running clothes I poked my head into Valerie's hazmat zone where she was seated at her little desk with books propped open around her littered with bite-sized candy bar wrappers, the radio on, the laptop in front of her, and cell phone in hand. She swung around, clearly having an OMG moment and knowing she was going to surprise me said,"I've been thinking I want to run cross country next year, but that would mean starting to run so I decided that they next time you invited me I would go, but I have too much homework right now...so, the next time." Wow, what a surprise. I enjoyed the sunny late afternoon running all the streets and cul-de-sacs of the adjoining multi-million dollar-homed neighborhood feeling so fortunate that I felt like I was slumming there.

Yesterday afternoon I was drawn directly home by the prospect of savouring the last sunny post-work run of the Indian summer for this year. I texted Valerie on the way home,"Run?" "X_X....Maybe" I texted back,"fuel hydrate". When I arrived she was already in running shorts, a T-shirt, and her like-new Asics from last year. :)

I had a couple of things to take care of first; Valerie went out for a quick mile and a quarter warm up around the neighborhood. I wanted her reacquaintance with running to be more than just plodding along on pavement so we drove around to get near the open space trails that I usually run to from the house. "We jogged and chatted side by side until we came to the single track and Valerie went ahead to set the pace. Before we reached the high point of our trail the sun had ducked behind Bear Mountain and the air felt cooler although we occasionally passed through warm pockets of air. Valerie sprinted up to the summit and I pushed as well, thinking about how she'd feel the today. We stopped for a minute enjoying the view of almost the entire county before coasting back down to the truck.

Many runners lament their children not following in their foot steps. Who knows if Valerie will join me again but yesterday's 2.3 miles was better than a three dollar truffle at the bottom of a trick or treat bag.