The Paradigm

I was lucky enough to get a pair of Paradigms from the fine folks at the Altra Running booth at Summer OR.  I gave them a spin or two and I think they're pretty nice.  I still like my Lone Peaks best, but a girl can never complain about an extra pair of shoes!

Some other goodies I get to check out from some awesome companies!  

A new UltrAspire belt!

Darn Tough Vermont socks.  Super nice! Plus, it doesn't hurt that they're pink!

I do not have a problem.  And, no, these aren't all my running shoes, just the Altras!

 

Life has been wild the past few weeks.  School started, I got a part time job at Liberty Mountain and I've had some exciting new developments with TrailandUltraRunning.com come up.  (There will be more on that it the near future.)  Along with all these changes, I've almost completely quit keeping track of mileage.  I've been running as much as I can, whenever I can.  I had a couple of 35 mile weeks, then this week has been really quiet on the running front, but I did lift and go to yoga!  

I'm really looking forward to running Katherine's first marathon with her next weekend, Mid Mountain Marathon!  We are going to have a blast!

Trail Run Tuesday: My New Love

Today I got to hit the trails and try out all my new gear! I had a fabulous run up Millcreek Canyon on the Pipeline Trail.  It was cold at first, but once the sun came out I warmed up quite nicely!  I'm sure you're all wondering how I liked the Altra Lone Peak 1.5s.  Well, let me put it this way:  If my husband were a shoe, he'd be a Lone Peak 1.5!  I loved them!  The zero drop gives it the minimalist feel I love, the wide toe box is a dream and the cushion helped me run over rocks and ruts without a care!  I even purposely kicked a couple of rocks to see how sturdy the toe box is.  Pretty darn good, but I still don't recommend kicking rocks while you run.  Overall, the run was outstanding and I didn't want to stop.  In fact I ran for every minute possible until I had to leave to pick up my youngest from Kindergarten.  

I have to say that I was a little hesitant to wear the Balega socks.  I didn't think they would be warm enough, but I was pleasantly surprised that my feet were warm and toasty for the whole run (start temperature 20º).   Of course, I won't know how the Blister Resist really works until I wear them on a significantly longer run, but I did like them for this run.

I am really thrilled about this feature.  A gaiter trap!  Awesome!

They're pretty cute, don't you think?  Waaay too clean, though!

Hello from Millcreek Canyon!

There was dirt, ice, mud and snow.  A great combination for trying out new kicks!

Time to try the Honey Stinger gel.  It was really sweet and tasted basically just like honey.  It didn't bother my tummy, but I only had one.  Not sure how I would handle multiples.

So warm I took my fleece off!

Dirty shoes.  That's better.

There was also enough snow and ice that I tried them with my Kahtoola microspikes.  They were very comfortable with the microspikes, which is huge.  The microspikes are awful with my La Sportiva's, they dig into my toes.  That's no good at all.  

It was a wonderful run and I'm beyond thrilled with my new shoes!  Now, I just need to go buy a pair of the road version!

8.26 miles

1:34

11:22 pace (considering conditions and the fact that I stopped four times to take spikes off/put spikes on, and all the picture stops, that's pretty darn good!)

OR with Trail and Ultra Running

About a month ago I received a Facebook message from Mark Kreuzer, publisher of TrailAndUltraRunning.com (or TAUR) asking if I'd be interested in a Facebook moderator position.  I jumped at the chance!  I love the trail and ultra running community and have learned a lot from the folks who post on the Trail and Ultra Running Facebook group.  The gig pays in the opportunity to test gear, attend OR, and the satisfaction that I'm helping out a great community of fellow trail and ultra runners.

Fast forward to this weekend.  I was able to attend the OR show, a display of all the new outdoor gear that will be sold to retailers in the upcoming year/s.  This was the winter show, so much of the focus was winter sports, however there was still many running related things to see.  I had the pleasure of meeting the fine folks from Nathan Sports and try on some new hydration vests including the Vapor Shadow (which I loved and now really want) and the Zeal, which was also excellent.  They gave us some awesome detergent called Sport Wash that is supposed to eliminate that funk you get in your running clothes.  If you're a runner, you know what I'm talking about.  I'm crossing my fingers it works as well as they said it does!

Then, Mark, Missy (another great ultrarunner I know through my experiences at Speedgoat, Pioneer Day Marathon and Antelope Island) and I headed over to the Altra exhibit because I've been very interested in their shoes and wanted to check them out.  I met with Seth Wold, another local ultrarunner and super nice guy, who was thrilled to let me try on some Lone Peak 1.5s.  They were a dream!  And even dreamier, I was given a pair to test for Altra!  

I was also fortunate enough to have been given two pairs of socks from the very nice people of Balega to test drive.  I received a pair of Blister Resist (wouldn't that be nice!?) and the Enduro (doesn't that just scream endurance?)  Plus, I got a few give-aways including an insulated water bottle, some honey stinger gels (that Missy swears by because they are made of honey, not maltodextrin which bothers my guts) and a cool Altra buff.  Over all it was an outstanding day and I'm thrilled to now be part of the TAUR team!  

Showing off my new gear at the Altra exhibit.  

Aren't these beautiful?!  Stay tuned for a full report on these bad boys tomorrow after my trail run!

Products to review and goodies to try out!  Lucky me!