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What to Buy a Runner for Christmas

10 Saturday Dec 2011

Posted by in Running

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It should be obvious, but since it isn’t I’ve prepared this list of items every runner wants along with the reasons why.  The general reason though is runners need gear.  Lots of it.  Especially in the winter.  My wife says I have more clothes than her and she tries to purge my t-shirts when she can.  It’s true, runners tend to collect t-shirts.  But these race mementos are no more clothes than prom or bridesmaids dresses.

Consider this lovely brown T made from thick 100% cotton by Hanes.  My Durango friends the Wales purchased it for me over Thanksgiving.  The back of the shirt explains why.  “I’d walk 500 miles for a Colorado Trail Nut Brown Ale.”  Well, it just so happens Tumbleweed and I did just that.  So does a shirt like this constitute clothes?  Technically sure but it’s much more about memories.  And it’s a walking billboard for my summer adventure.

Thick cotton Ts like this are useful.  My sweat and even a little snow are evident on the backside in this pic to the right.  Click on it to see an enlarged view.  I wore it today as part of my gear on a 6 mile scamper along the still snow packed Lobo Trail here in Longmont.  I’ve adapted to the December cold with smart gear choices.  Today I wore an Under Armour hot gear long sleeve shirt for my first layer.  This is a very thin material that whisks sweat away from the skin.  I covered this with the brown cotton t-shirt and added as a third overlay an Under Armour cold gear top that retains warmth.  The cotton T served to absorb moisture and trap it in the middle where it could stay warm while my skin remained dry.  I also switched from my Asics to my La Sportiva trail running shoes for their traction and because they are waterproof.

I wore thicker sets of runners gloves and fleece skull cap than last week.  This turned out to be unnecessary and I carried my gloves after a couple of miles.  The morning wind died and the sun was out strong  The thing to note is that a runner cannot sustain a daily regimen in the throes of winter with a single pair of gloves and caps.  Gloves and hats become as sweaty as socks so unless you’re washing laundry every day, five pair are not unrealistic.  I have 3 of each and would love more.  I’m certain that my clothes are laundered with less frequency than those of my wife.  After 24 years of marriage, I have sufficient history to speculate that her clothes are washed approximately 2.7 time as much as mine.  There have been times I wear something once and then don’t get it back until the season is over.  I’m sure I’m not alone in this marital circumstance of apparel washing favoritism.

And fabric variety is equally important.  Of my three gloves, one is very thin and the other two are thick.  I’d like something in between.  My fleece skull caps are the opposite with two thin and one ultra thick.  If a third dimension isn’t manufactured, it would be nice to have more of what I don’t have, another thin pair of gloves and a second heavy fleece hat.  The next really important item is high tech socks.  Cotton socks are dead to me.  One can never have too many of these.  You know how socks get lost.  Karen actually steals mine, which seems unlikely as her feet are half the size of mine – but apparently socks shrink.

I feel I’m good on gaters.  I have a short pair and another shin-high pair.  These are good in the winter for warmth and to keep your shoes dry and also in the summer for rough trail runs.  But if you know a runner who doesn’t have any, such a gift would surprise them and they’ll be thankful after trying them out.  Go to rei.com to order some online.  I’m actually not sure how to spell them – gaitors, gators or gaters.  Googling any of those iterations should present you with some safe web sites.

Last, a pair of either tights or sweat pants with matching sweater or hoodie makes for a good looking present.  Runners are notoriously poor at fashion so help them out by selecting a coordinated outfit.  Runners are so often fixated on the act of working out that they forget it helps to also look good – at least it helps those who have to look at them.  I’m partial to Under Armour and their Cold Gear outfits.  And this year they’ve come out with more color than in the past, especially for women.  Otherwise, Nike, Brooks and Adidas always have good stuff.  Some outfits perform well as lounge wear.  I recall seeing an entire family dressed in coordinating UA fleece lounge wear on a flight to Hawaii.  The father and son in one matching set and the mother and daughter in another.  Brit and I laughed pretty hard at that.  But hey, better that than wearing a wife-beater T and OP shorts.  Help a runner look smart this winter season.

CT Cronica: Colorado Alps

13 Tuesday Sep 2011

Posted by in Colorado Trail

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Your conference calls start at 7am Thursday but the final meeting ends at 11 for your half day vacation so you are able to get out the door before noon; giving you time to stop off at Snarfs for an Italian sub.  You pick up a second New York Steak sandwich for tomorrow’s lunch on the trail. It’s been a full month since your last hike of segments 18 through 21 of the Colorado Trail and you don’t mind the 7 hour drive to Molas Pass on the Million Dollar Hwy south of Silverton to meet Tumbleweed for segments 22 through 24.

Tumbleweed is parked at the trail head having arrived 15 minutes earlier at 6:30 pm.  Had you not stopped for a Modelo Especial with chips and salsa at Anejos in Gunnison around 4pm, you would have arrived together.  Amazing timing considering he departed from Grand Junction while you drove from Longmont.  You remembered to bring some chairs this trip so you sit and enjoy a True Blonde while viewing the San Juans to the east that you’ll be crossing as part of this 3 day trek.  You pitch your tents before heading into Silverton for dinner at Mother Kluckers.  Just off Main Street, the place is a disappointment.  Turns out the crowd is there to watch Thursday Night football on their abundant flat screens.

It’s strangely warm down in Silverton considering how cold it was up on the pass.  Upon returning to Molas Pass after dinner, you find it is warm up here now too.  Nice.  You sit down with Tumbleweed to watch a lightening storm and talk about tomorrow’s massive hike.  You hope to avoid the 30% chance of rain expected for the entire weekend.  This will be your first thru-hiking.  Your first real backpacking really.  You plan to take all your gear out of the car at the Spring Creek Pass trail head and jointly determine what to pack for the 3 day hike.

You sleep well although your camp site is fairly close to the highway and there is a surprising amount of overnight traffic.  You both rise shortly before 6am – certainly a late rise for Tumbleweed – to the sound of thunder.  It fails to produce rain during your morning ritual however and you hit the Million Dollar Hwy for the 3 hour drive to Spring Creek Pass by 7am.  You recharge your coffees at the Daily Bread on Main Street in Montrose.

Lake City is a small hunting and fishing town near Spring Creek Pass.  Looks like it will offer a decent choice of eateries for after you return here to pickup your car Sunday afternoon.  The trail head is 17 miles up the hill from the town.  Upon arrival, you meet Maximo, a fellow thru-hiker who just came down from Snow Mesa and is hitching a ride into Creede to wash up before continuing.  He gives up however and heads back out ahead of you as you pack your gear.  Maximo started the CT from Denver, same direction as you, with his sister and another friend, but they couldn’t make the entire hike into Durango.  He’s prepared to finish in a few more days.  You’re on the trail yourself by 11:30 – your latest start ever but you don’t necessarily have to stop at trail heads to shuffle cars on this outing.  You have 2.5 days to cover 3 segments consisting of a little over 50 miles, and you can hike ’till dark or beyond if you so desire.

You struggle finding your trail legs after a month off the CT and for the first time carrying a 50 pound pack.  There’s incentive to eat early simply to lighten your load.  Unfortunately your new Platypus hydration pack isn’t feeding you water very well.  It might be clogged from not mixing your Cytomax well enough.  Or perhaps it has a kink.  It’s difficult to draw water from the hose so you fail to drink enough to maintain proper hydration.  It feels cool enough that this shouldn’t be an issue, but it is.  Your dehydration leads to altitude sickness.  You become extremely nauseous for most of the day.  Your weakness is nearly trumped though by the spectacular panoramic views of the most rugged mountain peaks in America.  Locals call this the Switzerland of America – the Colorado Alps.  It’s the most stunning part of the Colorado Trail without challenge.

You reach the highest point of the entire Colorado Trail in mile 12 and know it’s downhill from here.  Well, at least for this segment.  The high point is at 13,200 feet and you take some time to recover.  You feel much more recovered once you finally drop below 12,000 feet as the nausea fades.  This entire hike has been in the 12K range above treeline.  You left the trees behind at the trail head and haven’t seen many since.  This section of the CT is clearly less traveled as even the trail itself disappears at times and you have to follow the cairns.

You reach the Carson Saddle Trail Head near sunset given your late start and make the decision to hike further in order to reach a decent camp site.  You want to reach the trees knowing it will be warmer and safer.  Tumbleweed doesn’t think the trail will drop below treeline and he’s right.  You hike a mile into segment 23 and decide to stop in some tall grass where you discover three other thru-hikers ensconced on the hill.  Maximo is there.  He shouts out at you and Tumbleweed as he hears you talking to Bill.  And the third hiker is named Luke.   This is a new experience for you as a thru-hiker.  You’d find it more enjoyable but the nausea returns after you pitch your tent and you don’t even eat dinner.  Regrettably, you retire to your tent and fall asleep hard.  You awake around 11:30 to the sound of freezing rain hitting your tent.  Despite the weather, the nearly full moon remains bright enough to illuminate the inside of your tent well enough to see all your gear.  You fixed whatever was wrong with your Platypus and are able to drink water throughout the night.  You fall back asleep until you hear Tumbleweed stirring around 5:30am.  You join him for coffee feeling 100 percent better.

You launch off on today’s hike well after the other three hikers in the cool, cloudy morning.  The views keep getting better the deeper you crawl into the San Juans.  Rocks just look better here.  You’re stronger and feel up to a big day.  Garmin actually captures you hiking a minute per mile slower on day 2 than yesterday, which is likely because you also climb 1000 feet more in elevation.  Still, you turn in an impressive 11 hour, 25 mile hike today almost entirely above treeline.  Not until 23 miles do you begin a descent that will take you down to breathable air.  And this is a 2000 foot drop in 2 miles.  Nothing comes easy in today’s hike.  You take solace in thinking you’ve chewed off the toughest 10 miles of segment 24 today, leaving you with only 11 doable miles for Sunday.  Well, you don’t really know how doable tomorrow will be, but you know it will be all under treeline and that has to be easier.

The 2 mile descent is technical.  It begins with tight switchbacks and straightens out along the head waters to Elk Creek.  Tumbleweed is cruising faster than usual for a steep decline and you’re playing catch-up.  Or maybe you’re just really fatigued, still the pace is aggressive.  You slip crossing the creek.  Your left hand breaks your fall and keeps your face from slamming into a rock.  You still don’t know how you did that without breaking your wrist.  Perhaps more amazing is that your right toe dips into the running water for several seconds, up to the laces, but your foot remains dry.  Damn those Gore-Tex La Sportivas are impressive.

This picture of you with the lakes over your head shows the Elk Creek head waters before the descent becomes steep.  2000 feet lower you reach trees and Tumbleweed spots an awesome campsite.  You pass on the first site and it pays off.  This site is along the creek and has a fire ring.  Tumbleweed struggles lighting the fire as the wood is all fairly wet.  It’s like a micro rain forest down here.  Eventually there is a roaring fire and your appetite has returned.  After some pocket shots, you eat well and sleep even better.

You rise early in a light rain, ready to get started on the remaining 11 miles.  You hiked past Bill and Luke yesterday as they refilled their water in a small pond.  You doubt they ever made it down from the tundra last night.  That thought makes you appreciate the warmth of your heavily-treed camp site even more.  You wonder how far ahead Maximo is and you find him at his camp site about 2 miles into your hike.  He’s planning on doing 30 miles today.  You chat for awhile about bears in the area and he sends you off with a namaste gesture.

Today’s hike continues to be tough as well as gorgeous.  It finishes with a tremendous climb of well over 1000 feet, followed by a short respite and then a second small rise to Molas Pass.  Never have you been so happy to see the trail head sign and shed your gear.  You note the swelling from plantar faciitus in your left foot after having stripped off your shoes.  You take some ibuprofen with a beer as Tumbleweed shuffles you both back to Spring Creek Pass for your car.  You dine at the Smoke Shack in Lake City to average BBQ and recount your adventure.  You have one last push scheduled for October and you plan the logistics.  Molas Pass to Durango will be longer than this weekend, but at less extreme altitude and elevation gain.  Totally doable.

CT Cronica: Ultra

07 Thursday Apr 2011

Posted by in Colorado Trail

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You might have started off leading this final leg, you don’t remember.  If you did, A Lo Hawk passed you at some point.  He’s ahead of you with hopefully only a few miles remaining when your feet begin to hurt and you reconsider promoting your shoes with a blog link.  This run brings forth memories of the Imogene Pass Run last September.  The bad part of the IPR – miles 8 and 9 leading up to the peak.  The only thing that kept you running then was the pressure of not forcing the runner behind you, whom you knew was likely to be feeling as tired as you, to have to pass you.  That trail didn’t provide the ability for runners to easily pass, and so you felt obligated to maintain your position and pace.  The CT at this point actually widens to double track, so you run alongside A Lo Hawk.  But that is short lived, you mostly fall behind – even when walking although there isn’t much of that.  The first 4 quarters feel like they were yesterday – this is the ultra quarter.

At some point you carry on a conversation with A Lo Hawk.  Talking is much more rare now too.  One of your chats covers the topic of falling.  You’ve only taken a couple of spills your entire life – both on trails.  The conversation foreshadows a near fall.  You slam the big toe of your right foot into a trail rock so hard you nearly hit the ground.  You scream loud enough to cause A Lo Hawk to turn around.  You don’t know if you were injured, you keep running.  But it hurts.  Bad.  You imagine it as a bloody stub, but the pain gradually subsides and is replaced with the misery afflicted to the soles of your feet which have become tenderized flesh.

It once again occurs to you that you are wearing the right shoes.  The thing about trail running shoes is they have a glob of rubber on the front, not unlike a car bumper.  These shoes re-earned their way back onto honorable mention in your blog.  That bumper clearly saved your big toe from destruction.  Thank you, La Sportiva.  Once you sufficiently recover from the pain and fear of toe loss, you find it ironic, almost irritating, that like the two falls you’d related to A Lo Hawk, this occurred in the last mile of your run.  But that’s probably not coincidence.  No doubt, the end of any run is when you are weakest and most likely to stumble.  Good reason to slow for a cool down.  And A Lo Hawk certainly is shuffling along the trail much slower these last miles.  The final downhill leg resembles the IPR’s 7 mile drop into Telluride.  As was the case then, A Lo Hawk’s and your quads are too weak to push it in.

Upon seeing the trail head, marked by an iron and wood foot bridge crossing the South Platte River, you are ready to simply walk it in.  And A Lo Hawk feigningly slows to meet your expectations.  But then you hear him mumble something and with renewed vigor he kicks in the final stretch.  This is fairly impressive considering the steepness of the trail here, but you feel more like penalizing him for the pitcher’s balk.  Your mind was set for walking, and you almost did.  Instead, you finish the trail running, as you had done for 16 miles; but without any pretense of strength by kicking.  You finish up slow as if running a cool down.  Much like you did during the last half mile of your most recent half marathon.

CT Cronica: Enchanted Forest

06 Wednesday Apr 2011

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The 4th quarter is at least the start of the second half of the course distance-wise.  You’ve certainly gone over 10 miles by now.  A Lo Hawk begins slowly although a bit faster than you would have.  But you loosen up and begin to enjoy the look and feel of the trail.  You appreciate having discarded your second top shirt.  It’s almost odd how the air retains some iciness – you feel it in the ring of sweat around your head below your cap.  And yet you feel the warmth of the sun too.  Outstanding running conditions for both weather and scenery.

You enter into some heavier woods.  The sun continues to splash through the leaves as you enter but soon becomes hidden above the canopy.  You’ve warmed up and don’t need the sun but you experience a new level of fatigue.  Your running form is fine, but your mind is now wandering as much as it would if you were running alone.  You allow gaps between you and A Lo Hawk to develop larger than those in the 3rd quarter.  You even lose sight of him at times around bends.  The trees are thick enough to obscure A Lo Hawk at a distance, yet roomy enough to walk through.  The trail has changed.

You begin to imagine creatures.  Not squirrels or rabbits.  You’re brain is beginning to bake and you’re thinking about trolls and mystical leprechauns.  The setting really is magical and combined with your numb mind supports mild hallucinations.  If there were such things as  two foot tall creatures with size 12 hairy feet, this is where you’ll see them – miles deep in the forest of the Colorado Trail.  You scan the trees ahead, prepared for Hobbit-like characters or Charlie Sheen to appear from behind a tree and accost you for your tiger blood.  As you round a bend, you catch a glimpse of A Lo Hawk before he disappears again around the next curve in the trail.  Feeling alone, your thoughts are illusory.  You quicken your pace.

You’re running stronger now, or the hills have slowed A Lo Hawk, or perhaps he has even stopped to wait for you, and you are now running close behind him.  This has been a long quarter and you now expect this trail is headed to extra innings.  A Lo Hawk is still running the downhills strong, but your pace is close enough to his now that you leave behind the fantasies to begin thinking about finishing.  It occurs to you that you should eat some food.

You’re not interested in your sandwich at the next rest period.  Rob offers you something he calls a pancake.  You have yet to find any manufactured trail energy food that you find palatable, but you like this.  Yes, you’re super hungry but you suspect you like this anyway.  You make note of it as something you’ll provide a link to in your blog.  It’s earned honorable mention.  And so do your shoes.  Your La Sportiva trail shoes lead you up a glacier and have gripped this entire trail with confidence.  Likewise, A Lo Hawk is pleased with his Adidas trail shoes.  Smart gear and smart gear choices today.  You’ve got that going for you.

The rest spot was impressive – on a large boulder that you used your hands in order to climb up.  With a view that justified pictures and should have rationalized sitting for a good hour.  But knowing you’re nearing the end, you don’t hang out too long and you begin the last leg of this trail run.

Running in the Rain

12 Tuesday Oct 2010

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I ran in the rain today.  It’s worth writing about because I so rarely do that.  With over 300 days of sunshine a year in Colorado, there’s less opportunity than elsewhere.  And then there’s the wimpy, fair-weather runner attitude to which I am not immune.  But I’m running the Denver Marathon this weekend, so now is not a good time to slack off my training regimen.  And I had an unusual gap between morning conference calls that begged for an early run.  But I’ll tell you this, it’s always a cold rain in Colorado.  It takes a bit of self motivation.

I pulled on some Nike dri-fit shorts and added Under Armour ColdGear pants.  These are sort of a cross between loose tights and tight sweat pants.  It’s a good fit for running.  I added an Under Armour all weather, long sleeve jersey to my workout ensemble.  I then pulled on some Nike dri-fit socks which are specifically fitted for the left and right feet.  Around those, I wrapped my La Sportiva Gore-Tex trail running shoes.  This turned out to be a great call.  I sloshed through a huge puddle near the start of my run in the alley cutting over to Rainbow Ridge.  And the Creekside trail had countless water traps.  My shoes were completely drenched, yet my feet remained perfectly dry the entire 4.5 mile run.  Those shoes are brilliant.

Once I warmed up, the rain became quite pleasant and added to my enjoyment of the seasonal splendor.  The trail was covered in yellow and red leaves.  No wonder everyone visits New England to view the fall foliage, the window of opportunity is closing fast in Colorado.  I suspect had I not run in the morning, the trees would be stripped clean later in the day.

Now for those of you who think I must be a huge slacker to take off 30 minutes from work to exercise, I will tell you this.  I start work at 7am and typically work to 6pm.  I might go out for lunch once a week, but mostly eat at my desk.  Either you believe that exercise contributes to your overall productivity or you don’t.  I do.  There are two types of people in the world – healthy and unhealthy.  My goal is to belong to the former group.  Plus, my work time will stretch out even longer today since I have dinner plans with a business partner at the Boulder Chop House tonight1.  I’m trying to convince you that my time spent maintaining fitness is justified and that I feel no guilt.  But perhaps given all this rationale, I do feel guilty and am only trying to justify it to myself.  Whatever – I’d rather be fit than fat.  Well, as fat.  I figure I could still lose another 10 pounds.  And my stomach has a ways to go yet.  I won’t be running the Denver Marathon shirtless.

1 While I consider business dinners to be just more work, I grant exclusions to the single and lonely, those in dead-end marriages or with more than 2.x kids, and perhaps those who commute to their basement offices and need to get out once in awhile, especially those whose idea it was to dine at the Boulder Chop House.