• Home
  • About

A Runner's Story

A Runner's Story

Tag Archives: Salomon Speedcross 3

The Route

19 Sunday Jul 2015

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Colorado Trail

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Breckenridge, CDT, Colorado wildflowers, continental divide, Frisco, Horseshoe Basin, Keystone, massivemileage, Salomon Speedcross 3, The Continental Divide Trail, trail shoes

narrow topThe Continental Divide Trail isn’t as well marked with signs as the Colorado Trail, and much of what I hiked this weekend with Rob wasn’t marked by trail at all.  The CDT along the mountaintops above Breckenridge, Frisco, Dillon and Keystone is essentially a route.  So few hikers travel this twenty mile section of alpine tundra that there is no trail.  The entire width of the mountaintops define the path.  Where I’m standing in this photo, the route is about as wide as the length of a football field.  Clearly, it narrows across that hill behind me.  This photo captures the pathless trail and general conditions above 13,000 feet as Rob and I hiked from Argentine Pass to Georgia Pass Saturday.

snow fieldWe didn’t have much snow to worry about.  This photo shows one of the larger snow fields we encountered, but we were able to hike alongside its edge.  Good thing as I wore my running trail shoes for this effort rather than hiking boots.  I wanted to test out my trail shoes, even though I knew they would fatigue my feet much more than boots.  The Salomon Speedcross trail runners are awesome.  I don’t think they have a rock plate, but their sole is strong enough to step across sharp rocks and their tread never slipped once for me.  I did notice some hot spots, but this was after 8 hours of hiking.  We completed the twenty-plus mile jaunt in 10.5 hours.

wide topEverything was so green, even above treeline where the ground oftentimes turns to moonscape rock.  The Cushion plant moss was easily 3 inches tall in places.  The Alpine Sunflowers and Forget-me-nots were thick, and the Marmots were quite fat as well – presumably from eating the lush grasses and flowers.  This photo captures Rob in a mountaintop field of Alpine Buttercups.

top viewI can’t say enough just how stunning the views were on this hike.  We spent at least eight hours hiking above treeline.  I applied the 20 miles to my weekly running goal, giving me 70 for the week and a total of 260 miles toward my marathon training plan.  We hiked an additional six miles this morning which I’ll apply to this coming week’s 80 mile goal.  74 more miles to go over the next six days.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • More
  • Tumblr
  • Email
  • Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

IPR 2012

13 Thursday Sep 2012

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Running

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Consommé, Imogene Pass Run, North Face Torpedo Shell, Salomon Speedcross 3

This picture captures the first steps of our 7 mile tumble into Telluride.  The weather was as gorgeous as it appears.  Given this event’s history of life-threatening weather – this beautiful September day almost made me feel like I was cheating.  But to be fair, I had to carry gloves, a hat and a jacket per race guidelines that I didn’t need.  I did start out wearing the gloves and shell.  I switched my fleece skull cap for my running cap at the starting line, but after I’d already loaded my gear bag on the bus so I had to carry both hats.  Hilarious how bundled up we are in the picture below standing next to the hotel lobby fireplace at 5am before catching the bus to Ouray.

I’m glad I decided against wearing my running vest.  Not that it’s heavy but I just didn’t need it.  My jacket had sufficient pockets to store the additional clothing.  I bought a North Face Torpedo running shell for $85, specifically for this run.  It’s fairly wind and water repellant and weighs only a few ounces.  Although I tied it around my waist after a few miles, I was still able to easily access the pockets.  And I never once had to retie it, my initial fastening held.  North Face has some newer model shells for twice the price, but I highly recommend this one.

I also purchased some new trail racing flats for this event.  Karen will tell you our house is literally littered with running shoes, but all my trail shoes are too short for my toes.  I planned to run in my road shoes but was concerned about proper traction for the descent and then discovered a pair of Salomon Speedcross3 trail racers on sale for $59.  These shoes are so cool.  They have a waterproof model for $135 that I wanted, partly because I liked the color more, but I went with the bargain price.  The shoe has an integrated tongue so ankle gaiters aren’t necessary to keep out rocks.  And the speed laces don’t require tying as they have a cinch that stores out of the way under a flap.  And weighing less than 1.5 pounds, they are very light.  They performed great although I did get a minor blister on the heel of my cursed left foot, but I blame my too-small socks for that.

So great weather and cool gear.  I also enjoyed staying in Telluride this time around.  Ouray is a cool town but Telluride has a lot to offer.  I left home at 5am and reached Telluride by noon.  Sort of expected an 8 hour drive but only needed 7.  This allowed me to pick up my race packet before the deadline so I didn’t need to drive into Ouray.  I certainly had time to visit Ouray.  I would have had drinks with Janet and Kris but instead walked around Telluride.  I lunched at Baked, a bakery that seems to serve everything.  It’s a quick-serve arrangement with shared picnic tables. I had a bowl of chili for lunch and returned for pasta that evening knowing it would not be too rich.  Didn’t need rich food before a 17 mile run.  And eating by myself, I didn’t need fancy atmosphere.  Baked was great.  We grabbed coffee and doughnuts there in the morning before loading the bus for Ouray at 5:15am.

The bus ride was under an hour leaving us about an hour before the start of the race.  We dropped off our gear bags and hung out a bit in a coffee shop.  Remembering the cold at the start of the 2010 run made this weather seem so surprising.  My Weather Channel app said to expect 45° but it felt more like 50°.  And there was zero wind.  Very pleasant.  And I wasn’t nearly as nervous as I was two years prior.  I knew I could do this even if I wasn’t in quite the same level of fitness as then.  Our plan was to take our time at the aid stations eating and replenishing liquids, and to make it to the top of the pass in about 3 hours.  We were now experienced at this run and were confident of our plan.  The gun fired for the race to start and we were committed to our 2nd IPR – four hours of running pleasure on one of Colorado’s most bad-ass trails – beginning at 7810 feet.

The first payoff from experience was our choice of skipping the alternate trails in the first mile.  They look appealing but you find out after you’ve committed to them that a roadblock forms as runners try squeezing back onto the main path.  Seriously, this probably is worth a full minute or two.  And it avoids frustration.  I felt great with our pace on this ten mile climb.  The amount of water on the trail – jeep road really for the first 7 miles – was different.  But to be expected I guess as Ouray received some rain earlier in the week.  You can see it in this pic – felt like running up a creek at times but my feet never got wet.

We began walking within 4 miles but whenever the grade allowed, we would run again.  Actually, we followed the crowd.  Whenever we saw the runners immediately in front of us begin to run or begin to walk, we fell into their pace.  Rob and I seemed to alternate taking off on each other which was interesting.  If he was in front of me, I would have to continue running uphill when the crowd began walking in order to catch him.  I assume he had to do the same to catch me.  I lost Rob once when I was certain he was behind me but then I nearly ran into him ahead of me.  I think this was near Lower Camp Bird which marked the end of the easy 7% gradient around 5 miles and the transition to the steeper 14% slope for the second half of the climb.  I stuffed my mouth full of M&Ms, oranges and bananas – easily eating more at this LCB aid station than I do in an entire half marathon.  I did the same at the Upper Camp Bird aid station a little over 7 miles up.  Here, the gradient increases to 15% and eventually leaves the jeep road for single track – at which point the gradient becomes 16.5%.  Rob and I were finished passing each other with energetic bursts.  The rest of the way – now above tree line –  would be pure walking.

I carried my iPhone in my hand most of the way in order to film and take photos.  This was easy enough, except for when I was stuffing my face with munchies at the aid stations.  I’ve already posted some 5 minutes of video to my YouTube channel to give you the feel of being there with us.  Rob and I crested the 13,100 foot pass in 2:55 (328 and 329 out of over 1500 runners) just under our target plan of 3 hours.  That’s nailing it in my book.  We made the pass in 2:35 two years earlier but our strategy this time was to run slower in order to conserve strength for the descent.  We enjoyed the view along with some chicken consommé that tasted incredible after having just burned God-only-knows how many thousands of calories.

The weather up top was impossibly perfect.  As cold as it was at the start of our first IPR, it got hot on the descent.  But this time enough clouds kept the sun off our backs.  I suspect there might have been some danger of rain and lightening for the runners an hour or more behind us.  We began a controlled pace down toward Telluride.  I had planned to run faster, and had the initial strength, but changed my mind after realizing how much I enjoyed the uphill run under a strong but not crazy pace.  It feels good to run strong and not be exhausted.  Knowing this was going to be a 4 hour affair, I wanted to enjoy it.  And so that’s how we tumbled into Telluride – not too fast, not too slow.  As the slope evened out a bit the final 3 miles, we began to increase our pace.  The final two miles were even quicker and we easily ran the last mile under 7 minutes.  We crossed the finish line looking good after four and a half hours.  3 hours up, 1.5 hours down.

Afterward, we soaked in the Hotel Telluride hot tub to work out the lactic acid.  Nice hotel by the way.  Staff were awesome.  We then lunched at the Floradora Saloon where everything tasted wonderful to my starved body.  Especially the bacon-wrapped Jalapeño Poppers and Ska True Blonde Ale.  I finished the afternoon with a spa massage back at the Hotel Telluride – brilliant call – and dined later that night at 221 South Oak.  Very nice.  This completes the first leg of my end of year trifecta.  Next up – the Denver Marathon Sept 22nd followed by the Boulder Marathon Oct 21st.

40.137598 -105.107652

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • More
  • Tumblr
  • Email
  • Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

Search this blog

Categories

Buy Full Spectrum Cyberwar at Amazon

Buy Cyber War I at Amazon

Buy on Amazon India for ₹99

Buy on Amazon U.K. for £2.27

English Edition on Amazon Germany

Buy on Amazon Brazil for R$11.29

Archives

Blog Stats

  • 118,183 hits

Girlfriend Cult

Recent Comments

georgeschools on The Crew Chief
A lo Hawk on The Crew Chief
Ed Mahoney on Gojira
A lo Hawk on Gojira
Ed Mahoney on Genealogy

Recent Posts

  • The Crew Chief April 10, 2021
  • Gojira April 3, 2021
  • Running Nostalgic on a LoBo 8 Miler March 27, 2021
  • Deer Mountain March 20, 2021
  • Sun Lizard, Dying Turtle March 11, 2021
  • Back on the Trail March 7, 2021
  • Deep from the Heart of Texas February 19, 2021
  • The Passing of Connye Fay January 18, 2021
  • Cozy Bear vs Fancy Bear December 20, 2020
  • the day TCP died December 5, 2020
  • The Covid Twenty November 28, 2020
  • Shanahan Ridge October 30, 2020
  • American Soap October 3, 2020
  • On Reading – the Woman’s Edition September 19, 2020
  • 112° August 29, 2020
  • Go Bag August 23, 2020
  • Ouray August 2, 2020
  • The Graduate July 26, 2020
  • Second Edition July 3, 2020
  • Saharan Dust June 28, 2020
  • My Day June 21, 2020
  • We are the Media June 11, 2020
  • The Hot Runner June 7, 2020
  • Lily Mountain Trail May 23, 2020
  • Runner’s Pandemic Etiquette May 17, 2020
  • Keurig Runner May 10, 2020
  • Guitar Hero April 18, 2020
  • Snow & Rain April 2, 2020
  • The Morning After March 14, 2020
  • Running Through Sadness February 22, 2020
  • The ATX Half February 16, 2020
  • Digital Tracking January 24, 2020
  • Winter Secret January 5, 2020
  • I Used to Run December 27, 2019
  • Zilker Park December 24, 2019
  • The Gift of Glove December 21, 2019
  • The Trail Conspiracy December 7, 2019
  • Writing Naked November 23, 2019
  • In a Fall’s Winter November 2, 2019
  • Running Errands October 19, 2019
  • An October Run October 13, 2019
  • Argentine Trail October 6, 2019
  • Fall Weekends September 28, 2019
  • Mount of the Holy Cross September 22, 2019
  • The Wedding Performers September 8, 2019
  • The Wedding Hike September 1, 2019
  • Brittany Noel Got Married August 30, 2019
  • Cybersecurity is Complex August 19, 2019
  • Part III: Water, Rock, Man August 13, 2019
  • Aspen August 11, 2019

Colorado=Security

Blogroll

  • Alohawk's Blog
  • Barbie's Blog
  • Boggy Creek Lumpster
  • George Schools Blog
  • I, Cringely
  • Prostate Chronicles
  • Shut Up + Run
  • Sustainable Sunrise
  • The Rogue Botanist

Web Sites

  • Amazon Author Page
  • Austin Marathon
  • Bolder Boulder
  • Brit's YouTube Songs
  • Colorado Marathon
  • Colorado Runner Magazine
  • Colorado Trail
  • Girlfriend Cult
  • Lobo Media Ltd
  • My YouTube Site
  • Race Pace Calculator
  • Shoes & Brews
  • Trail Runner Magazine
  • Zaremba Graphic & Web Solutions

Goodreads

Top Posts & Pages

  • Foot Fetish
  • The Crew Chief
  • Performance Enhancers
  • Telephone Pole Intervals
  • Camping

Top Clicks

  • leanhorse100.com
  • edmahoney.files.wordpress…
  • edmahoney.files.wordpress…
  • edmahoney.files.wordpress…
  • edmahoney.files.wordpress…

RSS Feed

  • RSS - Posts
  • RSS - Comments

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×
    loading Cancel
    Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
    Email check failed, please try again
    Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
    %d bloggers like this: