10 Things I am Thankful for this year, in my Running Life

Its that time of year again, the holiday season is upon us.  Thanksgiving is just 2 days away and so I thought it was the perfect time to reflect on all the things I am thankful for.  Since this is a running blog I am going to keep it as running related as possible.

1.  I am so VERY thankful and grateful for an injury free 2014 (my health.)  I mean there are always the little niggles here and there; day after an ultra, fell down a hill…but I am oh so thankful for no real injuries in 2014!  There is nothing worse than a cranky, unable to run Wisp (yes, I just referred to my trail-self in the third person.)

2.  Altra and Orange Mud.  I am thankful for them both being super companies, putting out great running gear and allowing me to be part of their team as an ambassador! (or as we say at Orange Mud; Am-badass-ador)

3.  Number 2 leads me to this next thing I am thankful for= TRAIL FRIENDS!  As a person who loves to go out for a 3 hour run on the trials just for fun, (no race training required) I get lots of funny looks and questions.  Its so nice to meet other like-minded people and be part of a community that shares my love for the trails!  Thank goodness for the TrailHeads and all the friendships I have made over the last few years.  Thanks to you all for the many miles on the trails, for pacing me, and being up for some cool adventures!

 

4.  My dog, Emmitt.  Ok, this may be a bit silly, but he is one GREAT running buddy! Early mornings, mid days, late nights…he’s there.  All I have to do is put on my running shoes and its like Christmas morning to him!  He’s there immediately dancing at the door.

Enjoying Shut in Trail near Asheville

Chewing on a bone, snoozing on the couch…forget that, drop everything…lets go run!  He never says no to a run!

5.  Post run pig outs.  I think this is self explanatory.

6.  The runner high, or maybe not high..but that satisfied, tired out feeling you get after a really great long run.

7.  ULTRAS!  I mean after all that is the reward at the end of the training.  I would certainly still run a lot, but having a race to train for is like the icing on the cake.   Thanks to all you RD’s out there that work so hard, and put in so many hours so we can have a fun and safe time out there on the trails.

8.  Race volunteers.  This goes almost with out saying.  No wonderful race volunteers, no ultras!  Thank you volunteers for feeding me, filling my water bottles, and for your infectious enthusiasm!

9.  Mud, rocks, roots, mountains, vistas, rain, sun, trail love, that salt crust that is everywhere after a hard effort in the summer and everything else that makes trail running so much fun!

10.  Finally last but not least, my husband.  Though he doesn’t quite share my love of trail running, he is always there for me.  I am thankful for our Sunday family runs together, his pacing and crewing at Grindstone, hanging out with me while I soak after long runs, foot rubs, feeding me when I am so tired and so hungry post race, and just being his wonderful self!  Thanks AMK!

What are you all thankful for this year!?

 

 

 

 

 

Altra The One2 Review

Taking the One2 on some non-technical trail.

In 2012 I mostly hung up my road shoes in favor of trail running.  I always had one, maybe two road days just to keep up leg turnover.  I was hooked on the trails and ran both trails and roads in my trail shoes.  I would get a new pair of trail shoes, and my old shoes would become road shoes.  Not the best thing, but it worked for awhile, especially since I was just having the hardest time finding road shoes I actually liked.  I think in 2013 the closest I came to liking road shoes was the Nike Free, but as far as I was concerned, they still weren’t as good as running in my old Lone Peak 1.5s.

Altra The One

Just this summer, actually, I found a line of Altra’s shoes I really liked for the roads.  So much so that I now have dedicated trail and road shoes.  That shoe was the One.   They came with me to the gym, and I actually got back on the roads, and back to stadium repeats happily with this shoe.

Now this review is about the One2, not the One.   As many of us finicky runners feel about shoe updates, when they updated the One to the One2 I was a bit worried.  (I know you know what I mean, I’m sure we have all LOVED a shoe, only to have the updated pair not work with our feet at all!)  Would I like it, it was a completely different shoe.  So much so, that its almost not worth comparing them, it would be like apples and oranges, very comfortable apples and oranges though.

Taking the Ones out to the UNC stadium

Fancy that, they match!

So lets talk specifics;

They have the same male/female specifics that all Altra shoes have.  They are also zero drop, and have the same wonderfully roomy toe box for toe spread that all of the other Altra shoes boast.

Weight: 5.4 oz

They feel quite light on my feet, but still have enough cushion that when I use short rocky trail cut-throughs to get around town my feet don’t feel the rocks and roots underfoot.

Materials; Altra uses Abound which is made from recycled materials and reduces the impact of pavement (or rocks) underfoot.

So far I have taken them in total around 100 miles in the last few weeks since I got them and my feet are VERY happy.

Feeling good in my new shoes.

I would recommend them mostly for road, stadium, track , crushed gravel, and the gym.  However, like I said I have worn them on semi-techinical trial and on grassy fields and they have done well.  I wouldn’t pick them for say, Hardrock, or very steep slick rock running, but every other “everyday” running surface they are the “One” I use.  I am happy to report, the One2 update was well worth the update and my feet are very happy in them!