the floggings will begin....

 Asides from flogging myself into fitness, I have begun to put a few really cool peices of gear through their paces as we move towards the run on June 11.  As we get closer to the run and the miles add up, look for updated reviews.  Here is an initial review/inspection of the first two items: Salomon Crossmax XR and Osprey's Raptor 6


  The first, and arguably most critical piece of gear, is going to be a pair of Salomon Crossmax XRs.  These puppies appeared in Runner's World as the "Best Debut".  My initial thought upon picking them up was "Wow! These are light compared to my trusty XA Pros".  Some details I have noticed so far...

Crossmax XR...in Chicago Bulls Red

1) The garage for the lacing system is bit smaller.  No biggie, but might be a problem if you have bulky gloves on.
2) The fit is a bit different than XAs or XTs.  A bit smaller, but wider.  Definitely try them on...
3) The unique "OS Tendon" runs the length of the shoe, and is there to help provide an even "ride" and some "spring" at the toe off point. Near the heal, there is a small cut out to highlight this piece of technology.  Curious to see how this "hole" holds up to the rocky trails around SWVA.

The cut-out to highlight the OS Tendon (red)

Bottom , OS Tendon is the red part.

4) The Senso-Fit material in the toe box has created a very nice break/flex for the uppers.  Seamless and very breathable...and it just looks cool.

Toe box uppers...very breathable

  After a few miles, I'll post an update....



Also being put through the ringer is a Raptor 6 from Osprey.  Osprey jumped on to the hydration pack scene, and has brought some really innovative ideas to the table.  The Raptor 6 is billed as a run/ride hydration system, though it appears initially more "ride" than "run" in orientation...time will tell.  The pack fits a 70oz bladder (included), jacket /fleece, sunglasses/ipod, and a bike pump and repair kit or enough food for a day out on the trails.  The two gems of this pack are:

1) It has a real suspension and it works.  Load stabilizers combined with a frame sheet help carry the load and protect the back from odd shaped things....like tire levers, bike pumps or what have you.  Just keep in mind that it is meant for loads sub 9-10lbs...

Raptor 6

Frame sheet/load stabilizers

Cargo areas

2) The bladder is the awesome.  How could a bladder be awesome?  Imagine not having to wrestle it back into an already full pack.  This is accomplished with a plastic sheet that stiffens the bladder, making it slide in and out of the pack with easy, whether the pack is full or not.  Genius...wish I thought of that.  Gonna be a saving grace when tired, and trying to refill after many miles...one less thing to cause frustration.

Again more to come as the miles add up...

AW

My start

 I have never ran an ultra.  I have covered 25-30 miles days back packing or climbing, but never tried to do it within the realm of daylight hours.  The idea has been festering in my mind for several years, failed to come to fruition once (due to over use injuries), and began to itch again recently.  After assessing the over use/poor training methodologies, I came up with the following:

1) The standard build up for a marathon ultra doesn't work for me...to much time needed, let alone much wear and tear.  So I am trying Crossfit Endurance.  Still hard, but CFE allows for lower milage, higher intensity (still some long distance), and hopefully fewer injuries.  More to come on my experiences here as time goes along.

2) I needed some like minded souls who like a challenge.

After a few days of emails, TXTs, and chatting a group was pulled together to have an informal running of the Catawba Run Around course...right in our back yard.  50K of varying terrain that encompasses 3 of the areas iconic views: Dragon's Tooth, McAfee's Knob and Tinker Cliffs.

This video keeps me psyched and is a reminder that we all got the ability to do this...just go find it.

W

Getting Tougher and Tougher...

So Monday was a rest day for me which was nice to have. Tuesday came screaming into the picture really quickly and I wasn't ready for training to start this week. I also woke up that morning to rain just pinging of the metal roof of my house and that sound always makes me want to stay in bed longer and sleep. This made me not want to do any training that day.

So I was sitting on the couch being a tub of lard, when I got a phone call from a number I didn't know. It happened to be Therron, one of Adam's friends from Roanoke. He has also made the brave decision to do the TRIPLE CROWN BEAT DOWN with us. Anyways, he wanted to get outside and do something instead of sitting in his hotel room and "watch more re-runs of CSI." He really wanted to go and hike the Cascades since he hadn't done it in quite some time.

I obliged and drove him and myself out to the Cascades trail in Pembroke. He was really lucky that I am the jacket king and had an extra rain jacket to spare or he would have had a miserable hike. It poured the entire time we were hiking; oh except for when we got back to the Jeep of course. We hiked the lower trail to the falls and Little Stony Creek was running the highest I had seen. Finally got to the 66 foot waterfall and that was the most water I have seen coming over the falls. After hanging out there for a few minutes, we then hiked up to Upper Falls since neither one of us had seen them before. I highly recommend hiking the extra distance to see those, it is well worth it! On the way back to the Jeep we took the upper trail which was basically another creek wandering its way down to Little Stony Creek.

Cascades - 66 Foot Waterfall

Even though that picture is from a gorgeous day, you get an idea of how big they are.

Wednesday rolled around and I didn't workout in the morning since I had to be at work at 9:30. That night I made some grilled chicken tacos and then realized that "Skynet" told me that it was an exercise day. This was at 9:30 right after I finished the delicious tacos. I was so bummed but I ended up getting on my trainer for about a half hour. That was enough training for the night!

Today was a B-E-A-utiful day and I was lucky enough to have it off from work. 70 degree weather and a slight wind maybe for a perfect bike ride on the Huckleberry Trail! The ride ended up being just at 13 miles in about an hour. My stamina seems to fade very quickly once I pass the 70% mark. Gonna have to make that percentage much higher.

Old Railroad Bridge on the Huckleberry Trail

Hopefully training will stop becoming tougher and tougher to do and instead become easier and easier to do!

Check back for more in the next few days.


[WL]