Wanna be a Downhill Demon?!

 When running I tend to be a heel striker.  And I guess when I used to run down the hill you could totally tell.  It's loud when you strike down on your heel first.  Thunk! Thunk!  Thunk!  All the way down the hill!!  A few weeks before I ran Sun Mountain in Winthrop, Wa I participated in a downhill running clinic put on by my running coach.

I was sure glad for the instruction because When I ran in Winthrop, I was amazed at how many people ran down the hill so slowly.  I'm not a speedy runner, but I passed so many people running down the hill, just because I had a good technique.  The downhill instruction gave me confidence, and allowed me to descent at a faster pace.  Here is what I learned:

• Lean forward from the hips an ankles, remembering to keep your chest open so that you can breath.  It's a bit counterintuitive, at least for me to do this, but it sure helps with speed and stability.  If you trip, it's a lot easier to keep going and correct, then if you lean back.  If you are leaning back you typically fall on you butt.

• Your foot should strike the ground on the mid foot, underneath your hips.  If your foot hits the ground too far in front then you are stressing your calfs and other muscles.  Also, don't let your foot be in contact with the ground for too long.  Focus on short quick rotation. 

• Use your core to stabilize yourself,and your arms for balance and regulating your speed.  Lifting your arms out to the side will provide stability and reduce your speed.

• Make sure you are looking down the hill in front of you and not at your feet.  I find this one difficult.  You need to know what is coming up.  Surprisingly, your feet will know what to do based on what you've already seen and processed a few seconds ago.  Shortly after I took this clinic, I was running down and a trail and suddenly 'remembered' to look up.  Not 30 or 40 seconds later I saw a snake on the trail!  I was able to safely navigate around it.  Had I been looking at the ground I probably would have stepped on it!  So very important to look ahead!!

Running down the hill fast gives me such a rush!  It's so much fun.  However it can really fatigue your muscles so in a race I have to be careful not to push it too much or I might not have anything left in my legs later on.

Here's a photo of what not to do (before downhill instruction) As you can see I'm loaning back into the hill, and sticking with my heel first.  - I don't have a photo of what to do  :(

Happiness is new trails

Today we ran McDougall Rim Trial.  This was a first time for me on this trail.  I love running in new areas and discovering new trails.  It was pretty with all the wild flowers out, and the forested trails.  We were a slow group today, but we were out there for 4 hours and 12 minutes.  Good company and lots of conversation made the hours fly by.  We did 940 meters in elevation - it felt like nothing!  The first two hours were up and up and up on the backside of the mountain.  Across the top had some fantastic view spots, and the long descent, was as always so much fun!!  The top of the Rim trail is above the Rose Valley run, that I wrote about here.

Check out this view off the back side of the mountain:

Here's some shots of our group:

A great time was had by all!!  I love where I live!!

Hell Hill!!

There is this hill that we do hill repeats on.  We call it Hell Hill!!  It's one hell of a big hill.  It happens to be right across the street from my house as well - so it's definitely something I do on a regular basis.  Here is a very short part of the hill:

Tonight I did 4 repeats.  The most I had ever done before was 3 and the 4th one was tough.  We're doing it 2 more times this clinic so I'll be doing 5 the next time and then 6 after that.  Yes, this is training for my race in Squamish, BC, Canada.  Here is the link if you'd like to check it out:  Squamish Link  I'm doing the 50km, but there is a 50 mile option as well as a 23km option.

My house is really close to the trail.  there is a junction on the trail part way up that if you go right it takes you the road, and then cross the road and voila - I'm at home.  I liken it to doing a run that you have to run by your car every hour.  The first run by is easy - no worries - things are good.  The second run by feels like a 2 hour run, still feeling pretty good, hardly notice the 'car'.  By the third pass I'm thinking. . . hmmm might be nice to head to the right . . .  By the fourth pass, it feels like a four hour run and I'm almost begging myself to turn right!!

I got home from the run, cracked open a beer and sat on the patio with the garden hose running cold water over my legs - Yeah baby - that felt good!!

Here's the view from the top of Hell Hill.  I got to experience this 4 times!!  Well actually I could have experienced it 4 times . . .but I forgot to look . . . :(  It's Hell Hill - what can I say!!

The Beauty in Running :)

Rose Valley Reservoir, near Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada

This had of been the most amazing run I have been on this year.  28 trail runners all ran together for about 21km early one Sunday morning in April.  The views were stunning.  It's times like these that I truly feel blessed.  Most days I am just happy to be out in nature, soaking up what life has to offer.  Thankful that I live in a safe environment, and have the ability to run and experience all of it.  Sometimes when I am running and I'm not having the greatest run, I think of these runs, and just start to look for the beauty that surrounds me at any given time.  No matter where you are, there is always something that stands out, that makes you take notice, to soak it all up. 

Sunday mornings are a great part of my week.  I get to get up early and enjoy my morning coffee.  Often my husband gets up with me and he will make me a poached egg on a bed of spinach.  I love that!  I love being pampered  ;).  Then off I go to run with a wonderful group of people.  I always have so much fun.  I run five times a week and two of those days I run with my running group.  Sundays are our long run days and Wednesday we do either hill or speed work.  Here is part of the gang from our Rose Valley run.   

The entire 25km track has an elevation gain of just over 1100 metres.  There is one monster hill that really wipes you out, but the view from the top:

Makes it more than worthwhile.  And of course on the other side is the long downhill snaking down with lots of switcbacks, making you feel like you are piece of bubble gum rolling down that circular bubblegum track!!

A few weeks later I ran my first 25km race here in the end of April.  Check out the race details here.  Maybe in 2015 this could be a race for you!!

Shoes That Fit?!

The shoes you run in are probably the most important piece of equipment that you will have.  They need to be right for the terrain that you are running, and they need to fit.  But 'fit' doesn't always mean what you think it should.  Now I'm no expert here, but I've had my fair share of experience in the last 8 months of trail running.

I started running in Asics Scout running shoes.  These shoes fit me.  They were my regular shoe size of 8.5.  I was building up to 15 km in my first 3 months of running.   I chose them for a few reasons:  They were familiar in feel, like my road running shoes, they had a fairly aggressive tread and so they gave me confidence, and of course-they were pretty!!  I ran in these runners all winter and in the snow.  My feet got wet, but my merino wool socks insulated so well they were never cold.  They were comfortable, but they didn't hold up well.  The mesh outer started to rip early on, it may be mostly cosmetic but for $130 there are many other shoe choices available.

In March, after about 5 months of running in the Asics, I went to get a new pair of runners.  I was now building to 25km distance. Many people in my group run in Salomon Speed Cross, so I thought I would try those.  I went into the store and the sales person told me that the shoes fit large so I would probably want about a half size smaller.  So I tried on the Size 8, and in the store they were comfortable.  They were good for my first speed training session and then I ran in them for my first long run, and they were good until I started down the hill.  We were running 8km laps and by the 3rd one I was almost crawling down the decline.  My toes were killing me!!  When I got home I looked at my feet - 6 of my toes (three on each feet) were black!

I mentioned this to some of the runners in my group and they informed me that I should buy runners 1/2 to 1 size bigger than what I would normally use. I was pretty choked that I spent $150 for nothing (I mean I may as well have just thrown my money out the window!), that I pulled out my LaSportiva Wildcats that I had purchased the year before for hiking.  I refused to buy another pair of shoes - (Grrrr - sometime I can be soooo cheap - and so stubborn).  These shoes worked well.  They were light, had good grip on the downhill, and I really like the hard plastic reinforcment to help protect your toes from tripping over rocks and stumps (which I seem to do a lot of).  For my first 25km trail race that I ran here locally, I put on the old Asics, and by the end of the 25km my toes were quite sore again.  This 25km track has 1100 meters of elevation.

From top left:  Salomon Speed Cross, LaSportiva Wildcats, Treksta Sync and Asics Scouts

My solution to this was still not to buy any runners but to run only in the old LaSportiva since they were less worn out than the Asics.  Well my 50km trail run came up (having only ever run a max of 28km) and I ran it in my Wildcats.  They were good, except they were to small because they 'fit' me, and my toes are now totally wrecked!!  Only the big toe and the baby toe on my left foot have been spared.

OUCH!!

After that I knew I had to get new runners.  I bought two pairs.  First I bought the size 9 Treksta's.  They were so comfortable in the store, and I took them home and wore them in the house for 3 hours.     I was in heaven!!  So comfy and light. . .Then I went running in them.  The tread is not very aggressive, and the first downhill I went down, there was some loose gravel and I slipped - for quite a ways before I finally fell!!  On my whole run I had difficulty on the downhill.  I so don't like those shoes  :(

For my second pair I bought the Salomon Speed Cross again.  I love the aggressive grip on the shoe.  They give me confidence on the downhill.  It's funny that both stores I was in tried to talk me out of the speed cross.  The first guy was successful, the second guy was not.

So what do I have to show for all my lost $$ - Well I should have trusted my instincts with the Treksta.  I honestly felt that the grip was too low profile, but I listened to the sales guy that said it was fine.  Both sales guys were trying to sell me a smaller shoe.  They said 'you need a size 8.5'.  I showed them my toes and said NO I need a size 9 or size 9.5.  Both sales guys were trying to steer me to a different shoe - I'm not really clear about why that was - perhaps they had some runners that they were having trouble selling. . .Bottom line is do your own research, ask people how they like their shoes, what are the pro's and con's etc and when you go into a store keep in mind what YOU want.  Finally I can't stress enough that if you run downhill buy your shoes about 1/2 size bigger than you think!!  That is what fits!!

What shoes would you recommend?