Clif Bar

This is a post just to say how much I love all Clif Bar products. Any of them from Clif Shot's to bars they make the best food for on the run. They have never hurt my stomach which for on a run it is hard to find food that sits well. So thats about it I just love Clif Bar products.

Salomon S-Lab Sense

       I am reviewing the  Salomon S-Lab Sense. Let me start off by saying that these shoes are incredible. The Upper. The upper is a great mesh material it has no seems to rub your foot which is super nice on long runs. The lacing system is great it really helps the shoes because you can just pull it and it adjusts to your foot. The only problem with the lacing is that it is hard to get it to a perfect fit. The Inside. the inside is amazing right from the moment you put it on. It has like a neoprene sleeve that fits the middle of your foot like a glove but lets your toes spread out. I love how they did that with socks or not its an amazing feel. Like I said the shoe has amazing comfort. The Out sole. The out sole has a 4mm heel to toe drop so it has a nice minimal feel. the lugs on the shoe have amazing traction they stick to any surface. The toe box has a very light very flexible rock plate that I love. Like I said this is a minimal shoe that lets you feel the ground but not like your barefoot. The Shoe Overall. I give this shoe a 4.99 rating. On a rough trail it feels like a tough trail shoe but on road it feels like a racing flat. The reason I don't give it a five is because it costs a lot 200$. I got mine off eastbay for 120$ that for these shoes is an amazing price. The shoe is light and fast but has protection so just what I love. So thank you Salomon for an amazing shoe.

TMR Hill Climb

     The Telluride Mountain Run is probably my favorite race. It was not a big race but that might have made it even better. The race directors Reese Ruland and Dakota Jones did an amazing job they went above and beyond my expectations. The cool thing about the race being in Telluride is that its only an hour and a half from my house. The race was 5 miles up the ski area to the top then 5 back down with 4k feet of vertical. It was supposed to be 8 miles, 4 up 4 down but right at the start they changed it. The race starts out steep so I ended up in third place because most people were power hiking. My goal for the race was to keep up with Ellie Greenwood from team Montrail. At first I was in third like I said until mile 4.6. At 4.6 I got passed by 3 people and at 4.75 I got passed by Ellie who I had been ahead of the whole uphill. Then I got to the top at 5 miles in 7th place. I stayed in 7th the rest of the race even through I had to stop a few times to see where to go. This race really helped me learn more about my bodies capabilities because I was able to run pretty much the whole uphill. And I was in third place and ahead of a professional runner on the uphill. Also in the race I got to use my new Salomon S-lab Sense. The shoes worked great for me the entire race so I was really happy with them. In the end I ended up finishing in 7th place and youngest finisher I was at least 12 years younger then everyone else. After the race was also a great experience I got a cheeseburger a TMR pint glass full of coke (everyone else got a pint glass of beer). And once again great job directing by Reese and Dakota. I will be doing this race again next year.

 
From left. Dakota Jones, Simon Kearns (me), Reese Ruland.
This is me with the Race Directors



Finishing



Starting

Telluride Mountain Run Essay

                 RUNNING

      Running. In some ways it’s letting go and being free. It’s very energizing to finish a great run.

I personally have had many great experiences during runs road and trail. I have seen tons of wildlife and great views many places I have run. The most memorable and most EPIC was when I saw a baby mountain lion. When I saw it I was just on this road loop outside Mancos, CO. It was amazing, the only problem was I didn’t know where the mom was. Later that day I saw a lot of deer at the same spot.

          I have had great and not so great experiences in racing. One of my best experiences was when I won my first race. It was the first race of the middle school cross country season in Monticello my first race ever.  I started out going really fast and close to the end I started to die off. But I still finished with the win and had a great first experience. Some of my worst experiences were the two times I went off course. Both the times I did go off course were times where I probably lost the win. The first time I went off course was in a cross country race where I was winning by a lot then I went off course and lost about 30 seconds. In the end I ended up getting second by two seconds. The other one was in a 5k road. The race was in the winter and it was snowing a lot on the racers. This was just I local race for fun. I took the lead right from the beginning and ended up getting half a mile on second place when I went off. It was sad but still good lessons.

          My favorite race distance so far is the half marathon. The half marathon is a fun fast race. The first one I ran was a flat road race, I got a 1:34:45 that time is in the top 80% of my age group in the world!! I think it’s pretty EPIC. The race really got me into half marathons so I ran my next one almost two months later… The Leadville Trail Heavy Half. The race is 15.5 miles so not really a half marathon but it still counts. The idea of the race is run up a mountain then run back. This one had 3,500 feet of elevation gain in 7.75 miles. It was very very tough. My latest one was the Wild Iris Mountain Run. The race had EPIC views but I was feeling the opposite I was not recovered from Leadville. I still had a great time and my old teacher won!!

          Trail running and long distances race aren’t for everyone but I think a lot of people that don’t like it would love it if they tried it. When you go on a first run it’s going to be hard but It can also be a lot of fun. Start out short and just enjoy it don’t start out thinking you have to run far and fast at first. A lot of people make that mistake and don’t enjoy. That’s how my first run was, it was at my summer camp and I was training for the camps 4 mile race. The run I did was 5 miles and it was not fun it was too far and too fast for a first run. But I tried cross country and I loved it because we started out easy. As I said before running is supposed to be like letting go and fun.

Wild Iris Mountain Run

THIS RACE IS AWESOME!!! This is a tough race but amazing course. This race was in Lander, WY which is a great town. The race was part of the 20th annual international climbing festival. The race was only two weeks after the Leadville Heavy Half so my body was not fully recovered. Though out the race my stomach and legs were really messing with me. So even though my body didn't have a good day it was an amazing experience, along the course were great views. I loved it!!

Leadville Trail Heavy Half

      Let me start off by saying this race is not for beginners! I found out about this race because I wanted to do the silver rush 50 run but then decided to do something shorter so I chose this. The idea of the race is run up a mountain then back. This race starts in leadville  then goes up to Mosquito Pass (13,185') then goes right back down into leadville. Fun right?      

This race was very fun though. It is very scenic and challenging. I had a great race until mile twelve. At mile twelve things started going wrong first I rolled my ankle then I started to get chafed by my shorts. and things just started happening like that. I still finished the race in 30th overall in the fastest year ever, and I was the youngest there! In the race this year the top 2 finishers destroyed the course record by 8 and 5 minutes! This was by far the hardest race I have ever done but also the most memorable. Thank you all the volunteers and the race director for making this an awesome race!!!

Leadville newspaper

Finishers mug!

Finishing

Altra Lone Peak Review

      I am reviewing to Altra Lone Peaks. I have tried a lot of minimal shoes and I have to say this are some of the best. They have great traction on the bottom but not to much. Just from looking at them you can tell they are made for trails, with the tread and the upper is thicker so it keeps out sand and dirt but is still very very breathable. One of the best part of it is the wide toe box. I have had zero drop shoes before but none with the toe box quite as wide. I love it a lot. Just the way the toes can spread is great.
       Next I want to talk about the weight and  feel of the shoe. so at first when I pulled them out of the box they felt heavier then I was used to but once I started running I didn't even notice. The very feel of the shoe is  great it has just the right amount of cushion so it is great on trails. The only thing that I didn't think was necessary was the mud flap on the back of the shoe, I just thought it was extra weight. But its not, it actually works it keeps mud off you shoe. Now down to the point I think that if your a trail runner and you are looking for new shoes get these. I had to get the womens because my feet are small.

Altra Lone Peak