A run up a mountain? Don’t mind if we do.
One of the best things about living in Colorado is the abundance of entertainment to keep even the most enthusiastic outdoor adventure seeker quite busy, and there is nothing more adventurous than exploring one of the state’s 52 fourteen thousand feet mountain peaks on foot – running. As one of the assistant cross country coaches for my son Ryan’s high school cross country team, we like to take the runners up a “14er” each year for a little team building experience – and some exposure to some high altitude training. The other day we were fortunate to get to play on the trails to peaks Grays and Torreys (14,270’ and 14,267’), two 14ers which are a short drive from Denver, where we live.
Grays and Torreys are two of the easier of the state’s 14ers to climb: the trail is about 4 miles to Grays and then just a half mile to Torreys; elevation gain is approximately 3000’ (relatively short compared to many others); the trail starts out pretty much on pea-sized gravel which is conducive to run on; and the amazing beauty of the valley is simply breathtaking, filled with a blanket of wildflowers while viewing the peaks as your backdrop. How can one NOT want to run here?
Even though the trail is not highly technical, it can be a challenge on your feet when you reach some sketchy patches of loose, large rocks or areas of steep inclines. I am a pretty firm believer that the shoes you wear on these types of trails can either make or break reaching the summit – or at least make the difference between having a great or lousy experience.
Trail shoes are designed to protect the feet from the rugged, rocky surface and to maximize forward motion by gripping the trail to provide traction. Compared to a typical road shoe, the trail shoe has a thicker and nubbier sole, and the added density provides more stability on rugged and uneven terrain. I can’t tell you how many newbie runners I saw on the trail wearing minimalist road shoes – having a very miserable experience. Not us though, my son and I wore our trail shoes and saved the bottoms of our feet, our ankles, our toes from being banged on rocks – and thus our sanity.
Onlineshoes.com provided my son a pair of their rugged New Balance MT876 trail shoes to test out for our awesome adventure up Grays and Torreys and see how they’d hold out and perform for him. He had a blast, running far ahead of me and smiling the entire way.
Because Ryan is a fairly minimal road shoe wearer, this shoe was a bit stiffer than he is used to but he had absolutely no problems with them on the trails and agreed, a stiff shoe was better on this type of terrain and his feet were safe from the elements below with absolutely no ankle twists, blisters, or black toenails. He can’t wait to get back out there with them and seek new summits.
We both reached the summit of Grays Peak, with feet feeling fantastic. Ryan continued on to run to the summit of Torreys Peak with the rest of team and managed to successfully run through a field of snow, which was prevalent on the saddle between the two peaks, without slipping – bonus! Many were not as fortunate.
Finding the proper trail running shoe is vital–be it one of the minimalist shoes hitting the market or a more traditional trail shoe. Make sure the shoe fits your foot and don’t try to make your foot fit the shoe. The right shoe is what will ultimately turn your trail running experience into years of healthy, happy, adventure-seeking running.
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