I’ve decided that trail running shoes are sort of like fly rods, in that you probably need a collection of them.  If I only ran at a few trails all the time I’d get by with one pair of shoes, just like if all I did was fish a few small trout streams I could get by with a 7′ 4-weight fly rod and be pretty happy.   Well, I fish for everything from 6″ trout in small mountain creeks to 100+ lbs. sailfish in bluewater so I have fly rods ranging from a 6′ 3-weight bamboo up to a 8′ 14-weight for offshore and don’t get me started on my switch & spey rod collection.   Similarly I run on everything from the easy Watershed trails in the summer to the often slippery and muddy trails at Soaring Eagle to the rugged trails in the mountains so I now have amassed a collection of trail running shoes that I use for different situations.

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Running the Echo Valley 50k, still smiling

I began running in college and have run most of my adult life off and on.   It used to be all road running and, like most people, I started out with a few miles, worked my way up to a 10k event, a 20k event and finally a half marathon before contemplating a full marathon.   Yet, that full marathon was elusive, every time I tried for it I got hurt.

The first time I was in my late 20’s when I decided to run the Des Moines Marathon.  I had done several 10k runs and a 20k and began increasing my mileage.  Once I got above 25 miles per week though I ended up with hip tendonitis so bad that I had to stop and take some time to recover.

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Rosario Head - photo by Glenn Tachimaya

I thought that my long runs were over when I finished the Echo Valley 50k but I just kept running and did a few more events in October.   I then got mail from Rainshadow Running that the Deception Pass registration would open and decided I had to do it, we love Deception Pass and I’ve hiked many of the trails there over the years so I thought this would be a perfect way to end the year and finally get in an official 25k. Continue reading →