Mt. Falcon

Hopefully no one was looking for me at Deer Creek on Sunday. I had a last minute change of plans. All the horse-loving ladies in my house went to that Cavalia horse show in Denver, which freed up the entire afternoon for me! I had a gift card to Runner's Roost, so I shot up to the Lakewood store and picked up a pair of La Sportiva Wildcats and then went right over to Mt. Falcon to break them in.

What a great shoe! This summer I've been alternating between my Asic Trabuco's (2 years and almost 900 miles) and my Salomon XA 3D Pro Ultra (almost 600 miles). I raced with the Salomon's, but aside from the solid toe cap, I never thought they were all that great. But man that toe cap saved me on more than a few occasions.

Since I'm not that interested in a minimalist shoe right now, the Wildcat seemed to strike a nice balance. From the first few steps on the trail, I knew it was a good match for me.

I went back to Mt. Falcon because it was close to Lakewood, and there were a few trails I didn't get to check out when I ran there in June. Specifically the Two-Dog, Old Ute, and Devil's Elbow trails. They're all super short, but fun.

All in all, it was a great run. I pushed it pretty good, but not so much that I wasn't having fun. A few times, I found myself in ultra mode and I started hiking the uphills only to remind myself that there was no need to conserve for later. Other times I hiked out of necessity!

A favorite moment was descending a technical stretch of the Castle trail. About four hikers were taking a break on the side. I was flying down and by their expressions, they thought for sure I was going to bite it at any moment. Well, I didn't, and instead was just loving the run, the new shoes, and my post-RRR recovered state!

Totals for the day were 13.7 miles in 2:16.