Week 8 of training.

Hubby bought me new Brooks trail shoes and a CamelBak hydration vest for my upcoming ultra in January.  I was planning on running 12 miles at Guana Park this morning with just Jenny and moi, but hubby wanted me to run on the beach so he could take the other kids too.  We all woke up late so we never went.  Next time, I’m sticking to MY plans.  If I give myself options, I’ll choose the wrong thing.  Ran 6 miles on the treadmill with the vest and the trail shoes.  First time for both.  Got two sharp pre-migraine pains over my right eye, so I decided to cut the 12 miler in half.

My new Brooks Caldera 2 after their first run… on a treadmill.

Brooks Caldera 2

First off, I LOVE the name.  I love geology and calderas are the most fascinating and scariest things out there!  The biggest caldera is the Yellowstone Caldera.  Yup, Yellowstone National Park is a SUPER VOLCANO.  I bet you’ll never see Old Faithful the same way again!  Hahaha!  Well, back to Caldera the shoe: The toe box is wide (wiggle room!) and lots of cushion, more so than my current trainers, Brooks Glycerin 15.  The mid sole is stiffer and took a mile to get used to.  I wear a 5.5 in regular shoes, so I have the 6.0.  Like I said, I took my first run on a treadmill fearing that I’d slip right off.  They are trail shoes, right?  Surprisingly, I didn’t.  It was a little slippery at first, but then they gripped and I could feel the difference from my other pairs of Brooks shoes.  I couldn’t really feel the treadmill and I don’t know if that’s a good thing while running on a trail.  I used my Stance socks with extra padding, and they weren’t tight and felt great in the shoes.  Also, my feet weren’t hot and steamy like they usually get after a run.  Can’t wait to get them outside tomorrow and run on grass.  Gotta get another six in to keep my mileage up!

My first hydration pack/vest, Camelbak’s Chase for Women.

CamelBak Chase for Women

When I was searching for a hydration pack/vest to use for this upcoming ultramarathon, I found that a lot of packs and vests for running didn’t fit me right.  I’m a small person, a middle aged lady in a middle/high school body.  I was about to give up and go with carrying two large handhelds, until I stopped limiting myself to “women” and “running.”  What did fit were the “hiking packs” for children, but they were sparse in terms of cargo capacity.  So I looked elsewhere.  If you look this Chase up, you’ll see that it was intended for cycling.  Yeah, but I knew it was great as soon as I put it on.  First off, it fit my little frame nicely.  I have a short torso, but a medium chest size.  This vest hugs everything.  With the 1.5L bladder full, I found that the weight kept my posture from failing AND it relaxed my shoulders.  I mean…  really relaxed.  I feel great as I’m typing this.  🙂  I didn’t feel any terrible bouncing either.  I didn’t take this run too seriously, so I ran in a cotton shirt (OMG!!!), and I didn’t get too hot.  Interesting.  There are nice little pockets everywhere for snacks, another small water bottles, my iPhone 7S, and two larger pockets for rain gear and/or a shirt.  I’ll be taking this out tomorrow in the heat of a Florida evening and I’ll let you know how it goes.