I am definitely running most of this race in road shoes. A good portion of the run today was on fire roads. The rest was on a gorgeous trail through an aspen forest. I’ll keep a pair of trail shoes on reserve at Twin Lakes in case the weather is awful. I keep hearing horror stories about 20 hours of rain and hail two years ago.
J. ran in a pair of Hokas today after reading about them on Karl Meltzer’s blog. He hearts them. They made some bad metatarsal pain he was having disappear. So he didn’t care when C. and I told him how they look like moon boots — without the boot part. There will definitely be room for famous runners sign the shoes’ tall soles when he finishes.
I spent the day in Breckenridge after the run. The hostel and the town of Leadville were filled with restless cyclists’ energy and it was tiring. Honestly, I woke up feeling stressed and didn’t feel free of it until I was in Breckenridge eating a cookie as big as my face. Thank goodness Leadville doesn’t have vegan cookies at the coffee shops in town. I’d have to roll down Hope Pass, I’d gain so much weight.
All the cyclists are in bed now (8:30pm) and there’s an overpowering smell of Ben-Gay when you head downstairs to the bunk rooms. The few runners who are here have been warned to keep quiet. I do hope the folks I’ve been sharing the early morning breakfasts with have good rides. They’ve invested so much in this race. I’ll see the start at 6am and then head to the Columbine aid station at the 50 mile mark. Stories to come.