Exploding

 Ok, not literally.

At least I hope not!

I am, however, trying to regain some of the power and explosiveness that long endurance running tends to blunt. I have some stuff coming up that will require a very different kind of fitness than I've been tootling around with for years, so I've been trying a couple new things to see what my over-the-hill, chronically-damaged body can manage.

The first thing - and probably the least hazardous - is some tire dragging. A dear friend was kind enough to give me a tire pre-threaded with some polypropylene rope, so all I needed was to improvise a harness. This video from Gwen Jorgensen (who credits coach Bobby McGee with the idea) shows how to craft a simple and effective one with a bicycle inner tube.

In short, put both your arms through the middle, with the top against the back of your neck and the bottom at your lower back. Use whatever you have on hand to keep the front together against your chest.

The stretch of the inner tube helps prevent too much jerking on you as you pull the tire along behind you - essentially playing the same role as the bungee cord in these (quite expensive) pre-made setups. I've only pulled it a couple of times so far, always on pavement: I'm told that a cinder track or gravel road is best (presumably rail trail would be similarly well suited), as the looser surface helps reduce friction.

I got to experience this for ~100m when there was some debris on my street that I ran through - it was definitely easier than dragging the tire on clean pavement!

Because I'm just starting out and not particularly strong yet, I've only been doing a short bout of pulling - I live on a crescent that is about 440m 'round, so I've been pulling for 1 lap of my block, popping off the harness by my front door, then continuing on with the rest of my run. 

Bonus: it feels like you're FLYING for the first couple of minutes after you ditch the tire!
(Yes, I'm still slow as heck with or without the tire)

I'm looking forward to taking it to a track at some point so I can do some intervals, and hopefully working up to being able to pull for a couple of kilometers or more. The effort level feels similar to snowshoe running in not-too-deep unpacked snow, so this may actually be a way to continue to reap the benefits of snowshoe running through the rest of the year.

Oh gawd can we please get to that ice-free rest of the year?

So there's the "power" work, but how about the explosiveness? For that, I'm using one of the most basic ways to try to build fast-twitch response: plyometrics.

Really just a bunch of bouncing around

Here's the thing: I already lift weights in the mornings, doing a variety of different strength stuff that I rely on to keep myself functional. I don't want to mess with that, and I also know that I should be nice and warm and loose before jumping around a bunch - not still bleary-eyed before I've even had a cup of coffee or a bite to eat - so I've been adding in a short circuit after one run each week.

I give myself a minute to walk and cool down a bit after ending the run, then do the plyometric stuff down my street

I've kept it pretty short and simple: I started 2 weeks ago with two sets of 8 jump squats (first gif), 12 alternating jump lunges (second gif), and 20 alternating speed skaters. Last week I added a third set.

You can see the speed skaters at the end, which were super sketchy on my snow-covered street that day!

Throw down a set, walk down the street for 30sec, crank out another, walk another 30sec toward home, then bust out one last set, and finish it all off with some dynamic stretching. The whole thing only takes a few minutes.

With the high impact inherent in plyometrics, I'd rather err on the side of too little than do too much

I've only been working on these for a couple of weeks, but I feel like I'm already starting to see some minor adaptations. I don't know how much I will ultimately be able to improve in the short timeframe I have before I'll be putting whatever gains I'm able to make into action, but I believe this may make me a more resilient runner as well, so I hope I'll be able to maintain these additions to my weekly training consistently enough to discover just how much I can benefit.

If it helps things function a little better when I'm hours-deep into the trail, some burning quads here and there will totally be worth it!

So tell me: do you use any strategies to build or maintain power and explosive strength? If so, let me know what you've found that works, or just what you enjoy!

I'm always open to trying new things!

Tested: Kahtoola ExoSpikes

 I've used screw shoes for mixed icy conditions - where I'll be running on roads for stretches that make full-on crampon-style spikes a poor option - for several years now. The problem is, they're not terribly effective below about -10c/14f. I have a light pair of spikes, but they were responsible for frostbite in my left big toe that still bothers me even 6 years later, so I needed a new solution..

Enter the Kahtoola ExoSpikes

What it is: Devices that slip over your footwear to provide extra traction on ice and snow

The business side, pictured off the shoe

Why you'd want them: To stay safe and upright when running roads, light trails, or road-to-trail in winter

They have a little license plate on the toe section of the upper

Now that's confidence inspiring!

Duration used: About a month and a half - I've put about 80km/50mi on them so far

Full view of the upper, pictured with the front/toe portion at top - exactly as they'd go on your shoe

Price paid/purchased from: I couldn't find a better price than $75 CAD + tax, and bought from Sail

They come with a little stuff sack with a spot to make them your own

Ready to go for a spin!

What rawks: While I wouldn't choose these for technical trails, they are absolutely perfect for my Saturday runs down to the farmers' market, which involve a couple of kilometers of road, a couple of kilometers of paved multi-use trail, and a long stretch of groomed trail with a bit more sidewalk at the end. The traction afforded by the carbide spikes themselves is far superior to that offered by screw shoes, particularly when the weather turns extremely cold.

Ice is far too hard at -24c / -11f for screw shoes to be effective

The rubbery harness is very secure on my foot - no danger of losing these in a snowdrift! - but does not apply any pressure to my toes or foot that would collapse the pocket of insulating air created by my sock inside my shoe.

It was my old spikes' frame putting pressure on the toe of my shoe - removing the insulating air space - that caused the frostbite on my left big toe in 2016.

The rubbery upper is joined to the very tough TPU spike framework with steel rings, that thread through a plastic washer embedded in the rubbery upper to prevent them pulling through. I've seen absolutely no rust on the rings - nor any signs of wear on them - with 80-ish kilometers on them and numerous occasions running on salted sidewalks that left a salt residue all over them.

These seem like they're going to last quite awhile!

I also like that the design of the 12 individual spike pods - 8 beneath the ball of your foot, and 4 beneath your heel - have a sort of stepped pyramid design that allows them to act like trail shoe lugs if you encounter deeper, un-packed snow.

I haven't encountered any mud in them yet, but I'm sure they'd offer decent traction if I did!

They're quite lightweight, and quite comfortable to run on even on bare pavement - this is probably dependent on your particular foot and shoes, but I don't get any uncomfortable pressure spots from the spike units through my soles.

And I've mostly worn them with road shoes, so there's no rock plate distributing pressure in there

I balked at the price, but honestly these have performed exactly as I desired, and with a quick rinse to get off any remaining salt they'd look brand new!

Me? Much less so.

With spring at hand now, you might find them on sale. There's still some ice out there for the moment if you want to try them out right away!

But I'd be happier if you had to wait 'til next winter for ice..

Updated 25-Mar-2022: I have now had a chance to try them out on a mixture of snow, ice, and mud, and they performed fantastic! Using trail shoes with them in muddy conditions basically allows you to double the size of the lugs that bite into the ground, giving a lot of confidence even in quite loose, slippery mud.

I'd almost consider wearing them for extra traction if I expect things to be particularly messy

They also provide excellent traction on bare rock (something that crampon-style spikes struggle with), as the carbide tips are essentially the same as those used on trekking poles. I wouldn't necessarily recommend them for really rocky trails as you're reducing your contact area to a dozen small points instead of more and larger lugs of a trail shoe, but if you're already wearing them and there's some rock sticking out of the mud or ice, you don't have to worry about them slipping!

What sucks: They can be a little difficult to stretch over my shoe, despite being toward the low end of Medium per the size chart - my feet are a size 9-9.5 women's (41 euro), and there's no way I think I'd be able to get them on a shoe any bigger than mine!

Direct from Kahtoola's product page

I also find them a bit finicky to get in the proper place on my shoe: when I first pull them on, they want to sit toward the inside of my foot, which means that my feet want to sort of flop outward as they land. This may be related to them feeling a bit small on my shoes, or to the fact the TPU framework that holds the spikes isn't very flexible - much less so than any other spike frame material I've encountered.

Any snugger and I'm going to need a tire iron to get 'em on!

The stuff sack they come with is also just light cordura fabric, seemingly without any anti-abrasion characteristics to protect it from the spikes. Since the frames only want to comfortably bend into a taco shape with the rubbery framework to the inside, this means the carbide tips may wear out the stuff sack, particularly if you were to put these in a running pack and have them jostle around. 

That said, I haven't noticed any shredding of mine so far

I did manage to get a nasty chunk of bent steel - I have no idea what it was originally - stuck under the rear of the TPU framework on the sole of my foot at one point, while literally just running down a multi-use pathway. I thought it was just a chunk of ice or snow, so ended up running with it for a mile until I finally stopped to see what the heck was going on!

It was ON THERE

Sizeable chunk, with really nasty sharp corners to it

I don't really see that being the fault of the spikes, though - I'd probably have had the same experience with any other set of spikes with a framework, like Yak Trax (which are awful - please don't bother with them!) or my old cheapo spikes.

They will pack in with snow if the conditions are right, though. I was running down to the market one sunny morning at about -7c/19f, with sun on the snow and noticed my traction getting poorer..

..while my feet got heavier.

I'm not sure I can blame that on these specifically, though - it looks like some of the snow was sticking directly to the soles of my shoes, so it might have happened even if I weren't wearing them.

The only other thing - which is also a problem with any other spikes if you have bad luck with conditions - is that snow on top of ice can render the carbide tips pretty useless. If the snow is just deep enough to keep the tips from biting into the ice when it packs underfoot, you'll still risk slipping as the snow can break away from the ice surface. However, you do still have the pyramid-stepped lugs to offer a bit of traction on the snow's surface, and I've never found anything (other than crampon-style spikes that can penetrate deeper) that isn't hamstrung by the snow-over-ice issue.

3/4" of packed snow on top of ice makes for a tough run, even with those lugs

What I'd like to see: A more accurate size chart, and maybe a more durable stuff sack. That's about it, apart from them being pretty expensive.

They seem to be pretty durable, though!

What I'm saying: If you frequently find yourself running on icy or snowy non-technical routes, these are a great solution that gives you almost all the traction of crampon-style spikes with less weight and less inconvenience and sketchiness on bare pavement.

Perfect for glittery snow!

For further edification: This Trailrunner Magazine article was - along with an endorsement from a friend - what convinced me to buy a pair. They've also been reviewed by iRunFar.

Making tracks

Oh yeah, and just for giggles: I've finally created a page with links to all my past gear reviews, plus a few other posts with what I consider interesting or valuable information. A link to it now appears over in the side bar at right on the desktop site under the search box, so feel free to browse through some history at your leisure!

..or just run away.

Stagger on regardless

 Saturday did not go well for me.

It's actually been rather a crap week since, but for different reasons.

I had got to bed very late on Friday, and - as follows - woke up exhausted and a bit later than I could really make jive with running down to the market. I mean, it was only 9:30am...but I'm a little creaky in the morning, and it takes me around an hour and a half just to get out the door, and over and hour to run down there. The market closes at 1pm. The math was definitely not on my side, so we just got up and drove down there to get our groceries instead.

I am trying to build a bit of mileage now that the 100 in 100 is over, so I wanted to get at least 10mi in, and I knew a place that would be easy to do so: Dundas Valley. I hadn't been down there since Leftovers back in November, and we have a membership with Hamilton Conservation until early May, so it seemed ideal. I knew that 10mi there wouldn't come easy, though (and I secretly hoped to get more like 20km in), so I would need to equip myself for up to 3-ish hours of trail time. That meant filling up my hydration pack, and lots of snacks.

Oh, and spikes. Definitely spikes.

I went to put the full bladder into my pack, and discovered it was leaking from the quick-disconnect valve where the hose meets the bladder. Not bueno; it wasn't below freezing, but I still didn't want my precious hydration escaping and soaking my back. I have another bladder - which does have its own hose, but it's absurdly long, and I don't like the drinking valve on it - with the same quick-disconnect, so I tried filling it and snapping in the hose. Success! It popped in like it was made for it, so off we went...after grabbing a headlamp as well, because we were well past the time I had wanted to leave, and I'd be up against it to finish up before dark.

Of course the portajohn was gone from the parking lot, and the trail centre was closed despite it not being quite 4pm yet

Emerging from the car, I was happy I'd grabbed a fleece skirt to wear over my tights, and had packed a wind jacket in my bag - the sun was disappearing behind thin cloudcover, and the wind had picked up significantly. I donned my spikes, realizing I'd brought the multiply-broken set instead of the nearly brand-new ones I'd bought in case I was going to do something "a little longer, like a Sulphur loop", 'cause I'm smart like that. Then I trotted off into the trails, grateful I had any kind of traction at all on the glare ice.

I'm one of the only people I saw there who did, and let me tell you the others didn't fare too well.

Not having been down at DVCA for anything other than a race in quite awhile, I took the luxury of hooking right onto the Deer Run, which quite often lives up to its name. I'd not gone a kilometer yet and rather needed to find a quiet spot to, umm, add some nitrogen and phosphorus to the local ecology. Plus, I was thirsty - doesn't that always seem to be the way? All the hydration problems at once! So, I grabbed my hose and took a good long pull of...air?

I tried again, with more vigour. I got more air. I came to the spot where the trail splits, where a 4x4 post with a location marker is driven into the ground, and hung my pack up on the post. It seems the male connector of my hose wasn't quite long enough to depress the spring that actually releases the water from the bladder in the quick-connect valve; when I tried to push it in further, it began to leak, and wouldn't stay anyway.

I had no water. I was getting chilled by the wind as I was dressed for a run, not standing in the damp, melting woods with the wind blowing over the snowpack. I was despondent, and strongly considered just messaging Tank to tell him I give the heck up, then going home and hiding under a blanket fort for the rest of the day.

I did not do that. 

I did message Tank to say I had a problem, and started running back toward the trail centre, where I met up with him. I explained the issue, and my proposed solution: instead of one long loop, I'd grab my bike bottle out of the car - the one I always bring along, from which you've probably seen me drink a million times if we've hung out together anywhere other than on an actual race course - and just carry it with me, looping back to the car to refill from the giant 1.5L nalgene of water we brought along with us.

That one, with the Brooks "Run Happy" rubber bracelet around the top

Tank gave me the car key and said he'd wait for me, so I ran back to the parking lot, ditched the useless bladder, filled my bottle, and left a single door unlocked in case I needed to refill and he wasn't back from his hike yet. I'd already tried the spigot by the tracks, and it was (as expected) still shut off for the winter. I knew that carrying my bottle with no strap or anything was going to suck, and I had lost even more daylight, but damnit I wasn't ready to give up!

A change of plans is not a failure - refusing to adapt is.

There were sights to see!

I bopped around the main loop until the Heritage Trail, noting that now the main Bruce Trail seems to head that was instead of continuing around the main loop (which is now considered side trail, with blue blazes). Not sure when that happened, but I knew where I wanted to go anyway!

..and stood at least a 60% chance of getting there without sliding off a cliff.

Fortunately my spikes held up on the ice, and I made it to Canterbury Falls without incident. 

Though I declined to go wandering out onto the sketchy rock that gives the best view due to icy conditions and my spikes not affording much grip on bare stone

I slurped back a maple syrup based gel packet as I paused to listen to the rushing water beneath the ice, then got on my way. I wasn't enjoying carrying the bottle: it made it awkward to take photos as I don't like having both my hands full, and my right thumb gets cranky if I have to grip anything for any length of time, but it was better than no water.

Or no run!

For my next trick, I would try not to die while descending a set of iced up stairs in the woods.

But not that kind of stairs in the woods

Not without reason - at the other end of these (plus over a couple of hundred metres of rather gnarly, rocky trail) lies gold!

Behold Sherman Falls!

I noted that I'd now drained more than half of my bottle of water, so should probably head back to the car post-haste to refill. I also noted that the wooden bridge spanning the stream below the falls - which had been closed when last I was there - was now completely gone!

More's the pity - it had the absolute best view of the falls

I had planned to just book it down Artaban Road and hit the Monarch Trail back to the main loop, as I knew the Sulphur Creek crossover trail would likely be icy death and falling into a ravine full of fallen trees and broken limbs was definitely not the icing I wished to add to my cake of disappointments for the day. As I passed by it, though, it didn't look so bad..

I remembered at Leftovers it seemed some reconstruction work had made the whole thing a bit less narrow and sketchy, too

So - for no good reason at all - I went for it. 

Things did not improve as I descended.

WHYYYY

I don't mind running down an icy surface in my spikes - you land with approximately three times your bodyweight when running downhill, so those steel points are driven into the crust and provide excellent traction. This is much less the case if you're trying to gingerly pick your way down. 

And that whole "wider and less sketchy thing" was apparently very much wrong

The worst was the last section, where there weren't even any exposed roots - just the occasional tree to cling to, as I've done in the past when it was mud slicking the hill instead of ice. Trying to carefully kick my spikes into the ice with one foot, while also trying not to move too much weight off the uphill foot that is still holding..

Yeah, I'm a weenie. I know this. I accept this.

I did manage to make it down without falling - or even resorting to butt sliding, which is always an option on the table - and onto the bridge over Sulphur Creek below.

Didn't die!

At this point, I just had to climb the river of ice that was the Sulphur Creek Trail, survive another steep downhill on an unknown surface, then I'd be back on the main loop quite close to the car. I was almost out of water, so I tried to hustle as best I could.

On terrain not well suited to hustling

The sun actually came out as I crested the highest point, and began a muddy descent on the far side.

Deep breath

It was quite astonishing how much melting had happened at the higher elevations in the park, compared with the hard plate of ice in other spots.

Sometimes only a handful of metres apart

Back to the main loop and out past the trail centre, I found Tank already back at the car...but I'd only done 10km, and the sun was dropping fast.

Though I did finally get my lap in on the Deer Run!

I scarfed back a little Halloween packet of fuzzy peaches (which turned out to be much smaller than the proper ones, and much harder despite having been kept warm in a pocket against my chest), filled my bottle, then ran away again.

With the golden sun lighting up the Spring Creek Trail

The universe wasn't cooperative, but I was getting it done!

I tried to draw on my knowledge of the Tally in the Valley course for my next loop, but knew I didn't want to do either the rail trail or an out-and-back if I could avoid it...so I hit the John White Trail over to Sawmill, and looped back around that way.

The pine forest on Sawmill is a much different place in winter!

Of course I hit mud as I reached the top of a hill, and had to hope my spikes would hold..

I think the only time I've had a non-muddy run at Dundas Valley was a Sulphur training run at -15c

My spikes held, all right - held 10lbs of mud apiece!

I could only pray there was enough of the spikes sticking out to grip the ice that was to come, as that mud did not want to come out!

The sun had all but set as I came through another section of pine forest, very gloomy in the fading daylight..

Not enough to need a headlamp yet, but getting close

Emerging into more open, deciduous forest again, I was surprised to find I wasn't the only one on the trails!

I could only get a lousy photo of her, and even worse ones of her 3 companions

Back to the car again as I'd somehow managed to drink 3/4 of my bottle in just 4km, and I still needed another 2k as I was bloody well set on getting 10mi in! With one last full bottle, a sore hand from carrying it, and a sore ankle from the beating it had taken on the lumpy ice all afternoon, I trotted past the trail centre one more time to hit the main loop in the opposite (clockwise) direction from which I'd started. I ended up at a spot past the end of the Sulpur Creek Trail that I'm not sure I've ever been to before.

Though it's clearly a popular spot

..and I can see why!

I turned around there, knowing I'd get the mileage I wanted by the time I got back, and as I forced my tired legs into a run I once more heard a distinctive jingle from my right foot. I'd broken another stinkin' link in my spikes!

It's always the same spot - this is the 3rd link to go

Twilight was falling as I reached the parking lot: another 5 minutes and I'd have needed the headlamp I'd carried with me all day, and I'd already been tempted to throw on my wind jacket as the temperature had dropped. I was muddy, smelled terrible, and was both sore and exhausted...but I got 16.5km in, and didn't give up.

Also: saw pretty things!

Not every day is going to go your way, but you always have a choice: you can let it derail you entirely, or you can find a way 'round. It certainly wasn't the run I had in mind when I planned to hit Dundas Valley, but it certainly was an adventure!