LooseCrew-JeffO: New Gear!

LooseCrew-JeffO

Ramblings of an adventurous guy living in Denver and playing in the mountains.
For my trail adventures, visit my Trail Bum blog

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

New Gear!

I went shopping.

I bought a new pair of Salomon XA Pro 3D Ultras. (Geez, does the name really have to be that long? You have to be an ultra runner just to say it!)
Then I bought a pair of Pearl Izumi Peak XCs.
I'll have a pair of shoes in probably every drop-bag, but I don't plan to take any shoe or sock changes unless there's a problem. Drop-bags are about having available options. I don't actually plan to use my drop bags very often.

I bought the Salomon Raid Revo 15. It's the smaller version of my other pack. I might do a swap at some point in the race.
I also bought another Salomon Fast Wing Hoodie. It took me months to find the name of the jacket I owned, because Salomon doesn't put the model name anywhere on the jacket itself. It is the best, in my opinion, of all the ultra-light wind-proof, breathable, water-resistant jackets with hoods. There is only one that is barely lighter, and it costs $20 more. Since it's paper-thin and not durable, why pay so much? i got my original for $30+ on sale. I'm currently kicking myself hard for not buying half a dozen. It's nearly impossible to find, and I only found it online now, and I paid twice as much for this second one.

The theory is I won't have to swap gear when I swap packs. Each will be fully stocked.

I also bought a bunch of new socks - Injinjis and Wright socks.

On the home front, my son and I are really enjoying each other's company. I know it's not natural to get along with a teenager. I have to be careful. It's not my job to be his pal. Someone has to be his parent and lay down the law. But as far as I can see, we get along because...
A) I lay down the law without budging - only on important things - and I definitely say what I mean and mean what I say. His mom says that's "brutal", but my son seems to respect me more.
B) Dad's cool for being an ultra-runner and a computer nerd.
Whatever works.
I'm not expecting it to last. I know I changed radically psycho-emotionally when I was 16 and 17. I went off the deep end when I was 16, and then I started pulled myself out when I was 17. My son will turn 15 in another month. If he's anything like I was, he still has a year before he totally flips-out. I over-dosed by accident twice. I hope he survives his teen years. I hope other people survive his teen years. I hope he doesn't get some girl pregnant!

What does this have to do with the Leadville 100?! It's proably what I'll be thinking about while I run without a pacer or crew for 100 miles through day and night.

2 Comments:

At 8:49 PM, Blogger Meghan said...

Hi JeffO!

Wow you got lots of new gear.

I like the plane crash site blog entry. It must be vaguely creepy walking around those places. Cool but kind of creepy.

Your time is almost here! I'm so excited for you!

Thanks for supporting me through my 100 mile race. I appreciated your kind thoughts and words!

Meghan

 
At 9:40 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

god bless parents. as my professor-and parent of 2 teenagers-told me...everyone thinks babies are cute..but no one ever thinks "wow, i totally want a teenager!!"

but it's worth it once they move past that. i think my parents like having us around now. without the 4 kids' issues they would be bored!! (um, we still call home a lot...ages 27-17).

 

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