Salomon Speedcross 3: Out with the old & In with the new

I didn’t set out to buy new sneakers. It wasn’t premeditated in the least. But there I was standing in the middle of Atmosphere staring at row after row of multi-coloured shoes. Everything was so shiny. I was in trouble.

My Saucony Peregrines have seen better days. They haven’t felt like home for a long time. Last week I even noticed holes on the sides. I have three races coming up – 25K, 29K and 50K. Maybe it’s time for a new pair of trail shoes.

So there I stood in Atmosphere. I went into the store looking for a visor. They didn’t have any so I wandered over to the shoes. If I were going to buy any trail runners in Red Deer, this was the spot.

I picked up the Salomon Speedcross 3. Pretty. Pretty. They looked sweet but I had to try them on before making any decisions. I flagged down a sales guy. He told me the shoes were made for the snow. I thought that was odd because the box clearly said they were for the trail.

I tried on my usual size 8 on but they felt too big. I tried on a smaller size and they felt too tight. Hate when that happens. There was also the question of colour – blue/green or cranberry. Decisions.

I left the store to meet Megan for lunch. I told the sales guy that I would be back.

I haven’t worn Salomon before so I gave them a little Google action on my iPhone. I see a lot of people wearing them at trail races. Good sign. Usually I do a lot of research when I switch shoe makers. The reviews seemed okay so I drove back to the store.

I asked my friends to select the colour in an informal poll on Facebook. It was a close one but the green/blue shoes came out on top.

I told the sales guy to grab a size 8.

I got the shoes home and I was raring to go for a test run. I opened the book and pulled on the shoes. They were a size 9.5 US or a 8 UK. Sigh. I drove back to the store to exchange them. I tried them on again and I went with the size 7.5.  (A sales lady told me Salomon tells fit a little large.)

And finally after all that I headed to the cross country ski trails ….

Comfortable. Light. Serious grip.  Loved these shoes. They were badass.

I loved the Quicklace (shoe lace tying) system. If you have run with me lately, you will know that I have to stop a lot to retie my laces. Love this easy tightening system. I’ll never tie my laces again!

I ran 15K before the storm clouds started to roll in. It was only after I got into my Versa and turned on the radio did I realize there was a tornado warning for the area. Yikes!

Bottom line? Loved these badass beauties. So far, so good. I only wish there was more trail in Red Deer. Our paved trails are great but that doesn’t help (much) my training. I was considering driving to Lethbridge today to run the coulees. In the end, I reasoned that 8 hours on the road isn’t the best use of my time.

So today I am running/hiking/crawling four hours. This will be my longest run in this training cycle. My plan is to run most of it on the road. Then I will switch sneakers and head back to the ski trails to finish up with hills.

Today will be a glorious day! (I choose to ignore the rain)

Happy Sunday!