Recently I ordered a pair of Icebug Spirit4 spikes online (its always a risk when you order stuff online and can't try them on! I chose Icebug, mostly because they were on sale, but also because I heard great things and needed to invest in a pair of good winter running shoes.

Pros:

- my feet stayed super dry and warm. Normally running on snow/slush/ice in the winter, I'll end up with freezing and wet feet by the end of it. My socks were completely dry when I was done running.

- the fabric is very sturdy and thick, also helping to keep feet dry and warm.

-they're super lightweight. I loved how it didn't feel like I was lugging around bricks on my feet. They  feel light and I can move around well in them.

- their grip was AMAZING. I'm clumsy to begin with, so shoes with good tread, as well as solid spikes was a must for me. I didn't fall once and only slid around a couple times on the uphills when there was slush. I'm fairly impressed by how good the grip was on snow. So far, no black ice to test them out on, but I'm sure they will hold up.

- nice colours.. I didn't think I would from the look of the website, but I actually love the beautiful bright fuchsia colours within the shoe.

Cons:

- price. These Icebug shoes can run you up to $200+ dollars not including shipping or taxes. I got lucky and found them on sale on their website for $89, but if you're planning on buying the newer versions, expect to pay highly for them.
- they run very narrow. I ordered these in my normal shoe size, and they fit my feet, however if you're like me and have wide/flat feet you will probably have problems. I can feel pressure from the raised arch. After a few km my feet started to feel tired, best way I can describe it is as if my feet had a dull ache. Not good for someone with history of stress fracture on the outer aspect of my foot.
- chafing/blisters. They claim on the website that the heel cuff height has been lowered to prevent pressure on the achilles area of the foot.. but they can tell that to my bloody blisters. Note the photo below.. ouch. This happened even though I wore them around the house beforehand too. Hoping that I can work them in more and prevent this.

Overall the Icebugs are pretty good winter running shoes, if you have tiny narrow feet and can tolerate a few blisters. Most new running shoes need to be worked in regardless, so I'm hoping this is the case. I'll be wearing these a lot in the coming months as training for my next half amps up, and its nice feeling comfortable and safe running on snow/ice and knowing I'm not as likely to wipe out and break a leg.

Spikes make a world of difference and if these shoes can be worked in more they will pay off in the long run. Otherwise, if you have any different winter running shoe recommendations, I would love to hear them!

Happy Trails,
The Rural Runner

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For the longest time, I've wanted a gps watch so that I can accurately track my runs without carrying around my chunky phone the entire time (seriously why are all phones basically the size of iPads now?!).

I also really wanted it to be waterproof so I could wear it in obstacle course races, black so it matches everything, and round shaped but not too chunky. Okay I'm a little picky.. Haha.

Recently, I was given a refurbished Garmin forerunner 610, which covered everything on my gps watch wish list and more! It's a tad big in size, but is practically weightless so it's not as noticeable. At first it felt awkward on my wrist because I'm used to smaller watches (aka the cheap Walmart one I wore everyday), but eventually I got used to the feel and the strap doesn't bother me at all.

Okay it looks big for my little arm.. But it's super comfy, I swear!

Using it for the first time was fairly easy and straightforward with the manual, however I found the first time I turned the gps on I had to wait for what felt like 20 minutes for it to locate a satellite and was getting worried that it wouldn't work. However, since then I haven't had any difficulties syncing, and it only takes about 60 seconds now.

The main screens are customizable which I really liked too, because I edited it to show my total distance, total time and average pace overall, plus after every km it tells me the average pace for that lap (there's tons more options than this, but this is all I like to know when I'm running). I also really like the back light at the push of a button and the long battery life (should last all week even with an hour of tracking your run every day).

I was super excited to test this baby out, so I decided to head out for some interval training on the old railway tracks.

I started off with a 1km warm up run then moved onto sprints.

The workout was intervals of 30 seconds each, at around a 3.30 minute km pace, followed by a 2 minute slower pace between 7-7.30 minute km. I completed 8 of these intervals total, and literally thought I was going to puke or faint.. One of the two.

After that I had a nice and slow run back home, for a total of 6.75km.

After the run, I posted on Instagram like I normally do, and recieved a funny offer through direct message shortly after..

Declined!

I'm literally bundled up in this picture with 2 jackets and showing absolutely no boob.. How does this request even happen?? Haha. Gave me a good giggle though. Maybe someday if I ever get engaged I would do it as a gift to my fiancé.. but even then it wouldn't be for anyone else to see.

I may be poor.. But not that desperate haha.

Anyways, in other exciting news, I've completely packed for Miami (okay, I may have finished packing like 2 weeks ago, but that's besides the point).

Here's what I'm bringing to Miami

I also packed fancy clothes for going out (we're going to Liv night club!) and sports bras/shorts/running shoes for the races Saturday and Sunday.

I may have also packed an entire box of oatmeal.. Don't judge me, I said I'm poor!

Less than a week now until I'm in the sunshine and I'm getting very excited!

The races should be fun and so warm as opposed to Nova Scotia weather. Hoping to finish the 8ish km course in under an hour.. Especially considering there's no mountains like there was in the Halifax Spartan race! We will see how it goes.

Cheers friends,

The Rural Runner

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A couple weeks ago Kirk and myself decided to go on a date to Ontree. If you've never heard of Ontree, the best way I can describe it is as an obstacle park up in the trees. We went to the one about 30 minutes from where I live at the local ski hill. We got there and could only see a couple obstacles basically on the ground, and a small building. Our first impression wasn't super great, and when we found out it was over $40 bucks each.. We were kind of iffy and unsure if it would be worth it. Eitherway, we had already driven that far and are always open to try new things so we stayed. The instructors helped us get strapped into our safety harnesses, and brought us over to the obstacles on the ground that we had noticed earlier. These turned out to only be used as a training guide.

We were taught how to clip on and off, and how to use our rappelling line. I felt very safe as there is a locking system that prevents coming undone without a key that's located at the end of each course, making it impossible to fall off anything once your carabiners are hooked on.

Here I am on the training course. You can see the 2 carabiners hooked onto the wires, which was the same throughout the course.

After completing the training we were concerned that the instructor would be required to be with us at all times, however we were sent on our way, solo, and told we had 3 hours (but that we probably wouldn't need it all since generally people get tired by then). Once we passed the training area and fully entered the park, we were amazed by just how many courses there actually were! There were many easy ranked ones, medium ones, and a few black diamond (similar to a ski hill design). We started off with some easy ones..

And eventually felt the need to be challenged a bit more. I was impressed by just how different and original each course was. There were also TONS of zip lines within each one you completed, covering a lot of area, even going over rivers. We tried out a couple of the black diamonds, and safe to say - they were tough! My arms sure got a workout that day!

This black diamond was particularly hard because the rock wall was free floating and shook back and forth as you were climbing!

The picture below was another black diamond, the logs swung.. A LOT.

The day ended up being such a great workout, and such a fun date! Before we knew it we were at the 3 hour mark and had to return our stuff. I guess this was a good thing, because like the instructors said would happen, I was exhausted!

Here I am on a black diamond course, looking very focused.. And pretty tired haha.

Overall we both agreed that it was well worth the money. We will definitely be going back as the park was so big we couldn't even complete all of the courses within the 3 hours! We could have stayed longer for a few dollars more, but both of us were tired and starving and pizza was calling our names haha!

If you go, I would recommend bringing your own gloves (I have small hands and mine were pretty lose.. Plus we had to pay extra for them). Also, we had brought snacks (black cherry caffeine bloks yum!) but I forgot them in the car.. Fail. Definitely make sure you have water and snacks handy if you plan on staying all day. Plus layers.. Cause you'll probably get sweaty! Definitely a great autumn date idea if you're an adventurist.. And not afraid of heights ;)

Keep climbing friends,

The Rural Runner

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