Old Man Still running

Got up at 3 a.m. to run outside, but it was raining.  Went back to bed and did treadmill at 5:15.

Out at 3:30 a.m.  Ran at Inlet Park which is right next to the rec center I use.  At that park is a little used forest trail loop, 0.22 miles long, very soft, not technical, only about ten feet of climb each loop.  I ran a bunch of loops there.  As I approached it, I looked to the west and could see odd low clouds in Eagle Mountain, it kind of looked like smoke from a house fire, but soon it became evident that it was ice fog rolling in.  It eventually reached me and it was pretty eerie seeing all the ice crystals in my head lamp beam.  At 5 a.m. I went in and ran on the treadmill.

Lunch, ran a 4 mile-loop involving, new JRP in Bluffdale I haven't been on that ends after crossing the river and hitting a road under the railroad tracks.  Ran on nice and quiet country roads, and then took a canal road back.  Very nice.

Funny that I've run in three different shoes today.

Was running along Redwod Road at 6 a.m. and some young punks pulled over and asked if I wanted to run up to the Top of Lake Mountain.  I jumped in the car.  The young punks were kind to this old man and didn't totally leave me in the dust.   They were Dan, Scott, Matt, and Seth.  We got to the top at sunrise.  It was spectacular, wow.  Great running weather.  It was about my 30th time to the top.   Going down, I took Dan down the lesser traveled road that heads out east along a ridge.  It was great fun bounding down steep sections in about a foot of snow, with amazing views of Utah Lake below us.   It was a nice run with the boys.

One of the boys, Seth, was so kind, he gave me some Altra Lone Peaks.   I took them out for a seven-mile test drive.  Here is my inital review. 

Fit.  So far, they seem to fit very well.  Nice toe box room.  Didn't detect any hot spots.  I only used them on the flats, so no idea how they do on steep ups and downs.

Impact.  This is a concern.  With my nearly bone-on-bone knee, I could feel joint impact with this type of minimalist shoe on the road.  I already have a pretty good mid-foot strike on the flats.  On a soft trail it was better.   Also, I think I need more arch support.  I'm going to experiment with a different insole.  For any shoe, I usually do something with the insole.

Foot fatigue.  I can tell my feet would get tired and sore in these if I used them for a long run of 50 miles or more.  But, I think they would be great to help strengthen my feet without doing something stupid like running barefoot on trails.

Zero drop.  No biggy.  I could immediately feel the difference, but I suspect since Hokas have a low drop, I'm already used to that.  By the end of my run, I didn't notice it.  They felt fine, no calf soreness.

Speed.  Don't know yet.  Those boys make me legs tired trying to keep up with them.  I'll try them again when my legs are fresh.   I bet these shoes would do well on treadmills, and would help with running form.

Look.  For those of us who gaze at the Wasatch Mountains and Lone Peak every day, kudos for the cool creative design on the shoe.  Very impressive.

Link to Detailed Report

I did a wonderful 26-mile adventure run up on a mesa about 600 feet above Price, Utah.  Up there are the Western Bookcliff Mountainbike trails that have been developed by the Price Area Singletrack Society (PASS).  They are perfect for trail running, lots of rolling, twisting trails, some fast, some technical.  I ran nearly every mile of the main trails, some sections multiple times.  Great fun, perfect weather.  I'll post an entry on my blog for this one with pictures.  It was a nice area to discover.  It looks like it is mostly used by bikes, but I did see some recent foot prints so someone else runs up there.

A map of the trails can be found here.

Here's my Garmin track

Treadmill and also out in the beautiful 22 degree morning.  With the blazing sunshine it felt a lot warmer and I cruised around in shorts and shortsleeves.

Third 100-mile training week in a row.  I've never done that before.