10.4 miles @ ~13:00/mi
I slept in and decided to do another heat training run today. I had nothing planned for the day so I decided to head to the hills and do a trail run. It was hot from the start. It was good I wore my Nathan water pack. I started with it full and ended with it empty.
I parked my motorcycle near the Bonneville Shoreline trailhead at the top of water tank hill #1 near the police gun range. I ran up the remaining water tank hills then up the trail to Rock Pile.
From there I turned left and headed west on Trail 51 and over to the top of Dry Canyon. I was only at about 6 miles, so I decided to continue on towards Battle Creek. My plan was to run back from there on the Bonneville Shoreline trail to the Dry Canyon trailhead, then on the last couple of miles back to where I started.
There were many trails and not many trail markers so I eventually just started following my instincts and following trails that seemed to be heading the right direction and that seemed to be well traveled.
Before I reached the bottom of Battle Creek I decided to head back south toward Dry Canyon. I ended up down on a paved street near the Lindon City Horse Staging Area (there was a sign). There I got back on a trail heading south. It ended up crossing the paved road up to the Dry Canyon trailhead, but down a ways. I was planning to get a good drink there, but it was too steep, too far, and it was too hot. I still had water in my Nathan so I opted to continue on the last couple of miles to finished the loop back to where I started. When I got there I was very hot (temp was 89 degrees) and finished off the little water remaining.
I really enjoyed the cool breeze on my motorcycle as I rode the couple of miles home.
I wore my new Altra Lone Peak 1.5 trail shoes on this run. I've hiked in them a couple of times, but this was my first run in them. I like them a lot. They felt very comfortable. I was a little worried about the effect of the zero drop on my calves, especially with all the uphill. I've run up to 6 miles in my Altra Instinct 1.5 shoes over the past year or so, but sometimes when I did my calves would be sore afterward. I didn't feel I fully completed the transition to zero drop shoes.
This 10+ mile run, with hills, was by far my longest run in zero drop shoes. I was careful to walk the steeper uphills, and whenever my calves felt like they were being worked a little too hard. Time will tell, but I think it turned out well. I was able to run fine through the end, and my legs seemed to recover pretty quickly.
This run gave me confidence to hike, and maybe run/hike, in these shoes during our vacation to Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada next month. I think these tough heat and hill workouts will also make me stronger in my upcoming Hobble Creek half marathon and St. George marathon.
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