After I recovered from Thursday’s lumber/run and lawn mowing, I was eager to get back into the woods on Friday morning, especially since the horn-happy UPS dude dropped off some new shoes that I was anxious to break in.
After months of going back and forth between the Speedgoat 51 and the New Balance Fresh Foams2, along with reading and watching shoe reviews, I finally found a running shoe that appears to fit my needs as a shoe to hike and lumber in, but more importantly, are light and supportive enough for my version of trail running. That shoe is the North Face Altamesa 500.
I’m not a “real” runner, so I’m not going to blather about the shoes, but I will blather about Friday’s lumber/run.
As I ran/jogged/crawled down the main park path towards the trails, I was once again passed by the Shirtless Dog Guy and his dog (thus his name) sprinting towards me at speeds more than double what I was running.Â
No punches to my ego today, and I continued on intent on doing the same loop as yesterday to compare times and any differences between shoes. I will reiterate I am not to the point where I can run consistently (see pace map below), but I try to keep any hiking to climbs and brief recovery periods in an attempt to adapt my 53-year-old fat boy body to the act of running—something I went out of my way for years to avoid, but now find myself intrigued by what sort of ground I can cover and what the human body can do and see through two feet and a good pair of shoes.
Anyway, the shoes and my body were feeling good (enough), and I was happy that The North Face shoes definitely seemed to keep my foot in place better than the New Balance, yet still felt nimble like the Speedgoats. I’ll take it.
I found myself pushing harder than I have in a while and sometimes I had to stop to let out a long-winded sigh of, “Damn, shit, fuck!” as I poured sweat3, and took in some water, hoping not to puke.
I plodded on with my mind on a bagel and eggs and took only one iPhone photo along the way which I chose not to post because it sucked.
I pushed my sweaty ass hard over the last mile and completed the alleged 5.30 course in 1:05:09 with my fastest average pace ever of 12:18 per mile. Funny, back in August of 2022 (roughly a month before the 2022 Comeback Special officially started), I was only flirting with the idea of hiking in the woods for fitness, and it took me 1:48:53 to do a 5.25-mile course. There was NO running. I’m no math wiz, but I think I’ve improved.
Note: I say the course was allegedly 5.30 miles because I did the SAME EXACT course yesterday, and my dyslexic Garmin said it was 5.03. I’m sure glad I’m not relying on it for directions!
It was nice to push myself like I did on Friday, and I look forward to doing it again soon. Probably not Saturday, as I need to let old muscles and joints recover, but Sunday or Monday for sure.
Later.
THE SOILED SOUNDS TRACK OF THE POST
I’m trapped in a vortex of Australian punk rock, and I can’t escape! And thank the Dogs of Rock because I don’t want to!!
Split System needs to be added to the growing list of Australian bands that make up the bulk of my daily listening, and the song Hit Me and the album Volume 1 (as well as other releases) have done wonders to help me lose what hearing I have left while skanking and moshing around the house, much to the dismay of anyone not me.
- I Love the Speedgoat, but my aged feet need more support,
- These shoes are SO comfy, but they come with a price of being a bit unstable on some trails, especially off camber stuff
- NO ONE sweats like I do. It was in the low 60s, and I looked like I had just jumped in the river, but with 99% less E. coli.