17 March 2012 - Deer Creek Reservoir

[Sun Dance]

Saturday I ran from the Deer Creek dam along the north/west side all the way to Soldier Hollow. It was warm, about 60°, but the wind was blowing at about 30mph, so my lips chapped pretty quickly. The trail is double-wide and roughly follows the train tracks for the Heber Creeper.





A somewhat unconventional view of Charleston Bridge. Look hard.



At about mile 6, blisters started bothering me in the one place I didn't think to put Body Glide - the side of my foot where the shoe was rubbing. Running barefoot seems to be the thing these days, so I thought I'd give it a try and give my blister a rest. The trail didn't seem all that rocky. My speed halved and I might as well have been walking. Little pebbles are not good on the feet. I tried to tough it out until I started down through some mud created by snowmelt. When my feet went numb, I knew that it was time to get the shoes back on. The barefoot experience lasted about a quarter mile.





A shuttle picked me up at Soldier Hollow and we spent the rest of the day in Midway. 7.6 miles, 1159' elevation gain, all in 1hr 24 min.



Hamstrings were somewhat sore for a day, but I bet if I stretched them a little more than a minute apiece afterward or considered ice/hot, it wouldn't be a problem at all. The toughest part as I ramp my miles up with toe strikes is the blister problem. I don't really want to wrap my feet in moleskin and guess where the blisters will show up. Blisters seem to stay away on steeper terrain and on flat terrain less than five miles.

[accadacca]

Great report! Bare feet?! Yikes!