On Sunday’s run, I did the Temescal Trail. The plan was to do 12 miles and bring about 16oz of water – one bottle for each hand.
It was blistering hot. Not the hottest day of the year, but I was definitely baking out there. I finished my first bottle of water with 4 miles left in my run. The plan was to finish the first bottle right about there and dump it in the recycle bin found at the trail hub. With one bottle left, I thought I had plenty of water to make it back to the car. Unfortunately, I took a wrong turn on the way back and had to back track.
The Bad:
I ran out of water 12 miles into the run, but I had to back track 2 miles to get to the car. 2 miles without water isn’t really an issue. But it was a little scary thinking what if it was more than 2 miles. The key for the next run is not run out of water at all.
The Good:
1) I knew I took a wrong turn when the trail did not look familiar. It was missing some landmarks that I was looking for. 2) GPS watch came in handy – letting me know that I should have been back to the car at 12 miles. And here it was, 12 miles and all I see is a whole lot of nothing. So I turned around and started running back until I found the junction that I should have made a left at, instead of a right. The trail was going down hill so I blew right past the sign post.
The Extra Good:
New gear! I picked up the Salomon Agile 12 hydration pack which comes with a 1.5L bladder. That should potentially last me for 20 miler. There’s room it for a larger bladder and some mesh pockets for extra water bottles as well. I’ll hold off on a review of the pack until I can put some miles in with it. Plan on a 14-16 miler this Saturday or Sunday.
