Yes, it is warm outside and yes, it is also July, so it is not something that is all that unexpected even up heah in Maine. It does get warm a few days a year, irregardless of the rumors you might hear otherwise.

Today was one of those warm ones. When Bennie doesn’t want to walk all that far and doesn’t bark at me when I leave the house, I know that the weather outside is questionable. So I headed into Augusta figuring that I would hit the Planet Fitness treadmill. That safety thing that gets through the old noggin every once in a while.

However, when I went by the bank on Outer Civic Center Drive and the temp read 89*, something inside of me thought about cool tree covered trails. Yeah I had a Harold being Harold moment. The idea of being cooped up inside on a gorgeous, although warm summer day no longer appealed to me.

When I got to the light, I turned down Leighton and head for the Bond Brook Recreation area. It is mostly single-track with a lot of tree coverage. Just what I was looking for.

That also meant getting changed in the truck. Now I am not all that worried about people seeing me “au naturale”, but I don’t want to offend or scare anyone, plus the snide comments can get a bit personal, so I quickly changed as best as I could in the truck, (luckily no one drove by). Remember I was originally headed to the gym, so all my running stuff was in my gym bag.

I didn’t bother loosening up and just headed out to explore a little. I figured that I would be going slow and would warm-up by running. Some of the trails are a bit different than they used to be when I ran there a lot lot more, so it can be a bit of an adventure on the newer trails.

With the warmer temps and me still babying my leg a little, the pace was going to definitely going to be slower than I normally run. Plus on trails, I relax and don’t worry about pace all that much anyway, they are my place to just relax, focus on the moment (so I don’t eat dirt) and enjoy nature’s beauty.

I did pretty good through 3.0 miles or so, but at that point the heat started to bother a bit, so I switched over to walking and running. Plus I do pay attention to my how my hat is doing. Huh?

When my hat starts to rain sweat, I have a pretty good idea it is time to relax and not worry about running and just worry about getting the run done, while taking it easy.

As a result of getting really fatigued by the time I got back to the field, I decided to take the road back to the truck. Running once I get really tired gets a bit dangerous, because I am not lifting my legs as well and am more likely to trip/fall.

So even though I was tired, I was still thinking about the best way to get home in one piece. Once I got to the downhill sections of Tall Pines Way, I just ran the rest of the way, no roots, rocks or big dips to worry about.

It definitely was not one of my fastest runs, but it was one of my better runs, because of the varying terrain, working harder than usual to keep focused and just getting outside in conditions that were not ideal, but still better than running on the treadmill.

It was also my first run in the Salomon Sense Ride v1 and they did great. No issues with the grip and I felt confident on the level of control they gave me on the trails.

The shoe’s protection on rocks was just enough to make running on them noticeable, but not to hurt the feet. Very impressed with the comfortable ride they gave on the trails and even coming down hill on the dirt road.

Good Run.