Weighted Trail Run

Got a brand spankin new weighted vest this weekend and obviously I had to try it. I've wanted to take a ruck sack or an odd object for a run through the park and figured this would be a pretty good option. There is a decent 5.5 mile loop that starts and ends at Northwestern and has some pretty good hills to climb. At first, the vest was awkward to wear during a run, because it bounced around on my shoulders and became somewhat distracting. I couldn't tighten it too much, or I hindered my breathing. After 5 minutes or so, it became background noise and I was in a rhythm. That was where the rhythm ended, as I approached one of the steapest hills in the park at the intersection of Forbidden Drive and Bells Mill Rd. I had to stop and walk once or twice, a habit I would repeat on the rest of the hills as well. The weather was not unbearably warm, but I found myself gulping down water at both Valley Green and Northwestern when I finished. It was tougher than I thought, to say the least.

I finished the loop in about 65 minutes, which puts my pace at a pretty surprising slow level, but hopefully this will translate into more speed on future unweighted climbs.

Supplemental work: 20 minutes foam roller massage.