equipment eval : windy hill

i wanted to see how my running shoes, for which i have a newfound love, could also serve as my hiking shoes. so i set out for an easy hike. the minimum distance for "a hike", i have decided, is seven miles, and since according to my memory, the windy hill loop is seven miles, i went to windy hill. turns out that my memory was wrong and the loop is actually 8 miles. whoops!

i went with minimal gear: tank top, 3li water, 2 clif bars, sunscreen, and forerunner gps. socks were my usual hiking/trail running socks.

i kept up a very good pace, around 3.4mph, on account of i felt airy and light, on account of i was exactly that. i'd lunched before getting to the trailhead. the runners are noticably lighter than my hikers, which themselves are quite light for what they are.

i felt as tho the runners didn't have good traction, and no doubt they did not, but i found that with a sure step i could mostly compensate. however, if my mind drifts too much i may not be able to maintain concentration-based-traction and could end up in the dirt.

speaking of dirt, the shoes' ventilation is very nice but it lets in lots of dirt and dust. not a big deal with the dust, but small rocks could get in, it seemed. neither set of shoes is waterproof so i didn't judge the runners harshly on that account, but i did have very little traction when crossing the abundant muck of windy hill's shady trails. the traction on my hikers isn't fantastic either but it's better than that.

at the end of the 8 miles i began to have foot-tendon problems which i used to get before i found my dunham hikers. the pain is related to poorly fitted shoes, i think. but in this case i suspect that it's got more to do with shoe looseness and the fact that i ran 10 miles yesterday. i was able to compensate by adjusting my gait and footfall. at the end of the hike my feet felt much better than they normally do in the dunhams, however, i haven't hiked so light (light, damnye!) in my dunhams in quite a long time so it could just have been the minimal load that kept the toesies happy.

i've decided to take them with me for the desert death hike since a bay area hike, no matter which one, is not a fair eval of desert hiking conditions. the fisrt time i did the desert death hike was in my dunham trail runners, which were a half-size too small and poorly built. but they got me through it so i know a pair of runners can survive the hike. as i drop in weight i'll need less cushioning on my feet, and my feet will thank me for allowing them to adjust to a single shoe for all my shin-pounding activities. that's the plan, anyhow. time will tell.