Weekly Hike Training in Oro Valley

Note: This is a fairly dry post meant primarily for my own records (as is this blog generally) so proceed at your own risk of ennui.

My thrice-weekly training walks start right out the door on Calle Loma Linda. I maintain this regimen to keep from injuring my elderly self on the trail. There are four short yet upwardly-inclined streets I walk up (and down) that somewhat stimulate my heart rate, but fall well short of the 165-170 BPM max rate for most of my hikes. I usually walk this three-mile course at pretty much my maximum pace of around 4.3 mph (under 14 minutes/mile) so finish in under 45 minutes. My pace usually fluctuates depending on elevation gain as you can see from the splits below. Training is a necessary evil for hiking, especially if one hikes only one or two times a week as I have been this year in trying to get back in shape; but walking out-of-doors sure beats hitting the treadmill at the Y.

The blue at the bottom of the map is Cañada del Oro Wash, 

which almost never has water in it save for the monsoon season 

and after the mountain snow melt in the spring.

My route on Apple Maps. Our place is the blue dot bottom right.

My street, Calle Loma Linda, dead-ends at the top of this short hill.

Next street over is Calle El Milagro, which wends its way up to Linda Vista Blvd., which ties all these streets together on the south. While it doesn't look steep, it is mostly over a 10% grade as are most of these hills. Linda Vista Blvd. is also the road that takes one over to the Linda Vista Loop Trail and the formidable Pusch Peak hike.

Coming down Calle El Milagro.

Bangalor Drive

Calle Buena Vista (buena indeed)

Calle Buena Vista on the return.

Valle Del Oro Road ties all the side streets together on the north side.

Finally back to Calle Loma Linda and on home.