Looooong trail run. And turtles "doin' it"

RUN: 4hrs and 20 mins in Castlewood.

We've been needing rain for weeks, if not months. So no one was complaining when we woke up to rain, lightning, and thunder. YAY! At least we weren't riding today. Running in the rain is great in my book :)

I'd set a start time of 6am, knowing the sun would come up right then. To do this, I'd need to be up around 430 to leave by 520. Messing up this plan--I slept in! My didn't wake up til 5am. NUTS! I rush out the door with my new Camelbak, some dried apples, dates, and a few gels.

On the drive out, I wonder if the park is open--when I arrive at the park the sun still isn't up. Thunder and lightning still everywhere, but the rain coming and going. I'm running late and in a bit of a hurry, so when I see a fallen branch blocking the road to the park the frustration is starting. It's dark, I have the high beams on, I'm alone on the road...I've seen this movie...

I get a text from TH asking if I know that the park doesn't open until 7am. LOL. Nope! She and another runner (BS) are at another park entrance. I give LC a heads-up, then find the alternate route. We warmed up with 2.5 miles or so on the road waiting for 7am and LC. Once situated in a parking lot and all ready to go, finally we set off.

The rain was light for the most part, at some times it got heavy. But I loved it. The humidity was super-thick, the greens were lush, the trail muddy, the creek full, the company wonderful. We logged miles full of conversation and rain.

One thing I love about trail running is the rugged feel, the strength it requires, the almost raw feeling. Running on a road is boring in comparison. This is fast up, down, turn, up, turn, down, more. A hill, a tree, a creek. LOVE IT.

While on the Grotpeter trail we see 2 turtles in the middle of the trail. TH summed it up best: "they're doin' it".  LOL So Beavis and Butthead.

For fueling I alternated real food with sport food: apples, gel, dates, chomps, etc. I was testing to see if this method allowed my tummy time to digest the real food in what would be double the interval by using the sport food in between. It seemed to work. The foods were easy to grab from the Camelback vest.

LC and BS were with us for 13 or so miles (it depended on whose Garmin you consulted, mine said 12 while BS's said 13). They were done, it was BS's longest trail run and LC's first in many years. A morning of great accomplishments.

But TH and I had more planned. So we continued on. By now the rain was done, but not the humidity. Ugh, it was like swimming.

Things rolled along smoothly. I rolled my right ankle once but no apparent damage. The mud was wearing on my hip muscles, my soles were sore from the rocky surfaces, and my Camelbak was empty! (this was a good thing considering that in the beginning of the run I had trouble getting it to work!). I was ready for the run to end, but I did want to hit goal: 20 miles.

It took some bad math and a road out-n-back to do it, but we made it to 20. And considering the garmin inaccuracy in hills, we probably ran at least 20.

I felt great afterwards. Thirsty, hungry, wet, but great. I also had some chafing over my shoulders from the water pack. I really felt the weight in the beginning and I could also feel the pressure on my shoulder/neck muscles. It got better as the pack got lighter. But when I got home, I had some marks on my neck and sore muscles there. This will take some getting used to. Good time to start!