RUN 5:10 and 26.3 miles
Check this one off the list? I think so, but read on to hear about my doubts.
I was solo on this one. I would have loved company but in the end I needed this solitude training. I got a later than planned start, but the day was gorgeous and cool for early July. Everything was set and good to go, including a batch of home made energy gel I wanted to test late in the run.
I set out on River Scene, planning to go out 10 miles before turning around. Once at 20 and the truck, I'd find another 6.something to get my >26.2 mile distance. For the first time since I ran it with DC and TK, I found the Nettle trail beyond the RR's private property. Turns out it's a pretty, flat, soft trail that winds along the river. It has a windy path (not like wind and the weather, but rather a meandering...) that reminded me of the flats at Potowatomi. Then I found Sherman Beach, then Al Foster, (saw my inspo JL! she makes it look so EASY)...all the trail connections I've been wanting to find all in front of me. Not clear, the maps and winding paths had me confused, but here they are and finally I get to run them.
I followed the AF and ran into the Rock Hollow path, a paved 2.3 mile uphill that I've run in the January 12 miler. Huh, so that's how it connects to Castlewood! Up the hill, where my need to pee and get more water took precedence over staying on the trial. Siri directed me to a QT 1.5 miles out where I happily emptied and refilled. I was unhappy about being off the trail, but happier to have remedied these issues.
And as a nice coincidence, that put me at 10 miles. But I was staring to have some re-thinking, wondering if I should plan to arrive at the truck at 26 miles so that I didn't skip out those last miles. It is hard to leave again on loops sometimes! Knowing my water status (empty and full) and my nutrition counts, I could keep going to 26. Deal, let's try it, but stay flexible.
On they way back, I recognized better the AF section used in the January race. Another ah ha moment. I was happy to be working these questions out but getting bored and sloppy. Things were starting to go downhill in terms of mood by the time I reached the private property signs at 18 miles. I paused (for what seemed the hundredth time in the last few miles) to think....I need to log more miles before I get back to the truck. When I started out earlier I took the left fork. Now I took the right. I knew there were more trails, I just had to find them!
And I did, the Bluffs trail sign appeared and I got to wondering...if this is going to be a "flats" run, can I count running the "bluffs" trail? This is just an example of how stupid I was getting. To this point I'd been on nice, biked, dirt trails that were fairly un-technical. Suddenly the trail turned to gravel and root, steps and downed trees, and those bluff rocks I see at Chubb--the swiss-cheese looking ones built into the hill around which the dirt is washed away. I ended up walking here, no way I had the brains for running these. Nuts. Because up to now, I'd been holding a PR pace of 52-55-60 minutes per 5 miles. Suddenly I'm 65 plus minutes! Oh well. There was also a lot of overgrowth on this trail. I wasn't a big fan of this loop!
I ran into a cyclist with a yellow ToMO jersey and we started talking to each other like we knew each other. We caught up again later and realized we didn't LOL--cardio brain!
I struggled through here. I didn't know the trail at all, and it seemed to be going all the wrong directions. I learned later from a map that I was on multiple switchbacks. There wasn't much choice except to let it go and do what I had to do-walk if needed. I had unintentionally saved the hardest for last and I realize in retrospect that it's a good training opportunity. I didn't recognize it at the time.
At one point near the end I saw an overlook, walked up, and saw railroad tracks. My cardio brain had some fun processing a sudden change in space--the tracks looked HUGE and spacious and dizzyingly far away. Kind of a fun moment to see just how warped I was getting.
Another thing that marked this trail was that I had to pass through a tunnel, bent over low. A mountain biker rode in hunched over the bars my first pass through. I didn't know it the first time, but it was the RR tracks? The 2nd time through I had a thought that I wouldn't want to be there when a train passed over. Cardio Brain.
Back on the River Scene trail, the crowds were much thicker here and I suddenly had company on the trail. I was happy to be able to "talk" to others, even if they just nodded back to my "good morning" (was it still morning? I don't think so...) or ignored me altogether. Other runners were dropping me fast with their fresh legs. Everyone looked so ... awake.
I was doing OK when I hit mile 24, I just wanted to quit but I kept going. But suddenly I started to get HOT, sweat pouring off me. I'd been sweating a lot all along, but it just seemed that all the sudden the day really heated up. I was about 0.5 mile from the truck and knew I couldn't go back now. I turned left instead of right to wander some more, and found myself on the River Scene trail again? What?! Oh, THAT's that trail connection! LOL. I turned around at mile 25 (I was almost back at the RR bridge to the stairs) and took some water and ... nothing.
I WAS OUT OF WATER?! Am I not paying attention!? I'm only 12-15 mins out, so I'm OK. But the last half mile I walked. I was done. Cooked. Burnt. Toasted. You get the idea.
What happened!? Nothing went wrong. It was a combination of biking the day before, the heat, the higher pace, that's all! I think that although it went bad at the end I still finished the goal distance no matter what and after a brief rest at the truck I did feel much better. I wasn't as cooked as I thought.
Oh and my new gel concoction of instant coffee and maltodextrin? It worked, but didn't inspire me to eat it. I kept wishing I had the EFS. Nutrition overall was a Powerbar, a gel, and 300 calories of the home made stuff. That's it! Oh and a Lara Bar recovery with more dried fruit on the way home :)
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