"I wanna do the whole loop"

RUN 14 miles in 2:50 at LV with EW

EW is training for Trail Fest in two weekends, two races over three days, her first trail race! So she was looking for a trail run and I was looking for someone to run with, we both had the same goal distance, so this worked great! The trail was new to her and I wouldn't have driven out to LV to run alone. It would have been FoPa or from home. We both benefited.

I tested my sugared-potato recipe this morning -- good but not that good. So maybe try it with rice balls? I nailed the pre-run nutrition, sometimes I eat too much or get running late. Since our plan was to run only 10 miles I didn't bring in-run fuel, just ate the potatoes in the parking lot. They worked great as nutrition with no stomach upset or back-of-throat burp stuff. So keep as an option.

EW had new trail shoes and I had my rugged well-worn Cascadia 9's that I'll be racing in. I'm worried about them and the tear on the side of each shoe. My Kettle shoes had the exact same issue and they survived the race. But I'm also worried about them rubbing that area of my foot like they did today. I didn't use any tape of anti-chafe, hopefully that's all it was that led to my discomfort!

EW has an easy pace and I certainly didn't want to hurry, wear myself out, or fall. So this was really a win-win. We chatted and chatted, funny how the trail brings out the odd conversations. Old boyfriends, family, growing up, coming out!

At the 5 miles point I had planned to turn around, but EW said she wanted to run the whole loop. She didn't have any food or water, I asked, she felt OK, so we kept going. In retrospect this was questionable but a good learning experience. We ran the loop counter-clockwise then picked up the short loop road to get back. By this time she was tired! And her feet hurt with her new shoes. By mile 12 she was thirsty and counting to the finish :) Welcome to running trails!

I felt refreshed afterwards but worried about the foot discomfort, some hip discomfort, the lack of coordination I felt. Was running with a different runner a distraction mentally? Maybe I was thinking more about her, or maybe overthinking my own pre-race concerns?

Afterwards a trip to the vet and Petsmart, then off to camping!