Well, last Saturday was the day I was supposed to go 20 miles. That didn't happen. I went 22 miles. Apparently my map distance calculating skills are a touch off! It was a beautiful morning and as of Saturday, the mosquitoes had yet to hatch so that just made it even more enjoyable. (Unfortunately, since then, they've hatched - with a vengeance!) Once again I had some company. Even though he had just run the Superior Hiking Trail spring 50K one week prior, Jeff came along to keep me company. We were also graced withe the presence of Bob, my niece Lindsey's boyfriend and a veteran runner in his own right. Bob had to work Saturday afternoon so he was only able to join us on the first half - the 11 miles down hill. My hope is that someday he'll be able to enjoy those 11 miles back uphill with me. It's always enjoyable to "guide" someone on the Jay Cooke trails for the first time as they're just so amazing to run on!
Luckily we were able to hit the Upper Lake loop. I've kind of developed a bit of a tradition where, if someone runs the trails with me for the first time, I try to showcase this overlook and then record it for posterity. So far that's been Jeff, Steve, Wenday, and now Bob. If anyone else wants to go for a stroll through the woods, just let me know and you too may end up on these pages - whether you want to or not!
What's really hard to comprehend for me is that slightly over two months ago I had pretty much never run farther than a 5K - 3.1 miles. To complete 22 miles - and yes there was a bit of walking involved - makes me realize that accomplishing things really just takes a bit of time and effort. Granted it wasn't all duckies and bunnies. There were a couple of creek crossings where I stopped and soaked my legs for a bit - including a three-minute sitdown in Otter Creek a half-mile from the end. And, since it was near 80 degrees by the time I finished a little after noon, I ran out of water with a mile and a half to go and refilled my bottles from a little spring runoff and it was SO GOOOOOOOD!!!
What's really hard to comprehend for me is that slightly over two months ago I had pretty much never run farther than a 5K - 3.1 miles. To complete 22 miles - and yes there was a bit of walking involved - makes me realize that accomplishing things really just takes a bit of time and effort. Granted it wasn't all duckies and bunnies. There were a couple of creek crossings where I stopped and soaked my legs for a bit - including a three-minute sitdown in Otter Creek a half-mile from the end. And, since it was near 80 degrees by the time I finished a little after noon, I ran out of water with a mile and a half to go and refilled my bottles from a little spring runoff and it was SO GOOOOOOOD!!!
But throughout the run I saw 12 deer, got to spend time with two good conversationalists and got to run by the spring season unfolding right before my eyes. I even did the last 10 miles or so solo as Jeff had realized he wasn't quite as recovered from the 50K as he'd thought and insisted that I go on ahead while he "gutted it out." I wanted to finish 20 miles in 5 hours and ended up finishing 22 in 5:15 so I was pleased with my time as well.
Now the challenge continues to be finding time to put in the training. Today I had to revert to one of my past rituals - the 5:00 a.m. road run. It's been hard to find time in the evenings so I went for a quick 4-miler this morning as I figured any miles are better than no miles. And even though I've bashed road running to anyone who would listen, I gotta say it was kind of nice to be back on the pavement again - for a short time anyway.
As far as training plans, I'm so off my original plan by now that I'm not even going to report those anymore. Basically, during the week, I'm trying to run what I can, when I can. My only goal now is to make sure I get at least one 10+ mile run in on my off weekends and still hit the 20+ milers every other weekend. No matter what, last weekend proved to me that if I can do 22 miles, I should be able to tack on 4.7 more by July 12th!
Now the challenge continues to be finding time to put in the training. Today I had to revert to one of my past rituals - the 5:00 a.m. road run. It's been hard to find time in the evenings so I went for a quick 4-miler this morning as I figured any miles are better than no miles. And even though I've bashed road running to anyone who would listen, I gotta say it was kind of nice to be back on the pavement again - for a short time anyway.
As far as training plans, I'm so off my original plan by now that I'm not even going to report those anymore. Basically, during the week, I'm trying to run what I can, when I can. My only goal now is to make sure I get at least one 10+ mile run in on my off weekends and still hit the 20+ milers every other weekend. No matter what, last weekend proved to me that if I can do 22 miles, I should be able to tack on 4.7 more by July 12th!