WET MUDDY MILES

Friday marked two weeks out until my 50k race. This past weekend was the last weekend for high mileage before we start tapering. Ahhhh, taper is such a nice word although I’d venture to say that most of my training felt like a taper.

Stonegate, Burning Girl and I decided early on that no matter what, we were running long on Saturday. Despite it being the last day for our kids’ soccer games, we had to get our miles in. Halloween falling on a Friday night did not make things any easier.

Bright and early Saturday morning Stonegate picked us up and we drove to the Auburn Damn Overlook. I decided that we would try and repeat the run that Pigeon and I did a few weeks ago. You can read about that bear-tastic run here. I have not run this route often and I was a bit nervous that I would either get us lost or we would run into the bear or both. Luckily, only one of the two actually happened. 🙂

Our Halloween night consisted of a torrential down pour and crazy winds. We even lost power at my house. Saturday morning it was wet and drizzling, but considerably better than it had been the night before.

We arrived at the Overlook, quickly moaned and groaned about what we should wear on this run and set off. Within the first 5 minutes I had to stop and make sure we entered the right part of the trail but once we were on the canal trail, I was okay.

I have to giggle because both Stonegate and Burning Girl were squealing with “ooohsss!” and “aaaahhhss!” They were in trail running heaven and we had barely even started. I was getting excited for them. I love running with people who can appreciate the trail as much as I do.

Soon we reached the top of Cardiac Hill and just like Pigeon had warned me, I noticed the DO NOT ENTER signs that represented the private property boundary lines. Down the trail we hiked. It wasn’t long before I realized that something did not seem right. We saw an off shoot that led us to a road which I knew wasn’t where I wanted to go, but I knew the road would lead us to where we needed to be eventually.

So we ran a little bit of pavement until we finally reached the trail that I was looking for and it was breathtaking. The mist in the air and the river really just made the start of our so much better.

Burning Girl was beside herself. She even said within the first few miles that this was hands down, her favorite so far. I have to agree, it really is a beautiful route. The different “eco-systems” that you run through makes it so that you look forward to every mile (on the way out, on the way back … not so much).

While Stonegate and Burning Girl were loving every moment, I was on high bear alert. After my run with Pigeon, I just could not relax. Every sound had me turning my head. It wasn’t until we ran past a couple of lady runners that I finally was able to relax. In my head, I figured that they had chased away any bears. 🙂

One of the best features of this trail is that it rolls. Up and down but never too steep. Some of the hills require some hiking but we really ran the first half super well. I was in the lead and maybe I should have slowed us down a bit, but it felt like a nice steady pace.

Soon we approached our first bridge. I wrote about this area and the “awesome” signage back in 2010 when I was training with my Fleet Feet Group. You can read about that hilarious run here. Good times.

As it turns out, Stonegate and Burning Girl were just as impressed with the signage as I was the first time that I saw it. Sadly, you can’t see what the signs actually says in my photo. 🙁 I will give you a hint, it has to do with big furry cats that may be in the area (if you want to see what the sign says, click here).

The bridge sign however … definitely made us think twice since the water was really flowing underneath. ]

Still, despite the wet, despite the “scary” signs, the girls were having a blast. The best thing about an out and back run, is that you have no excuses. No matter what, you will always have to run back the way you came to get yourself back to the car.

My legs were definitely tired on this run. I think the speed workout we did on Thursday was to blame but overall I felt okay. I am still battling some random tummy issues, but I guess I just have to get used to it. I have good runs and I have bad runs. This one, was definitely one of my better ones.

When we reached Avery’s Pond, I shared with the girls the story behind it and how it makes Pigeon and I laugh every time we pass. It might not have been as funny to them as it is to us, but no matter what, when I reach that pond, I smile.

The rest of the run out was pretty chill. We didn’t get lost (yea!) and when we reached Rattlensake, I knew that we only had to go a short ways before it was time to turn around.

When we reached out turn-around point, we stopped and fueled. I had to take off some layers as I was starting to get hot. I had finally reached that point of being wet vs being sweaty.

It was a glorious day on the trail. The rains may have come and gone, but they left such beauty behind. Finally the foliage was starting to change. We’ve been in such a drought that you can see how much the Earth appreciates the rain when we do get it.

Our route back was a bit slower. We definitely hiked up a few more of the hills than we did on the way out. Burning Girl mentioned that she had to laugh because the hills that she thought I would hike, I ran and the ones she thought I’d run, I hiked. 🙂 I admit, I like running steep climbs but not steep and long. Pigeon always gives me grief when I go running up a hill. Sometimes, the adrenaline just takes over.

One thing that I have to mention are the puddles. Clearly it had rained. The trails were wet and muddy and VERY slippery at times. MOST of the time, there were ways around the puddles that were laying in the middle of the trail.

I know the dangers of dancing around puddles. I’ve had my share of ankle rolls so when I can’t run on the side, I will just run right through them. Running through a puddle is so.much.fun! Most people are afraid to do it for the fear of wet shoes and wet socks but they dry! They dry so unbelievably fast and the wet water feels so amazing on your feet.

Since I was the lead runner, I have no idea what the girls behind me were doing. I didn’t hear the splashing that I heard when I would run through a puddle so I assumed they were running around them. A few times they laughed at the way the back of my legs or the back of my skirt looked.

Soon however, they had to run through the mother of all puddles out there. I missed getting a photo on the way out because they were hot on my tail, but I made sure to get one on the way back.

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So much fun!!!! I love runs like this!!!! It was on our way back that we talked about Stonegate and the fact that she has only ever run 20 miles. She’s never run past the 20 mile mark. She hurt her back training for a marathon and never made it to the 26.2 distance. Like the stud that she is, she’s skipping the 26.2 and heading straight for her first 50k.

We were on way back, hiking up Cardiac when my watch dinged mile 21. PARTY TIME!! We stopped and high-fived her and celebrated a little bit for her awesome milestone.

Once the celebration was over, we had to keep climbing. Once again, we got a little turned around climbing up Cardiac. There are a lot of “Private Property” signs and “Enter at Your Own Risk” signs but I swore up and down that this was the way we needed to go. I knew that the Cardiac Bypass was not the trail we wanted (FYI – the signage on this trail SUCKS).

But we made it. We popped out finally by the canal and were some what over joyed to be done with Cardiac. We walked for quite a while to get our lungs and legs back.

The temps were a bit chillier than they were by the water but we were determined to finish. I think we walked more along the canal on the way back then we did the entire run. No matter, when we reached the car, we were done! 24 miles in the books. Our longest run to date completed. It felt good.

Overall it was a good run. The girls worked on their fueling. They realized how much water they need or will need when it comes to our 50k. We also realize that we won’t be running quite as fast come race day. The elevation for the 50k is pretty steep and we know the adrenaline will get us at the start, but we also know we need to conserve.

I am looking forward the views that I have only heard about and seen online. I told them at the very least, if they stick with me, they will be stopping quite a bit for photos. They didn’t seem to mind. 🙂

Happy Trails!

~Trailmomma