5:42:42

Friday and Saturday were scheduled days off - a nice little rest before my longest single run before Pineland. My next two weekends have longer total mileage, 34 and 36 respectively, but my 50k is bookended with days off. Yay!

I got up Sunday and started readying for the run. Coffee, definitely. Breakfast...hmmm... Clarice's blueberry bread and yogurt. Then I laid out my calories for the run: PBJ cut into 12ths, sandwich baggy stuffed with pretzels, two packets of Honey Stinger Chews, and two Gu gels. For my hydration, I made up a quart of Gatorade and put a 12 oz Coke in the fridge for my last "lap". The day was sunny and I knew that wasn't enough fluids, but I'd be diluting the Gatorade with nearly as much water with each refill and I could always make more up.

I'd planned to be out the door by 9am. I made it by 9:20 (that's on time in my book!). The first leg was to be on the roads. As I ran past my friend Grace's house, I realized I hadn't fed her kitties yet (I was looking in on them for the weekend). Knowing that my run was going to take a long, long time, I headed back to the house to get her key, ran back, fed and watered the cats and spent less time than usual visiting them. I did stop my time during the kitty care. When I got to the end of King Rd, I decided to add the dirt road on Packard' farm and some of their fields. Between that and the road, I'd done 10.7 miles at under 9:30's by the time I got back to refuel.

I'd had a Gu and 16 oz of 1/2 and 1/2 Gatorade on the run. When I got back I ate a few squares of the PBJ, 1/2 pack of chews, some pretzels and water. I changed my sports bra and shirt and into my trail shoes. Rick headed out with me in his first pair of Inov8's. He's on the comeback trail - again. He told me he should get an award for "come-back runner of the year(s)" cause that's all he does. :c It was nice to have his company for almost four miles. We stopped at a stream to analyze animal tracks. On my next lap I took pictures. We've yet to look at them to positively identify them (a bigger predator).

I stopped back in the house with nearly 18 total miles down. More of the same foods. Another sports bra/shirt change and new socks. Oh, and sunscreen...unless that was after the first stop. I was still feeling pretty good.

Pretty much ran the same course in the fields as the previous "loop". This time I started feeling hungry during the run. Good to find out that I wasn't eating enough. Since my loops weren't that long, I hadn't brought anything other than Gatorade with me. About 4 miles in, I started noticing that I'd find myself walking without planning to. That's okay, but I needed to recognize it so that I could make myself start running. When I plan my walks I always have a planned start-running point. It's too easy to let yourself walk too much if you don't realize you're doing it!

I got back to the house with only 5.6 miles left to run. By now, my feet (mostly the big toes) were pretty sore. I finished up what remained of my food supplies. Oh! And had my Coke. It tasted nearly as good as it did on the 50 miler!! Rick asked if I'd had enough or if he could get me anything. I said no to both things, but I just didn't feel like thinking of what more to have or taking any more time. Besides changing one last time, I used the roller a bit before heading out. This time when I went to put my shoes on, I called to Rick to get something to grab a tick. While he was flushing that one, I'd gotten another, and another. Two were on the shoes themselves, one just under the top of my sock.

It was hard to get moving again, but, you just do it. I concentrated on running and only walking by choice. I paid attention to my Garmin trying to pick where I should run to get me back with the proper mileage. Heading back up the driveway to finish, I saw the Garmin turn 31 miles. Immediately, I sat down and took my shoes off (and picked off another tick). I walked barefooty back up in the grass. The total time out of the house was 5:42:42, but the entire event took a little under seven hours.

Even before any more fuel, I showered. The layers of salt and dirt washed away. The feeling of having ticks on me lasted longer.

Today, most of me felt good. Four joined me for a walk around the Back Cove. Nice to move the pieces. Even nicer was to see Emma running! She looked really good :) !