Very Solid 28

Saturday, I headed to Bradbury afraid that the trails would be un-runnable (we'd had a lot of hard rain the day before) and that I'd be pounding out all 18-20 on the road.  At least Mindy, who had 10 miles on her schedule, volunteered to join me for my last half.  Emma had given me a road loop to do, but I was more worried that my body might not like going that far on pavement given that I'd only done 6 total on the road in the last 5 or 6 months.

I was the first TM in the parking lot at 8 a.m.   Soon after Zak and Lenka drove in followed closely by Blaine and Erin.  We yakked a while thinking others might show.  All of a sudden there was Allen.  He'd run there from his house on the snowmobile trails.  He told of a couple near plunges into icy water.  As it was, he was pretty wet.  My heart sank a little, but then he said that was mostly just the trails from his house; the ones in the park seemed in better shape.  So trails it was!

I was the first to post-hole, not 200 feet into the run.  Erin immediately followed suit.  Hmmmm....That was just getting to the main trail.  Then it was pretty decent running.  Oh, yeah, there were some stretches of post-holing danger and water running under the trail, but mostly good.  We met Pathfinder on his way back in; he'd started at 7 am.  Lots of chatter for 4 miles out until we got to the field.  There it was almost constant post-holing.  I'd gotten a text from Mindy saying she'd be in the parking lot around 9:30.  That was a good excuse to head back.  I told everyone to keep going I was heading back, but they were fine with the distance and, I think, getting back to the better footing.

Erin and Blaine both broke through the trail in one spot.  I thought they were able to stay afloat on what looked like icebergs, but both got wet.  Well, they exposed that trap to the rest of us!  Erin and I slowed a bit and the guys picked the pace up.  Allen was running back home.

Mindy was there and ready when we got back to the parking lot.  I took a few minutes to refill my Gatorade and eat a few pretzels.  The trails were softening up even more, but still runnable.  As usual, Mindy and I gabbed the entire run.  I enjoyed her company and appreciated that she missed the group to keep me company on the harder part of the run.  Guess that's good training for her; she's gonna pace me at the Pineland 50!!!

To get in all the mileage, we added a trip up the mountain side.  We were rewarded by a clear view and a flock of Cedar Waxwings.  Speaking of rewards, we headed to Edna and Lucy's for post-run refueling.  Yum. Yum! YUM!


Today (oh, I guess I have to make that yesterday), I opted for the roads near home.  Since it barely got below freezing last night and was in the mid-40s by the time I headed out, I didn't even give the trails a chance.  Besides, Rick wanted to do 7 on the road, so I had his company for the beginning of the run.  On the downhills, I could tell I'd worked hard the day before.  My quads are slightly sore a the top, near the hip flexors.  Knock on wood, my big toe  joints are doing better  with the mileage increase than they did in recent years.