24

Saturday, it was all Scout and Squirrel for the full 24.  Lots of Monsters were busy having great runs at the Merrimack River 10 Mile Trail Race.  Lots of others were heading to Boston to prepare for the marathon.  That's OK; we really don't run out of things to talk about.  Sometimes, when the talk drops off in the very final miles as we concentrate very hard on the footing, I talk to her in my head.

The plan this time was for just one stop at the car to cut down on, well, time.  We decided the first of our two loops would be the BBU loop without lunchbreak.  So we started on the east side adding a little to the loop to make sure we'd have 14 before starting our 2nd loop, our now favorite way to end the miles: the Bruiser backwards without the O.  Well, after the east side miles, I wanted to drop my arm sleeves at the car.  Mindy was fine with this cause she could lose her gloves.  Then I could also use the out house rather than the outside. 

Well, our stop coincided with Sara, Mary, Ruby, and Sadie meeting up for a run.  Tami also wandered over.  So we didn't cut any extra time off, but probably added more than a normal stop.  Oh well, it was fun to visit.  The pups were so happy to see each other, they didn't even care that Mindy and I were making a fuss over them.

Heading out onto the mountain side we were amazed by the dryness, even more so by the slipperiness of the dry oak leaves.  It wasn't as bad as ice, but it was an added thing to be aware of.  Mindy's Garmin had come back all refurbished.  It was amazing how loud the mile alarm was.  What was even more amazing was that miles 7, 8, and 9 alarmed just seconds after the previous mile rang out.  Seriously.  I thought we must have had some time loss.  More alien abductions while running???  We marveled at the blueness of the sky.  Coming off the mountain, into the parking lot, I remarked how nice it was not to have the toes screaming at us like they did last week. 

We stopped at the car (this was the planned stop).  Mindy topped off her hydration pack.  I ate another something.  We headed off feeling pretty fine.  Still, with about 5 miles left, our conversation predictably dropped off.  Now, this entire run we'd been remarking on how dry it was.  So, of course, when I finally fell, with just two miles remaining, it was into the only water on the trail.  AND, of course, I was carrying my brand new camera on its maiden run.  I'd stubbed my right foot hard on a rock and propelled forward, landing on knees and hands...and camera.  OK, knee?  Eh, alright.  Camera?  um gritty, but still seemed to work.  Toes?  OUCH!  Oh well, two miles to go.  Things worked fine once we got moving. 

Somewhere along the Island, Mindy's Garmin rang out.  One more mile left :)  Pulling into the parking lot, we'd just topped 24.  Perfect.  Though Mindy had gotten a premonition of TBLTs, we weren't too disappointed because E&Ls had the yummy Cabbage and Bacon soup.

Only one more long run before the taper!  How can that be?!