20 at Pineland

This was the day for 20 miles. I had packed everything under the sun in my bag as I wasn't sure what the weather would be like, but in the end, it turned out to be a much nicer day than anticipated. I met Valerie at the YMCA at 7:45, 15 minutes later than I had planned but what can you do? It's tough getting out of the house on time when the munchkin is around. A bit of blue sky appeared in the sky as we ran out of the parking lot and towards the end of the campus loop, we looked out over the farm and the green hills beyond to see the low fog and clouds lifting. Very pretty. We had fun chatting as we ran along, but as we got back to the campus loop, Valerie urged me to go on, saying she was going to do a fair amount of walking. I didn't want to leave her - it was so nice to have such good company! Thanks again Valerie! - but I thought maybe she just wanted to go her own speed, so I went on ahead. Of course, it was silly really, as we kept seeing each other through the trees as we wound around and up to the Grove :-) There I stopped at the car to change out my bottles and have a 1/4 of a PB&J, and then headed across the street to the Oak Hill section of the course.

Oak Hill was in wonderful shape, and it was some really nice running over there! I probably picked up the pace during that section a bit more than I should have, but I was feeling strong. As I exited the trails, I took a slight detour to the Visitor's Center to use the bathroom, and noted that as I got back to the car, my Garmin was reading right around 13 miles. So far so good! I continued to feel pretty good until around mile 17, when the combination of a bit too quick of a pace, time on my feet and probably not quite enough fuel caught up to me. The last three miles were a bit of a struggle, but I didn't fade completely, and managed to keep the pace from totally falling off and only walk the really steep sections of the campus loop on the way back up. Still, I was pretty happy to get back to the car, I must admit!

I ran until the Garmin read 20.0 miles exactly - if you're running 20, you might as well run exactly 20 :-) - and the run took me 3:10:32, with an average of 9:30 pace, which I was very happy about. Of course, the thought of running another 11 miles is a little daunting, and I am pretty sore and tired right now, but I think I can do it. Although the run was faster than it should have been, I think it was a good test, and is a good indicator that I'm in decent shape and can do the miles, even on the low mileage weeks I've been running. I know in a race situation, with such a great atmosphere and support, it will be different and hopefully easier than being out there like I was today, alone for 14 miles of the 20. But I'll have to be smart about it, and not run 9:30s! The Pineland terrain is deceptively difficult and doesn't offer the body much time to rest, so keeping the pace down will be key for me if I'm going to finish the course up without dying. Hopefully I can do it! I still have a few weeks to decide for sure, but for now, I'm leaning toward doing the 50k. Am I dumb or what?! :-)

Flora and fauna notes: The woods are coming alive - the trout lily leaves were abundant on the forest floor, although no flowers yet; the maroon Trillium were blooming; I also noted wild oat and starflowers and false lily of the valley in many spots. We saw some turkeys, but other than that, I was too focused on either chatting with Valerie or on my run to note any of the bird songs, so I'm not sure exactly what was out there. I did have two cool sightings on the drive home though - the first was a turkey vulture on the ground at the road's edge, hanging around some roadkill. I don't think I've ever seen them except circling on the airwaves, so it was neat to see how much they do indeed resemble a turkey! Also saw a bluebird flitting through a field to light on a power line. Cool!