Sunday Morning Twenty

I wasn't quite sure how to fit today's 20 miler into the day, but in the end, despite feeling a bit sad to miss out on a morning with Ryan and Sam, I decided that it would probably be best to go in the morning. That way, I could run with friends for part of the run, which always makes the miles more fun! I hit the Bradbury trails at 7:40 (a bit later than I had hoped, but Sam slept in today, and I wanted to at least be there when she woke up and have a chance to spend a few minutes with her before I took off), and decided I would try to get in as many miles as I could in the alloted time using the east side trails. I started out doing the Bruiser course, minus the Island trail, but when I got back to the snowmobile trail, I turned left and wound my way around a bit randomly until I figured I had better get back to the parking lot. I pulled in a minute or two before 9:00, with the Garmin reading 7.5 miles. I quickly went to the bathroom, dropped by gloves and hat, and joined the group.

I was surprised how many people were there! I had thought it might just be Mindy, Val, Rick and I, but Ian, Zak, Randy and Mark, a newcomer, were all there too. Fun! The plan was to run a portion of the Big Brad Ultra course, getting in 10 to 12 miles. We headed out through the park onto the Connector, took a new-to-me trail up around Tyron  and then headed down to Lawrence Road. Somehow I was up front running with Ian and Zak, and as I cautiously made my way down the hill, I watched Zak in front of me, bounding gracefully, almost prettily in fact, down the trail. Gotta learn to do that!

The course took us on a very pretty, rolling dirt road for a bit, before joining up with the powerline trail, and I ran for a while with Randy, chatting about his kids and fitting in running around work, etc. It was fun to catch up with him! Then it was just Ian, Zak, Randy and I as we hopped back on the Connector. I started to slow a bit as we recrossed Lawrence Road and headed back up towards Tyron. I was tempted to let them go, but wasn't sure about trying to follow the twisty turny singletrack that wound its way through the woods up there on my own, so I just kept on following and hoped I wasn't holding them up too much! Thank goodness Ian and Zak had run 50k yesterday or there is likely no way I would have been able to run with them :-) I felt badly that I had lost Mindy and Val though, as I had originally been intending to run with them this morning! Somehow it just sort of happened. It was nice to have a chance to run with Ian and Zak though, as it is something I don't usually do!

We got back into the park and took the Boundary to the summit, before going down Lunchbreak Hill to the elementary school. From there, it was "just" back up Lunchbreak Hill, and around for a few more miles and my 20 would be done! I bid the boys goodbye at the bottom of the hill, knowing I very likely wouldn't have the energy to keep up with them on the long, sustained uphill. And indeed, they pulled away quickly, as I slowly chugged my way back up to the Boundary trail. I headed back up to the summit and then turned down the Tote Road. I hadn't gone very far when I saw Mindy, Val and Mark running up. Hurray! I turned around and joined them for their final mile, called Ryan from the parking lot to find out where they were, and then did a short out-and-back on the Northern Loop Trail before heading for the Summit Trail to meet up with Ryan, Sam, Kristen and Morgan, who had been out hiking. They were nearing the bottom and my Garmin was reading 12.5 for portion #2 of today's run, so I ran up to them and finished my run right there, with Sam happily yelling "Yay Mama!" :-) A very nice way to end a long run! I was very happy to feel good pretty much the whole way today, and it was a lot of fun to have company for most of the last 12.5 miles. Definitely made the miles go by much more quickly! Thanks everyone!!

Of course, the morning wouldn't be complete without a stop at Edna & Lucy's for a delicious lunch. Perfect post-run food! :-) Now, how about a nap....