Morning 18

Headed out into the chilly morning air right at 8:00 am this morning. I went back and forth, but ended up wearing tights and long sleeves, and honestly, I was happy to have them and didn't even start to get too warm until the last miles of my run. Fall, indeed!

My plan was to run the Cathance trails out to Head of Tides and then finish up with the extended dump loop. I figured it would be just about perfect in terms of mileage. Given the route I chose, it turned out to be more like a tale of two runs in terms of terrain and time. The first nine miles were beautiful but slow. With the rain last night, the leaf-littered and narrow singletrack was slick and slippery. I meandered through the woods, tiptoeing across the green ice on the bog bridges, trying not to slip. The woods were very quiet - I didn't see any animals or other people while I was out on the trails. I just ran along, enjoying the beauty of the woods as the leaves fell down around me and the mist rose from the river.

I got back to the entrance to the trails just as my watch was beeping 9 miles. Time was right around 1:40, so I wasn't exactly moving. I decided to take the back Highland Green Road down to Tedford instead of heading back on the Heath and up by the quarry. I was pretty sure it would be similar milage-wise, and I honestly was ready for a change of pace from the slippery singletrack. I ran out to the powerlines and hooked up with the snowmobile trails. I took the long way around, and popped out of the woods on the opposite side of the two ponds at the edge of the dump property. From there, I hopped back onto the snowmobile trail, did a loop out in the woods and then wandered back to Lover's Lane. From there it was only 2.5 miles home. Mileage was a little off, so I did a short little 1/4 mile out-and-back on the powerlines near the hill by Rt. 24 to ensure that I would hit 18 miles by the time I pulled up to the front door. The snowmobile trails were a nice change from the Cathance trails. I was able to stretch out my legs a bit and find a bit more of a rhythm, although with all the rain, the stretches of good running were punctuated often by big, deep puddles in the rutted out sections of trail. I ran the final 9 miles in 1:28, so I guess that tells you how different the trails were :-)

I was definitely tired for the final 6 miles or so and could feel the miles/time in my legs, but I managed to keep up the fueling OK throughout the run and wasn't completely wiped at the finish. I also managed to keep a pretty positive mindset the whole time, and never had thoughts of cutting things short. I don't mind running alone, but 3 hours is a long time to be out there with only one's own mind for company! Luckily, my head seemed to be on straight for this one, so the run wasn't a mental struggle. That is always nice!

One more long run next weekend and then it's a short taper to Stonecat! Hard to believe it is getting so close!