Loopity Loop: Bradbury 20

Headed out this morning as the sun was coming up to hit the trails at Bradbury. After yesterday's rain, the skies cleared and it turned out to be a lovely morning. The trails, on the other hand, were incredibly wet and sloppy. I ran up to the summit to enjoy the tail end of the sunrise lighting up the horizon over the valley below. Beautiful.

Sunrise, sunrise

As it's hunting season, my run would be confined to the mountain side of the park, which would mean many loops to get to the 20+ I was looking for. My first "loop" was about 5.8 miles. I stopped back at the car to shed my thick hoodie and thicker hat and change into two lighter long sleeves and a lighter beanie. It was cool but felt humid, so I was definitely overdressed at the start, and felt better once I had changed.

On the way up to the summit at the start of loop #2, Bill passed me, out for a morning run. We stopped for a minute together to take in the view at the top. 'Makes it worth it,' he said. Indeed.

Early morning light, loop #2

He took off and it was more looping around for me ;) Although the day was lovely, my mind and body were not really feeling it. My back and hips were tight and I was pondering calling it a day. I decided I would run over to John's house to say hi to Zippy and check out his new bench that Bob had built, and get the run to 12 miles. While inside, I texted Ryan to tell him I was thinking of stopping. He encouraged me to continue on, so with a sigh, I headed back over to the lot to pick up a few more gels and a Snickers. Hey, say what you want, but a candy bar can be a good pick-me-up out there ;) On I ran, floundering slightly but still moving forward.

Water, water everywhere

Yet another lap and I was out of water. Back to the car with 3 more miles to hit 20. It seemed to be taking forever, but when I was moving I was moving at a decent pace for the terrain, the sloppiness and my attitude ;) I stopped and dropped my pack, drank some water, had a salt tab, 3 Advil and a gel and texted Ryan to tell him I was going out for the final few miles. Again, say what you will, but sometimes ibuprofin is necessary and today my hips were telling me so. Back in the day, Ryan and I both consumed a whole hell of a lot of ibuprofin while hiking and on the AT, and although I use much less of it these days, I'm not afraid to take it when it seems like I need it. I've been feeling out of whack since the week after BBU. I suspect things are out of alignment slightly and am glad I have a Dr. Jamie appointment scheduled a few weeks out. Could probably use it sooner, but hey.

As I was getting ready to leave the car, a whole group of school kids passed me by headed up the Northern Loop trail. Hmmm... So I headed over to run/hike up South Ridge instead, then connected over to Tote, back around, up to the summit and down Terrace. Turned out to be just 0.1 shy of 20, so I did a lap around the parking lot to even things out, and gladly, thankfully called it all good! Not a pretty 20 but it got done.

Pointy...

Seen: 10 turkeys, 1 downey woodpecker, three busloads full of kids at different times along the trail, some pretty views and a whole lot of puddles :)