Twelve at The "Other" Brad

Thanks to Mindy for the title of this post :-) Ha! This morning, Ryan and I left Sam with Grammie, Grampie, Auntie Meg and Uncle Chris, and headed to Bradley Palmer for a run. Ryan was planning on a trail marathon, his final long run before Lookout, and I figured I would tag along for 2 loops on the Fat Ass course to get in 12. Actually, I needed to make it 12.25 so I could round out the week at an even 35 ;-) Nothing like being flexible!

Anyway, it was bright and sunny, and although it was supposed to get warm, it was still a bit chilly at 8:45, especially in the shade. But of course, we warmed up quickly. In fact, a little after a mile into the loop, we took a short detour back to the car so Ryan could drop his shell. Since we were running the FA course, it meant we could just "go" and not think about a route or worry about mileage, and really, it's a nice loop through the park. Things were a bit mushy in spots from the recent rain, and there had obviously been a lot of horses out enjoying the good weather, as they had left A LOT of dropping and churned things up, but otherwise, the trails were in good shape, and I enjoyed the fun mix of twisty singletrack and wide old roads.

I could tell Ryan wasn't really feeling it right from the start, so we just chugged along, silently ticking off the miles side by side. I was feeling pretty good, and felt badly that I couldn't do anything much to help Ryan out, except just keep on going. We ticked off the first loop (6.28 miles) in 59:xx, and after a quick bathroom break for me, headed right back out. Ryan was struggling a fair bit with tight groin/psoas muscle, and I was a little concerned, but when we got back to the cars at the end of loop number 2, he was ready to head right back out. I stopped once the Garmin hit 12.25 and called it a day, having gotten in a good almost-two hours on the trails. I came home to find Sam playing happily with the crew, and they really tired her out, as she went down easily for her nap, which is always a bonus :-) In the end, Ryan pushed on through, and finished his trail marathon in 4:04. Nice! All in all, a good day at The "Other" Brad :-)