I woke up with very heavy, tired legs. Not quite sure why, perhaps just lack of sleep this week? But regardless I was out the door early and hit the trails at the Brad at 6:30 am under overcast skies. I ran the west side portion of the BBU course first. I must say, I really enjoyed it. Yes, my legs were tired, and yes, I stopped to take some flower photos along the way and walked a few hills here and there, but really, it's a good "loop." I got back to the parking lot a little before 2 hours and stopped to pee, change into a short sleeve shirt, drop off some trash and pick up a bit more food. I've been trying out different bars in an attempt to figure out some "real food" options for TARC. The bars have been a bust, so today I went with a Snickers :) They are great hiking food and we ate a lot of them back in the day, so I thought they might translate well for long slow distance. They are tasty! A bit much to chew perhaps but I think they will be a doable option. And who doesn't like Snickers?!
Despite the sugar high, I didn't feel quite so cheery on the east side trails. I ran the Bruiser sans the "O" trail, and twisting and turning around the Island made me feel like I was running in quicksand and not getting anywhere. I definitely struggled mentally, as it seemed like the miles were ticking by very slowly. I took a few quick breaks here and there and otherwise just kept chugging. Ran into one woman I didn't recognize out running and two bikers, but otherwise had the trails to myself. I fully expected to be able to get in 10 on the Bruiser course, but came up a little short and got back to the lot with 19.1 miles showing on the Garmin. Gotta admit I just said to heck with it and decided to call it good :) Ended up with a moving time of 3:37 plus 10 minutes of stopped time. Not the best run in terms of feeling super strong either physically or mentally, but I got it done. Now it's off to volunteer in Sam's classroom for the afternoon!
Flora and fauna notes: Saw a number of phoebes, one wood thrush and heard several woodpeckers pecking, but not much else out there. Did see a lot of wildflowers, mostly on the west side. False lily of the valley, lily of the valley, bunchberry, starflowers, blue bead lily, a few trillium, several ladyslippers, fringed polygala, wild oat, wild indian cucumber, plus a number of jack in the pulpits on the east side.
Ladyslipper
Fringed polygala. So bright and cheery!
Bunchberry! And a few blueberry blossoms too.
Starflower and false lily of the valley
Jack in the pulpit!
2 comments:
Oh for the days when I ate a king size Snickers nearly every day...
Yes, we ate WAY too many King Size Snickers and Reese Fast Breaks in the months we were on the trail :) Truly amazing really!
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