Nickerson and Back

Up early this morning in an effort to beat some of the heat. Saw a lovely sunrise on the drive to the rail trail lot. 

The plan was to run the rail trail from the start in Dennis to Nickerson State Park and back for around 22 miles. It was overcast and relatively cool when I started but still humid. The trail meanders  near marshes, cranberry bogs, through pine forest, crossing many roads along the way, and is a nice way to stay off the roads. The downsides are that it is mostly flat, is all pavement and is marked every 1/10th of a mile! Aie!! 

Most of the runners I saw were wearing headphones which I am sure helped beat the boredom/mental exhaustion of seeing every 1/10th tick by, which was very wearing in the return trip . Also saw many, many bikers. 

The sun and heat picked up after I stopped to use the restroom at Nickerson and the return trip seemed to drag. I was also soaked! I did have to stop at the store at mile 5 to get a cold water to fill my pack and grab a Gatorade to chug. I felt fine but was just tired from

the heat, sun, pavement and the flatness. Tiring in a different way than trail running. Still, ended up with a solid 21+ miles at a bit under 9:30 pace. Not super quick for a flat road run but good enough. Just remind me to never do that again ;)