One Long Run

The alarm went off at 5 am this morning. My body didn't recognize the change in daylight savings time - all it knew was that I had gone to bed late last night and was rolling out less than six hours later. We had a long run scheduled, and a drive to get there. Eric and I got to the Y at exactly 6 am - the agreed upon time. Monica, Mike, Patch, Margaret, Jenny, Susan and the other Michelle were all there. We waited a few minutes for Amy and Melissa - then Eric had the pleasure of calling and waking each of them up. They had each overslept and both said they'd meet us there.

I'm not sure what time we made it to the park, but it was dark. Melissa pulled in shortly after we got there, but Amy was just leaving home. Our plan was to run up the street to Lake Youngs (scene of the Pigtails 50K), run a lap there, then back to the cars, followed by an out-and-back on the Soos Creek Trail. We figured we'd get close to 20 miles and we were right - we got 19.4.

We started out like a row of ducklings running single file up the busy street. Most of us were wearing headlamps, and somehow I was in the lead. We had a pretty steep hill to climb, which was where I finally got passed. Last night it poured - we'd been warned that the "Pineapple Express" was on its way, that we'd get a ton of rain and there were flood watches for local rivers. Somehow, we lucked out - there was a light, misty rain off and on for the first couple of hours, then it stopped. Unfortunately, the rain from last night left us with a muddy, mucky, puddle filled trail. The good news is that it was 52 degrees at 5:00 this morning - so I ran in shorts, a short sleeve shirt and my jacket. I tied my jacket around my waist about 20 minutes in to it, and was able to hand it off to Mike in the next mile. Mike has a cast on his ankle and is facing some serious future surgeries. I think it's killing him to be sidelined, but he's a good sport and supports the rest of us.

Amy caught up to us (the slower group) about eight miles into the loop. She's a strong and fast runner. She was having a bad day though - first she overslept, then lost her car key somewhere on the loop. George was out on the trail too - he came later and ran on his own, then joined us for coffee. We finished the loop, ran back to the cars where we took a five minute break, then headed out on Soos Creek. This is a nice, wide, paved trail through rolling hills. It was beautiful and incredibly green. On one section we were serenaded by a chorus of frogs, and then again on the way back. There's a tough hill at the other end of the four-mile trail - we were all feeling tired and walked up it. We took another break at that parking lot, then turned around for the trip back. Tim, Amy's husband, and was waiting in the parking lot with a spare key, and joined us for coffee. Total time: 4:22 for 19.4 miles. And I guess I've gotten over my obsessive need to finish it out - I had no urge to run another .6 to make an even 20. None at all.

I didn't wear my trail shoes - I wanted to test my new shoes on a long run. About a week ago, I pulled the moleskin pad out of my left shoe. I have a bunion on that foot and I felt like the pad was aggravating it. The shoes felt good today, though my bunion hurt some, and on the unpaved trail my left big toe was feeling sore where the nail is missing. That went away once we got on the paved trail. My new shoes are a muddy mess now. I'm letting them dry out, then I'll see how much I can knock off them, and maybe I'll even wash them. I'm satisfied enough that I'm going to start rotating with the second pair.

I read somewhere recently that every pound of body weight provides four pounds of force - and I believe that is when walking. I don't know if it changes when you run. That little fact has provided me with motivation to lose those pounds - I'm hoping I can lose a little more before the Yakima marathon, then a few more before the rest of my personal series. Being a few pounds lighter can only feel good on this old body with all those long, long runs coming up!

Go on over and give my good buddy Jenny some support - she has had one rough weekend!

MM #402, signing off from the Pacific Northwest, where the trails are muddy, the land is oh-so- green and the runners wear dry-wick fabrics!

PS. Click on that first picture and check out the rain on our coats - misty rain!