I pushed my pace from the very start of the race. Since the first 4 miles or so are really flat, this wasn’t all that difficult. While I was very comfortable, I was very focused on both walking fast and maintaining around a 12:00/mile jogging pace or less. I also made it a point not to linger at the aid stations.

After making it through downtown Hot Springs, past Evan’s Plunge, and through the neighborhood, we started up the hill where the pavement turned into a dirt road. The course was all still very familiar from last year and I knew I wouldn’t have long to go until I hit the Coldbrook campground and first aid station. Since I had my Nathan Hydration pack on, I wouldn’t need to fill up with water until the end of the Argyle Road, about 11 more miles. I decided to just truck it on through the aid station since I had plenty of GU, salt tabs, and water. Also, I was actually still with a pack of people and it would be a bit of a pile up.

Thus began the strong march along the Argyle dirt road. The surface was a bit more packed than I remember from last year but that first hill was still a doozy. Most everyone was walking it though a few hardy souls did manage a very slow, methodical jog. I had my iPod cranked up and was holding a good pace. Every 30 minutes I would take an endurolyte capsule as I usually do to keep the cramps at bay. I also made sure I was taking regular sips of water from the hydration pack because I expected the return trip to be pretty toasty (mid 80s predicted).

Though hilly, I really enjoy the scenery along Argyle. There are big open pastures with views of the Black Hills in the background. Occasionally there are cows on the side of the road behind a fence and there are a number of cattle guards (this year there was plywood on the left side of each one which made crossing them much easier–thank you to the race director for this!). At one point, after a bit of downhill, the road turns sharply to the right and several cows stare at me as I make my way along the course. Here I can see a good mile or two ahead and see the small dots of runners making there way along the path. The long views are pretty but it can be hard to stay motivated to keep going when you see how much is in front of you.

As I pass the red barn and head up the slight hill, I’m reminded of this spot last year where I started feeling a blister develop. Though not yet 15 miles into the race, things last year were already going badly. This year, I was feeling great with no issues at all. And looking at my watch, I’m making really great time for a 25K! Just a little over 3 hours have gone by and I’m really feeling like everything is going well for me.

Soon I am where I know there is a big uphill where I’ll be able to get my first glimpse of the camper trailer parked at the Argyle Road aid station. It’s here that I dig out a blueberry pomegranate GU and start to work getting it down. I really dislike the texture but I get a bit of water in my mouth and take slow draws from the foil pack so I can dilute it down. Now I’ve got the GU down in time for it to kick in a bit before the uphill so I power up it with a fast walk. Once at the top I realize I’m almost done with the dirt road and all the hills for a while and start looking ahead to picking up some time on the Mickelson Trail.

I roll into the aid station ahead of the big pack I’ve been running with to try and not waste too much time. It’s here that I refill my 2L hydration pack. I was down to about 1/3 left which meant I was drinking about the right amount. I didn’t feel thirsty or sloshy, I’d had 2 bananas now, a Slim Fast at the start, the GU, lot of chips and grapes, and a quarter of a PBJ sandwich. I really didn’t want to feel like I didn’t have enough calories in or get dehydrated. Still, the race plane seemed like it was coming together and I was well under pace to finish in 11 hours 30 minutes. Life is good and my spirits are high so I head down the path out of the aid station and onto the trail. Soon I pass the 4.5 foot tall concrete mile marker that reads 25. I don’t even have to get to the 34 marker before heading back.

The trail that used to be an old railroad track descends gently out of the Argyle Road aid station down to Lime Kiln. There are tons of grasshoppers on the trail and I always feel like I’m stepping on one even though they are getting out of the way because I don’t see many dead ones. The tall embankments on either side of the trail and the more wooded landscape provide some much needed shade. A slight breeze blows through the air to cool down an already beautiful morning. I’ve ticked off about 17 miles now and things don’t seem like they could go any better…

Then they hit. First in my right hamstring and then the left. Both of them are starting to get really tight and it comes rather suddenly. I’m jogging now but not too fast and I know I’m not pushing myself too hard. My breathing is fine and I haven’t even come close to getting that urge to vomit I sometimes feel when I get going too fast for too long. But then the cramps take over and decide I shouldn’t move. So I step to the right side of the trail and stand still in and effort to let it pass. A woman who I’d been running near the entire race stops as she passes and I let her know I’m okay. I’m out here all by myself but I’m not worried. I’ve fended off cramps before and gone on to finish marathons and 50K races without a problem. The problem here, though, is that I’m only 17 miles into a 50-mile run. There’s a lot of race left to be dealing with this so early. At Tahoe Rim, too, less than 16 miles into it, I had the same issues. In the back of my mind, I’m thinking I pushed it too hard on the hills given my training.

After about a minute, I decide to push on even though the cramps are not totally gone. I really want to keep my pace and have a bit of padding for making my goal time. I decide it is better to keep up a fast walk than to risk them flaring up again by jogging. I don’t want to waste downhills like this but I remind myself that patience will pay off. I roll into the familiar Lime Kiln aid station where last year at the 30-mile mark I made the decision that there wasn’t anything that would keep me from finishing. That mindset did payoff and I got my first 50-mile finish. This year, the same friendly Culligan water man was working the aid station and the canopy on the camper trailer provided some great shade. I sat in the chair while stuffing down another banana and drinking a few cups of soda. But quickly I got out up and pushed on to Pringle Road.

This section seems to drag on a little bit as there are a few turns that separate long straight sections. I pass the old Lime plant to my right and it’s in the same disheveled state I remember it from last year. There is a bench that looks right at it and it invites me to sit down but I decide my 12-hour goal is more important. I’m still walking for the most part, but I know I’m making good time because I look at my watch as I pass each concrete mile marker. I’m still about 14:30/mile with only minimal jogging thrown in. I try to jog through an entire song as it plays over the iPod but usually make it only half way through. Still, this pace will get me to the finish line just fine.

As I see the outskirts of Pringle, I feel the cramps coming back. I’m not even pushing the walking that hard and I’ve increased my e-caps to one every 15 minutes. Things don’t seem to be improving. I slow my walking down a bit hoping that they’ll go away. But then my calfs start to react. Now I know it’s actually getting worse rather than better. I make the decision to get to Pringle and take some time to get a lot of calories in.

I roll into Pringle just after 11am and in just a little over 5 hours I’ve already knocked off 24 miles. I’m well ahead of where I expected to be and doing much better by the clock than last year. But my body is in poor shape. I sit down and start going through the aid station picking up things and eating whatever looks good. Most of it does and I have potato chips, grapes, and some more soda. My crew arrives and I sit down against the shelter and get into my cooler. I explain about the cramps and they encourage me to at least go to the turnaround and come back. I’m discouraged and decide I need to sit a bit longer and get more calories in.

Sitting at Pringle, drinking a Slim Fast for calories, trying to get my cramps to go away

I drink an entire Slim Fast and grab one of the energy drinks. After sitting about 20 minutes, I decide I need to get out there and keep knocking off the miles.

After some convincing, I head out to the turnaround at 25 miles

The mile out to the turnaround seems so long. I see the 50 milers in front of me on their way back and realize that I was in front of a lot of people that are still moving quite well. I know I should be even further along than I am but the cramps were keeping me back. At least now I’m walking more comfortably, though I’m not going very fast. I’ve got a big grape energy drink in one hand that I’m focused on getting down quickly. Soon I see the turnaround marker and mentally pick myself back up. I’ve now only got to retrace my steps back and though the Argyle Road is hilly, I get more downhill than up. Though I’m probably not going to hit my 12 hour goal, I should still be able to pull this off.

After the turnaround, I head back on the trail and again am reminded of my situation in this race last year. I was already right up against the 12 hour time limit then but doing better now, even with the stop at Pringle. I daydream a little bit here until I look down as I cross a small footbridge on the trail and notice a big thing on the side of the path. It’s a big black and yellow snake. Dead and rotting, but it’s big. Yuk. I keep pushing ahead trying to convince myself I won’t see anything like it alive on the trail!

As I roll back into Pringle, I start feeling bad again. I take a seat and think about my options. I’m really demotivated now as I watch the minutes tick by and know that the 12-hour goal is quickly becoming highly unlikely. I still feel the tightness in my muscles. I’m explaining the situation to a veteran ultra runner who is waiting for his wife to come into Pringle. She’d be having stomach issues and was sick much earlier but he said she was doing better. He recommends I take two Advil to help with the cramping and reluctantly I decide this is a good option. He suggests if it doesn’t work, I’ll be able to drop at Lime Kiln anyway but reminds me it will take around 30 minutes for me to feel it kicking in.

I head out to Lime Kiln focused on making good time but still down because I’m not going fast enough to make 12 hours. I decide I need to shift my focus to getting rid of the cramps and taking it on into the finish line. And sure enough, about 2 miles out of Pringle, which at my pace is about 30 minutes, I start to feel a lot better. I’m walking strong at this point, much to my surprise given how I felt back at Pringle. My spirits are improving and I roll back into Lime Kiln feeling good. I sit down though to have more calories. I take some more soda, a turkey sandwich, and a couple of endurolytes. It’s only 3.4 miles to the next aid and then I will have to tackle the dirt road and hills.

Returning to Lime Kiln aid station - 30 miles

From Lime Kiln, the trail starts a gradual uphill that seems to take a long time. There is plenty of climb on these 3.4 miles but I feel like I’m making good progress with my walking. I’m not feeling too down and my body is feeling ok for the first mile or so but my legs are still tight. I decide to press on and keep holding the pace. It isn’t long before I get to where I can see all the way up the last major climb but can’t quite see the aid station. My legs are getting tight again and the slight uphill isn’t helping. Finally I’m back at Argyle Road aid station and this time there is a welcome committee!

Girl hands me water as I come into Argyle Road aid station after 33.4 miles

I sit in a chair at Argyle and try to get more calories down but soon my left quad starts to spasm. This isn’t uncommon for me but it usually doesn’t happen until well after I’m done with my run. Compared to past runs, particularly Lean Horse last year, I’m not stopping at the aid stations to rest near as much. I know it’s not that my muscles have gone cold. The temperature is continuing to heat up and I’m sweating a lot. I’ve done everything I know to do to keep the cramps away but they just don’t seem to leave. Disappointed, I let the aid station volunteers I’m stopping here and thank them for their help.

I don’t get my finish this year, but I’m still happy with my race. I did what I could to meet my goal of 12 hours and I probably just didn’t have the right training. I could do more hills and log more miles. I also think I’ll switch back to Succeed! caps instead of endurolytes as I’ve had more luck with them overall. Looking ahead, I’m hoping the 14 hour time at Heartland will be more than what I need to bag my second 50-mile finish. Well see in October.

View from hotel room in Feldkirch, Austria–there was a gravel path to the right of the highway

From my hotel I crossed the river and onto what seemed like a jeep road trail. I followed this for just a short while and it quickly dumped me out into an open are where a guy was playing fetch with his dog. I continued on a head along the now gravel road until I saw a dirt trail heading up into the woods.

River running through Feldkirch, Austria

The incline here was just enough to get my leg muscles pumping and I was feeling good. Though it was near dusk, I didn’t figure I’d be out long or have trouble finding my way, plus I didn’t pack my headlamp for the trip anyway. Soon I found the trail winding back on itself and I was nearing the top of a bluff where I found a collection of coins arranged in a star pattern (about 4 feet in diameter) and a few empty beer bottles on a bench. Odd, but I kept going. On the downhill, I noticed that my road shoes were severely lacking traction on the soft ground. I started to slip when I noticed I was quickly sliding towards what I thought was a tree. As I got closer (it was somewhat dark in the wooded area), I realized it was actually a large cross with the Christ figure on it! I regrouped and spotted a steep path that would take me back out of these woods since the trail didn’t seem to be going anywhere. However, I was about to be going somewhere fast … I slipped and lunged forward and had to take some huge downhill strides to keep from falling.

At this point I decided it was best to just stick to a known route. I wandered along a bike path that dumped me into a construction site and then through it out onto the main road. I headed towards Liechtenstein and out of Feldkirch at this point.

Along the way I passed several shopkeepers and restaurant owners closing up for the night. Traffic was pretty light and I was running on the sidewalk going into traffic. The speed limit was usually around 30mph so cars weren’t going that fast anyway. The road was always a gentle uphill or downhill, with more seeming like up on my way out.

As I got further out of town, I realized that I was getting close to the Liechtenstein border but I wasn’t ready to turn around yet. I noticed that a couple of bikes were simply crossing so I figured it wouldn’t be an issue for a runner to go across. I continued on my jog without being stopped or yelled at so I assumed things were okay. I must have kept going for about 10 more minutes before deciding it was getting late and that I’d probably logged at least 2.5 miles and could turn back and get in a good 5-6 mile run.

On my way back, I turned off the main road and went up a big inclined road I’d spotted to add a few extra “hills”. They weren’t really that substantial but surely better than all flat. Just behind all this, though, there are some seriously steep cliffs on the mountains–completely impossible to run!

Mountains near Schaan, Liechtenstein

The return journey was very quiet and peaceful with even less traffic than before. I passed a few people on the sidewalk who were out for an evening walk. I made sure I was holding a good pace going back up the gentle inclines of the road. As I got closer into Feldkirch, I decided to run back to the hotel on a little different route and avoid the construction site and the woods on the other side of the river. With dim lighting, though, I had to be careful of cracks in the sidewalk and places where it dropped off to the ground to be sure I didn’t trip and fall.

Houses and shops in Feldkirch, Austria

This was a really nice evening run with a ton of scenery. Though it was more of a road run, I still enjoyed the route and definitely liked the much cooler temperatures.

Before the race, I got dropped off at the satellite parking lot and rode in a mini-van to the start line along with 7 or so other runners (complete strangers). I picked up my bib (got the packet the day before but they hand bibs out on race morning–annoying way to know who is out on the course) and looked around but didn’t see any of the Austin or Dallas contingent. Shortly though, I spotted Robert and Diana from HCTR found Deborah and Linda from NTTR. We chatted and tried to stay warm in the chilly high 40-degree morning temperature.

By 6am, the sun was up enough to eliminate the need for a headlamp. We listened to a short race briefing and we were off on the trail and up the mountain.

The first leg of the course would take us 6 miles up from Spooner Lake to Marlette Lake and the Hobart aid station. I settled in to a comfortable pace behind a few runners I didn’t know. Deborah was close behind but did stop early on and I lost her. I was trying to keep a strong steady walking pace up the switchbacks, quickly jog any downhills, and generally not waste any time. My breathing was ok and I wasn’t really hurting until I got just before the Hobart aid station on the dirt road. The steepness of the climb was getting to my legs and I knew I’d be in for a long day.

Marlette Lake, on the way to Hobart aid station

In front of Marlette Lake, after a good downhill section

Marlette Lake

I rolled in to the Hobart aid station and was quickly greeted by a volunteer who took both my bottles and filled them with water. Service at the aid stations was fantastic throughout the day and volunteers were super attentive–I’d help ensure that later on (just keep reading) :-). I snarfed down tortilla chips, took 2 endurolytes, and started loading up on cantaloupe. I’d eaten a banana for breakfast (usually I skip eating entirely), but I wanted to try and fuel up on calories as much as I could in preparation for a long day on the trail. I was drinking a good amount of water to stay hydrated and things were going well–except for my pace. I waited about 5 minutes for Deborah to come into the aid station and she let me know we were already behind cutoffs. Bad news. We knew we’d have to push harder, so we quickly got on our way up to Marlette Peak.

Going up Marlette Peak, Marlette Lake in foreground, Lake Tahoe barely visible in the background

Trail going up Marlette Peak, helps put the average 9% grade on the course into perspective!

Deborah going up Marlette Peak

My first really good view of Lake Tahoe from up high on Marlette Peak

The climbing here started getting more intense as we rounded the mountain on decomposed granite single track which was mostly completely exposed. Since it was still early in the morning (about 8am), the sun wasn’t beating down too hard but it was beginning to get warm. I pushed ahead and played leap frog with a few people until I got up and over the peak. Then I found some much needed flat and downhill sections where I put in some good running. I wound may way down the switchbacks and could hear music coming from the distance. I knew the Tunnel Creek aid station wouldn’t be too far now and I was looking forward to it. A toe on my right foot started to have a hot spot and I wanted to tape it up.

I rolled into Tunnel Creek and again had my bottles promptly taken away and refilled. I sat in a chair to take my sock off and examine my toe. I’d chosen to not wear my gaiters (bad decision) and I had quite a bit of dirt and debris in my shoe but none of it was causing an issue. My toe really wasn’t blistering either, just felt strange. To be safe, I taped it up good anyway and then pushed on out of the aid station.

Sitting at Tunnel Creek aid station

Here I started to see some 50 milers well in front of me along with the 100 milers that had started an hour earlier. As I jogged under the power lines I started mentally preparing myself for total misery. It turns out I should have prepared for a bit more misery as this Red House Loop was a complete booger. Going down the hill I spotted Catra and then Bill from NTTR. I said hi to Bill but I’m not sure he knew who was calling his name. Further down the crazy steep dirt road I said hi to Letha who asked where Deborah was at and I knew she was just a little ways back. I felt I needed to keep pushing as much as I could particularly since this section would be ridiculously slow coming back up.

Finally at the bottom of the loop, I found myself with a runner from Auburn who was really familiar with the course. He gave me some coaching on what to expect and let me know that after the Red House, I’d find a gentle uphill path that I really needed to run. I let him know I was worried about the Mt. Rose cutoff but he said I was probably still ok. He too was in the 50 miler. Leading into Red House, there are some serious uphill climbs on the dirt road and one of them got my left hip flexor screaming and I started cramping. Not good. I changed my stride to take smaller steps and this helped considerably. I made it into the aid station, had a volunteer snap a few pictures, and headed back out. A runner from Florida who was doing her first trail race and ultra invited me to walk along with her but I needed to go a bit slower to keep the food and soda I just stuffed down from coming back up.

In front of the Red House at the aid station

This is the point where my race started to go sour. I couldn’t really keep the jog the guy had recommended I do on the uphill and I was mentally having trouble staying in the race. It was heating up, but I wasn’t overheating, and I was staying hydrated. I’d also been good about taking my endurolytes every hour and felt my nutrition was pretty good. Overall things were going to plan, I was just not getting it done fast enough.

As I finished up the part of the loop to tack back onto the road part of the course, I came upon a volunteer who had walked down the big hill to bring a care package to a runner (someone had let him know up at Tunnel Creek that someone needed a little help–man, what service!!–and to sacrifice yourself by going down Red House Loop and back up it!?). Then I started the death march. I would take about 50 steps (yes, I counted) and then stop to rest. My heart rate was getting too high and nausea was beginning to creep up. I just kept at it slow and steady until I got to the really steep part. I found a few of the runners I’d been with most of the day coming upon me and going around. Taking 50 steps turned into 40, then 30 and soon I was down to about 20 and giving it all I could. I stopped to sit on a bench and rest and saw Carol go by with her trekking poles. She wished me a good race and said she’d see me at the finish but I was worried I wouldn’t make it there by running.

Sitting on a big log, trying to convince myself it’s really not that big of a hill :-)

A little further up, I found a big rock under a shade tree and decided it would be a good spot to rest. Murali came up on me and had a seat as well. A very kind runner I’d met and chatted with earlier on the trail before Hobart stopped for a bit and offered me some Mike & Ike’s and some Sport Beans. Such a kind gesture and this really pepped me up. I started back up the hill and really tried to give it all I could without totally emptying my tank. Before long, I noticed the power lines and couldn’t remember how much further. I was just behind Murali when I topped the hill and saw the aid station tents and I couldn’t believe that Red House Loop was over. The climb back up seemed shorter than going down and it was every bit as tough as it was made out to be. I jogged on into the aid station and to the timing table where I reported my number. The Tunnel Creek aid station captain herself came out to refill my bottles and I started to assess my situation. I had only 2.5 hours to make it up to Mt. Rose to the 8 hour and 9 minute cutoff at 26.3 miles. At my current pace, covering 9 miles in this time frame didn’t seem that possible. I knew the 50 mile was out of the question and wasn’t sure about my game plan to get back to Spooner Lake.

I made my way over to the chair where I’d sat and fixed my toes earlier and waited for Deborah to roll in. She was in great spirits as usual and knew we couldn’t make it to Mt. Rose but was adamant about getting in some good miles and taking the 50K course back to the finish. I wasn’t so sure about this because it would be after 5pm before I was done and I’d be wiped out. Having not been to Tahoe before, I wanted to enjoy some more of the scenery so I decided to stay at Tunnel Creek and wait for a ride down.

While I Tunnel Creek I chatted with lots of the volunteers and started helping out in various ways. I helped move a tent over the table so the water and HEED wouldn’t be in direct sun, went over to the timing/bib number table to help for a while. I met a friendly cyclist who looked really familiar but didn’t know, met a guy named George from some country ending in -stan (he never told us which one), and spent a lot of time with Kathy Welch over at the incoming timing/big number tent. I’d never met her before but soon came to know that she’s done a ton of ultras and almost all of them in the area.

Before I knew it, almost 3 hours had gone by, but I was having a really good time with all the super friendly people here. The aid station captain came over to let me know that Ned would soon be making a trip back to Spooner Lake and I decided to haul it in and call it a day.

Tahoe turned out to be a great trip even if my race didn’t turn out quite as expected. I don’t think there was any way I could have made it through all the cutoffs of the day so I probably made a good decision at Tunnel Creek. A better decision would have been to finish up the 50K route with Deborah and get the miles in to train for Lean Horse, but oh well :-) Maybe another year!

So after running just about an hour, I turned back around. I figured I was pretty close to the Turkey Mountain trail heads and after consulting the maps once back home, I indeed was quite near them.

I do like this trail though there were fewer water fountains than I expected. I opted to use the one conveniently located near the waste water treatment plant around 41st Street on both the outbound and inbound portions. Looking back, it was probably not the best selection of a water source, but nothing tasted funny!

Overall this was a really great training run. I went a little over 11 miles in just over 2 hours with relatively even splits (right at 11:00/mile pace), particularly since I practiced some power walking on a few slight uphill sections in the second half.

Landmark highlights for the run included:

• The PSO power plant lit up on the return trip
• The Channel 2 tower lit brightly on the evening sky from across the river
• A small pedestrian/bike bridge crossing an inlet of the river just north of I-44
• The railroad crossing on the trail, and finally
• A exhaust torch burning off excess energy at a plant just south of I-44…this puppy is right on the other side of the fence from the trail and you can feel a significant temperature increase for a few moments!
• The TATUR Estim8ur turnaround spray paint which is now quite faded on the trail surface.

Today’s route took me a bit more north along the recently redone Riverparks trail. I joined up with it at 31st Street since there is construction south of here and followed it all the way up to 11th Street. Until now, I hadn’t ventured past the 21st Street bridge. Though there is no crushed limestone “chat” on either side of the super smooth asphalt trail, I’m still a fan. So were several others today: there were lots of walkers, joggers, bikers, skateboarders and rollerbladers out tonight and many kids playing on the playground that borders the trail. But it wasn’t overly crowded and there was only one mad hatter biker racing to set a new world speed record :-)

After noticing the nice Route 66 sign and monument along the road, complete with a flag for each state the road passes through, I crossed the river to the west side. At the start of the trail here there is another disc golf course that’s just on the edge of the apartments. After navigating through the geese and ducks, I followed the curving trail around The Reynolds Amphitheater and floating stage. By this time I was still holding a steady pace and feeling great.

At some point around here I crossed a wooden bridge that had a smell like Six Flags. It’s not too wide and the boards are uneven but it was kind of neat. I’m starting to like running the routes around here and crossing all the bridges. With the river in the middle, it reminds me of my old favorite routes in Austin around Town Lake (now Lady Bird Lake) and Philadelphia along Fairmount Park.

After managing my way along the grass on Riverside Drive, I crossed the road and headed back to Brookside. In total, I logged 6.7 miles at a 10:34/mile pace for a time of 1:10:50.

Assortment of fruit/nut bars I bought at Whole Foods Tulsa
The peanut butter ones are actually pretty tasty

Everything is wrong. The smell is practically medicinal (in a bad, non-food way), the texture is way too dense, and the flavor is ungodly. No thank you. I will not be purchasing this puppy anymore!

The east side of the trail near the dam still has a bit of fireworks litter from yesterday evening’s festivities. A side note: Tulsa’s 4th of July Fireworks display was quite good. It lasted well over 20 minutes and the finale was long and bold.

I held a steady pace around 10:00/m though I didn’t have my watch and I wasn’t following the mile markers. Using MapMyRun, I estimate the mileage right at 2.5.

The west side of the trail is just about like the east side with a few differences:

• More of that refinery smell since the electric company borders the trail. On the other hand, you get less of the car exhaust smell since it’s not right on the road.
• Less crowded, with significantly fewer walkers and runners but a steady flow of bike traffic.
• Nice new tree plantings with “In memory of” posts on plaques that also note the tree species. Quite nice and will one day be nice and shady (in a good way, hopefully).
• Plenty of water fountains–seemed like more frequent, too, though I didn’t check to see if they were operable.
• Ken was right, there is a lot more goose poop on this side, concentrated up near the 21st Street Bridge area.

This run was strong and steady in the hot and sunny conditions. I drank about 12 oz. of water in less than 30 minutes and it seemed like I could have had even more. Had I gone another mile, I would have needed to refill my bottle.

TATUR night run on June 28, 2008 ~ Photo: Ken Childress

I expected there to be only 5-6 people but in fact there was a strong group of what turned out to be 14. And that’s exactly how many miles the “long” runners went. Ken had stashed an ice chest at the 4 mile point on the way out and there was another ice chest courtesy of Cindy and her husband at the turnaround. I topped off one of my bottles at the turnaround and popped in another tablet of Kona Kola nuun. This product is really growing on me and I was digging the flavor all night.

The out portion of the run went very well for me. We walked most of the uphills and stopped to regroup a couple of times, but other than that, the pace was nice and easy but consistent. I was sweating heavily due to the humidity so I was sure to drink a lot. In total I had 60 oz. of liquid over the course of the 3-hr, 14-mile run, which I think was probably ok–maybe a bit on the light side. It seemed like I was drinking at least as much as everyone else.

I started to get a little bit tired on the way back but my feet were never really screaming. Towards the end, I was running a bit with Johnny and started powering up the hills because I knew we didn’t have much further to go. I was behind the lead group but saw a few of them as I came into the final parking lot section. They were walking so I decided to practice fast walking to see if I could catch them. Right at 94th I did manage to catch up with them.

After the run, we sat around in the parking lot chatting before Ken and Rob headed out for more mileage. I was asked if I wanted to continue but I decided to turn it in because I was having some coughing problems. At one point, I thought I might vomit, but it went away. I really didn’t have nausea, just this scratchy bad cough I couldn’t kick and it almost brought up all my liquid with it.

Though I need to get in some longer runs, this was a nice one. The large group made it tons of fun and the route was pretty interesting overall. Maybe I can get a couple more of these in before Tahoe so I’m in a better position to complete the mileage next month.

I hadn’t yet run on this dandy little trail but today I discovered my new favorite route along the Midland Valley Trail. I started at the #2 light post and wound my way up and crossed at 25th Street, 21st Street, again at Cincinnati to enter Maple Park, and then at 15th Street. There is a trail closure currently just north of 15th Street but I wanted to see why. Shortly thereafter on the hill the trail asphalt is out and in need of repair. I continued on and crossed the BA on Peoria and then 13th Street to enter Tracy Park. After crossing 11th Street I continued north up to Central Park and made an almost complete counterclockwise loop before picking the trail back up all the way to 3rd Street. It is here that I couldn’t find the trail anymore and I was to my halfway goal time so I headed back and completed the entire route in reverse.

I was digging the weather and started really pumping up the hills and holding a very strong pace. I never really felt fatigued and was having a great run. It was very encouraging that things were going so much better compared to my last few really hot runs. After turning in a negative split, I actually think I felt like I finished with more in the gas tank than when I started. It was a good run.

Along my route I saw a bunny, a male cardinal (who was waiting on the same branch on my way back) a female cardinal, lots of robins, and a number of other birds out enjoying the recent rainwater that had collected on the ground. The trail had some standing water in spots but nothing that I couldn’t manage. It was fun splashing through the puddles and I didn’t mind since I wasn’t planning more than 6 miles.

What a great route! I look forward to more of it again soon.

The trail was pretty empty once again between 31st and 41st but at least there wasn’t a vagrant riding a bike and speaking gibberish. There aren’t usually characters roaming the area but I don’t want to start seeing them. With the heat, there were plenty more bikers than joggers and walkers but I did see several people just out for a stroll. At the end of my four miles, one even asked me how my run went and I muttered, “it’s too hot.”

I didn’t get the long mileage in this weekend, but my pacing is okay and I wasn’t feeling bad after either run today (unlike yesterday). I’m hoping this is a bit of positive momentum I’ll be able to carry forward into the next couple of weeks because those hills at Tahoe are going to be tough.