18 Miles on the Poto

Once again Leslie and I set out on long run adventure on our road to the Trail Marathon.

The morning was a crisp and balmy 16 degrees at 7:30 when we started our run.  After all my water froze on last week's run I took the precaution of filling my bottles and bladder with hot water and putting my jacket over my Nathan pack, I am pleased to report this method worked and my water line did not freeze this time.  

I was nervous and about this run, I haven't run 18 miles since last year's marathon training and the end of 16 miles was a little rough 2 weeks ago.  I was also pretty worried that some foot pain that has been plaguing me would make this a tough slog.  I told myself to stay positive, sing songs, walk when I needed to and try to enjoy the sunny (if a bit chilly) day.

What an adventure!  Wind storms have turned parts of the trail into an obstacle course of downed trees and tangled branches.

I felt bad for the bikers who had to make their way through the tangle carrying their bikes.  I was really impressed watching two of them get through faster than we did, carrying bikes over their heads!  Way to go Mountain bikers!

This is also the first time I have run the entire 18 mile mountain bike loop.  It was fun times seeing new parts of the trail.  The miles passed a little quicker as we joked about the "Jurassic" fence area, enjoyed new bridges and hills, and wondered several times if we were still on the correct trail.  The uncertainty is half the fun.

We had a discussion about hallucinating on long runs and then happened a crossed this monstrous looking tree, that would fit right in a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon with it's gaping maw.

I did have some foot pain around 11 miles in. The frozen bike ruts were hell on my feet and I had to walk off and on a bit.  I had a mantra going in my head at that point: "Soft ground, soft ground, my kingdom for soft ground" but it seemed to resolve itself a few miles later and I found myself able to run without sharp stabbing pain for most of the rest of the route.  I even felt up to sprinting the end. In fact I felt so good after 18 miles I briefly toyed with the idea of adding 2 more miles to have an even 20 for the day...I decided to stick to the training plan and not push it.  Hopefully a wise choice.

Strangely I had random songs going in my head. Some I sang, most I tried to spare Leslie from.  I may actually make this into a run list:

Gonna Get Over You - Sara Bareilles

Walk the Dinosaur - Was Not Was (Thanks Joe for that ear worm!)

Just around the River(trail) bend- Pocahontas

I've Got Sunshine - The Temptations

We are the Champions - Queen

Fields Of Gold- Sting

Swinging On A Star - Frank Sinatra

Sh Boom Life Could Be Dream - The Crew Cuts

And the last half mile I had the Theme from Rocky going through my head.

Thanks again to my trail sister for braving the Poto with me, I am happy to report that 18 miles feels great and I am looking forward to 20!

#REALwomenmove, #Itsallabouttheskirt, #skirtsports