Crosscountry

8/17/08
Sunday

Made it to Bradbury at 7am only to find the park doesn't open until 9 oclock. I noticed a couple cars parked to the side of the entrance and figured they might be early birds too. I wasn't sure so I searched around for a place to park that I felt would guaranty me a ride home later.

I parked in a church parking lot about a half mile form the trail entrance. I figured I would be back by 9:00 so I would not interfer with church service and if anyone drove by, they would just assume there were early arrivals for the sermon.

I ate a gel, sucked down some e-caps and finished off my coffee. I had perpetuem and gel with me along with my compass and cellphone......people can get lost in them there woods! I planned a pretty long run of 8 miles os so and with the amount of trails here.....who knows.

I felt a little tired for the first mile or so but started settling in after that. I love running these trails. Bobbing and weaving around trees....side stepping roots and fallen trees......jumping over little brooks and rocks....

I did find a fair amount of mud and was glad I wore my gortex Northface trail runners. They are starting to get broke in finally and are getting a little more comfortable. I like them in the trails as they have a little more support for the ankle. The rocks and slimey roots can cause quite a twist if you are not careful.

I almost went down a couple of times as I hit some mud that was a little deeper than it looked and one root that seemed to jump right out of the ground and grab my foot. I had flash visions of a tree or rock planted right in the middle of my face and some doctor with a look of disgust as he carefully peels it away from my head...some people do not understand.......runing in the woods? Are you crazy?
I think my comeback would be, "sure would be a lot harder to remove a car from my face!"

I again had problems with the Garmen as it tended to make strait lines between satillites. My chart after showed huge gaps between points. Usually I depend on the Nike plus to show a more acurate reading but noticed I didn't accomplish getting it started. So I started it at about two miles into the run.

Another problem I had today was the heartrate monitor didn't register. No big deal I guess, I can tell how much effort I am putting in on the trails. The trails were beautiful today as the sun was peeking through the tress and casting shadows. Each time I would pass a slight clearing in the tree branches, I could feel the suns warmth on my face.

I was very surprised to find minimal insects today. I saw one mosquito and a couple deer flies but that is it. Usually with a moist morning like this there are more than one cares for. It seemed like I was runing forever and I felt I was actually getting faster.....then as the miles clicked away, I began to fatigue and knew it was about time to head back to the truck...I ended at about 9 miles and had burnt up 1 hour and 27 minutes, so long enough for today I guess.....not like I am training for a race.

The pool felt so good when I got home....so refreshing. I continued the workout by mowing the back lawn after my cooldown swim.....Now after that I deserved a break!