Burning River night run

Last night, JP and I started at 6:15pm from Happy Days to run to the finish line of the Burning River 100 course. My co-worker, Marty, started with us and was going to turn back "whenever he felt like it".

It was a great evening, the heat of the day had started to drop off and we were moving well. I had not been able to run with JP for a while and it was good to catch up. We made it to the turn off of the Salt Run trail at the entrance to the Wetmore trail and Marty started back towards Happy Days. JP and I continued, not sure of how muddy the Wetmore Trail would be. It actually was not too bad since we were able the follow the packed trail of the two groups that ran the course earlier.

We stopped to take pictures of the goats and to eat some early black raspberries. Before we knew it, we were at the Covered bridge and still had some daylight. Once we entered the Perkins trail, the headlamps were turned on and we proceeded up the hill. Once again, the mud was not too bad and we were able to reminisce about last year's race through this section.

The run along Ira Road towards Hale Farm was fun since there were lots of deer in the woods with their eyes glowing with the reflection of our headlamps. There was a party going on at Hale Farm with the music echoing through the valley. The stars were out but not as bright as they were in the Adirondacks!

The climb up into ONeil woods seemed bigger this time and my lack of long run training was starting to rear its head. I was looking forward to a small can of Mountain Dew that I had stashed at Bath Road and we pushed on toward the tow path.

We refilled bottles and I drank my Dew. Shortly after, my stomach turned south. I fought this feeling for the next hour or so and think that it was a combination of having my waist pack belt too tight and the acidic soda in my stomach. I did not have the best nutrition before the run and was feeling the effects. Fortunately, JP had almost 100 miles for the week already and did not mind my slower pace. We continued walking/running south on the towpath.

Finally at the Memorial park aid station I started to feel much better. We entered Cascade Metro park and started looking carefully for the trail. Neither of us felt real sure of the route through here but we manage to find our way with only one minor detour.

The final run through the Gorge was beautful as always and we finished our 31 mile run after 8 hours on our feet. It was a great night-time training run!

JP was running strong and is so ready for August! I will have some more long runs under my belt by then and will not start pacing sleep deprived and hungry like I did last night!

Abby and I ran 25 minutes this morning in the rain which was a lot of fun and helped to loosen the legs a bit. Rest day tomorrow and back at it tuesday!