This morning I woke up at 4 AM and looked at my phone's Accuweather thingy which was reading 43 degrees..... bull-hockey I thought so I got up and went to the computer which also read 43, the thermometer outside read 28 or 30 degrees... so I was set on it being colder than 40. I started my coffee, got dressed and went out to start my Tahoe and then came back in to eat a Cinnamon English Muffin with this new Peanut Butter with Dark Chocolate (delicious in moderation, as in less than a tablespoon), I had a cup of coffee and water with it. I finished getting ready, putting my fuel belt on with two Chocolate Outrage Gu's and one Mandarin Orange, filled up one of the 8 oz bottles with Raspberry Lemonade Gatorade and the other with the Lime Gatorade. I then put Rocky's pack on him that held our two water bottles, his collapsible bowl, a cereal bar for him and some sweet potato snacks made for toddlers but Dorian doesn't like them so I figured Rocky would make better use of them. I put my windbreaker jacket on, and my gloves, while dressed in my usual 2 layers of long sleeves (under the windbreaker), tights, headband and hat which I later took off before mile 1 because I can't have my hat on with my headlamp.
Rocky and I headed out the door just before 5 AM, and headed to the trails with intentions of running 14 miles (as long as Rocky felt like it). Started the run at 5:11 AM, immediately took my hat off and stuck in the doggy pack as it kept causing my headlamp to fall down over my eyes. Temperature in Tahoe was like 26, finishing temperature that my Garmin shows is 41 with a feels like 34 which I assume is what it was when I finished? Wind speeds of 13 mph SSE, but you can't really feel it when in the woods, which is why I chose to run the trails.
I'll be honest, my legs are getting tired of the nasty tracks people and animals have been leaving on the trails, and I really wonder if trails/dirt is any better than roads when they are frozen solid and have millions of jagged speed bumps trying to rip your ankles out from under you....... ugh. Other than the murderous tracks and roots, the run was very peaceful and I kept swearing that I am going to videotape/record some of it one of these mornings before things start thawing out.... it is just so peaceful out there. We spotted lots of deer, I mean LOTS, probably a total of 30-40 pairs of eyes though I assume some were the same deer having moved. A lot of them were still bedded down, probably wondering why some two-legged moron is out running and wasting valuable energy that could be keeping it warm...... animals just don't understand lol.
Just after mile 6, Rocky ate the cereal bar while I made a pit stop... at least I think it was mile 6? Around mile 9, we headed back to the Tahoe as it was bright enough to no longer need my headlamp and I wanted to drop a few other things off (my windbreaker, hat and face mask that I had put in the doggy pack just in case). While I stuck those things in the Tahoe, I filled Rocky's bowl with water... I know I had sipped some gatorade somewhere between mile 7 and 9 but I can't freaking remember when. After Rocky was satisfied with water, we headed back onto the trails to get the final 5 miles in. At mile 11.something or just around 2 hours we stopped and I consumed a Chocolate Gu while Rocky ate the sweet potato snacks, I then followed the Gu with some water.
I was feeling pretty good, legs were tired but around mile 14 we stopped and I thought for a moment.... Rocky was doing so great and I didn't want another 14 miler, I wanted to hit 15 this morning. So after some thinking, we turned down another trail that made a small loop back to where the Tahoe was. It was tough, no lying there but we ran 15 miles in 2:39:11 with an average pace of 10:37 min/mile, elevation gain of 201 feet and a loss of 175 feet. Overall a great run, I'll most likely be feeling it tonight and tomorrow but Rocky feels great and I am glad we were able to run 15 miles.
Laps/splits were:
Mile 1 - 11:27
Mile 2 - 10:25
Mile 3 - 10:12
Mile 4 - 11:18
Mile 5 - 11:29
Mile 6 - 10:21
Mile 7 - 10:24
Mile 8 - 10:53
Mile 9 - 10:39
Mile 10 - 10:48
Mile 11 - 10:10
Mile 12 - 9:49
Mile 13 - 10:37
Mile 14 - 10:15
Mile 15 - 10:26
Awesome run, and it makes me even more excited to see how much closer I am to the coveted 20 mile mark.... but I am going to be smart and intelligent and not go out after it with the tenacity that has injured me in the past. That 20 mile mark will come in good time, this Summer if all thing go well.
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