Oh boy. 18 on the hilly trail. Mr. ran the first 8 with me on the "hard" hills first. Then at mile 8 I took a drink break, got more gum, put on my hat. The weather was not overcast like I'd seen on the forecast. It was cooler though, and that was nice.
After the first 8, I went on the easier side of the trail....or so I thought. I'd never gone the full distance of the 5.5 down & back. I found that right after the point where I usually turn around, there is a huge hill. Oh well....it was fun anyway. I passed some boy scouts doing their 10 mile hike merit badge. On the way back, one of them told me "you're making me tired just watching you." I guess I looked pretty squashed by that point.
After mile 13, my legs started feeling tired. So the last 5 were a push. I just kept telling them to keep on going, and I wasn't going to stop even if they did hurt. I finished at the bottom of a hill, and Mr. was waiting a quarter of a mile up the trail for me with some gatorade & a luna bar. So I ran to meet him...very slowly.
The mile walk back to the car was difficult. It was uphill, and my legs started cramping...one leg, then other, the fronts, then the backs. My feel actually cramped up too. I had to have Mr. hold me up while I tried walking on cramped up rigid feet. I'm sure we looked ridiculous. I need to know what is causing the cramps after the long runs so I can put an end to them.
Total time was 3 hrs exactly. I guess that's over-all a 10mm. I think that's okay for the trail runs. I'm just happy I finished. :-)
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