On Sunday, I went back to the Preist and Three Ridges. It was a sort of last minute night before decision but I needed to get away for the day. So I awoke at 6:30 and started the drive out there. I had to stop for gas and the Sheetz that I stopped at had peanut butter coffee rolls. One of these things must have been packing about three days worth of calories, but for some reason, I couldn't resist. This proved to be a good decision later.
I got out there around 9:30 and was heading up the four mile climb probably around 9:40. The way up wa beautiful as it hadn't gotten too hot yet and it was clear so I got to see the view I missed the first time.
About twelve miles of mountainous view was
a welcomed sight. After reaching the top I turned around and started flying down the trail in an attempt to annihilate my quads. (what else do you do on a training run?)
When I got back to my car I refilled my bottle, and pack and realized that I had forgotten my salt tablets. I can't do a proper training run without forgetting something vital.
Side story: when I was crewing for Dave at the Old Dominion 100 I got talking to the race director and she told me about when she ran a 100 and didn't take in enough salt and she ended up in a coma. Today wouldn't be that big of a dea but it did make me think.
The Mau Har trail is always tough. Today was no different. About 3/4 the way up though I was feeling the effects of lack of salt. I was getting very tired and felt incredibly sluggish. When I finally got to the next overlook I took off my pack and sat down. I'm not a huge fan of stopping in general but I think it was necessary. After about ten minutes of "just taking in all in" ... And getting eaten by horseflies, I decided it was best to keep moving. I downed my second, and last, Swiss roll and started down the trail.
I surprisingly felt very good after the break and ran the final 6 miles at a clip I could be proud of. The good feeling didn't last too long but I was able to push just enough to keep the pace.
About ten minutes from the car I decided I would pick it up a bit. This proved to be a bad idea because it wasn't even a minute before I was face down in the dirt with blood coming from my elbow. All I could do was laugh and tell myself to slow down a bit. The Tye River was very chilly but it felt great after the quickened pace of the last part of the run.
When I had left the house that morning I had called Dave to see if he wanted to go but he had done the Ring (70 Miles in the Massenuttens) the day before and wasn't up for it, understadably. But I told him where I would be in case he changed his mind. He apparently had changed his mind and wanted to grab pizza because he was in the parking lot when I got back to my car. The day wrapped up nicely with a trip to Mr. Ho's pizza where we had a big Humble Pie. That's what it is actually called and it was awesome.
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