Blue Marsh Recon

I didn't work today.  Therefore, I decided to go to Blue Marsh.  I wanted to check out the mud for Sunday's Naked Bavarian 40 miler.  I knew there would be mud, but was also wondering if I'd find snow.

I drove to the day use area first.  Sure enough, there was mud on the trail there.  I then went to Old Church Road to park.  My plan was to get in about 8 miles here.  The key was that I wanted to check out a few different sections.  I wanted to run short segments in three different directions.

The weather was excellent when I left the house.  That changed as I drove out and it was raining when I began the run.  It was a bit cold too.  I wore my jacket and visior to protect against the rain.  I had on shorts.  My legs actually got cold at one point and I considered stopping, but I kept at it.

I began by heading along the lake on the loop that I usually do.  Today, I was only going to go out about 2 miles.  I didn't want to do the whole ski slope loop.  It started off with huge puddles and crazy amounts of mud.  Luckily, it wasn't that bad the rest of the way.

There is a singletrack with plenty of grass surrounding it.  If you try to run on the singletrack, it is muddy and slick.  However, the grass is fine.  At least there are options.  Plus, it is flat running, so that helps.  I cruised along and then turned around 2 miles out.

There was a little snow here and there too.  I then went the opposite way on the loop after crossing the road bridge.  This would have a decent climb up to the cliffs.  I ran along there.  This part was in much better shape and less muddy.  I was kind of surprised, since it has more tree cover.  It was actually beautiful and I enjoyed it, even with some climbing.

I got back to the car at mile 6.  I was clicking off sub 10 minute miles, so it was definitely very runnable.  The only time I bothered to stop was to take photos.  I then headed out toward the start.  This was the worst section I encountered.  It was very muddy and wet.  Worse yet, horses had gone through and made it sloppier.  Even the grass along the sides sucked.

Luckily, this part, like many of the other very messy stretches, was short.  It was about a quarter mile long at most.  I ran out until mile 7.  I was running in the grass.  My body was getting tired.  Even avoiding the mud, I was having some resistance. 

It was good to get back to the car and finish up.  I had over 8 miles in the books.  They went by quickly.  I ran the whole time, so that was good.  This course is much more forgiving than last week's rolling hills course.  This would be an excellent race if the trail was in good shape.  It still might be come race day, but there will be a lot of traffic going over the mud.  It will be multiple loops.

I'll be able to run a lot more of this than I did at Saturday's race.  Today, I wasn't hurting, but my legs didn't feel great either.  I'm sure it didn't help that all I ate was a cucumber for lunch.  This will be a tough race because it is 40 miles and sloppy, but it might be better than HAT anyway.

I think tomorrow might be my last run before the race, although it is supposed to rain a lot.  I'd like to go up to an easy part of AT on Route 191.  I'm curious how much snow is remaining there.  If I don't make it tomorrow, maybe I'll run there on Friday.  I'm sure I'll take Saturday off.  Maybe I'll hike one day.

8.19 miles - 1:21:07 (9:54 pace) 792 feet of elevation gain