Some days it is wise to listen to your body. Other days, it pays to just give it a go. Today, the latter was true. I planned to go to Tammany after taking off yesterday. However, I was driving there and super tired and kind of light headed and feeling like crap. I headed home and was going to try to run later in the day. Then, I started to wake up and feel better, so I decided to give Tammany a go.
That turned out to be a good decision. I had a very productive run. I got there around 2:30 PM. I was feeling better, but still not great. I was very unsure how this run would go. It was quite hot and humid. I went shirtless. I ended up going faster than expected and got a bit hot. Of course, I was soaked by the end. I'm glad summer is coming to a close.
I seem to struggle early on in runs. I think it is often a lack of nutrition. I took about 100 calories of Tailwind on the drive up. I'm thinking that must've helped. Early on, I felt good and pushed on up. I was hiking pretty quick and even made my legs a little sore.
I blew past a couple young girls and a lot of others throughout the hike, especially on the descents. It was very hot, but I moved along well. Knowing this loop so well now is a big plus. I moved through the boulders in no time. Before I knew it, I had reached the summit. I forgot to look at my time, but I think it was around my typical time of 27 or 28 minutes. I can't wait to try to push a little more in the fall.
There were a lot of people at the summit. A group of Indian folks were unsure where to go, so I directed them. There were people up there with two dogs too. I ran a little along the ridge, but since I was planning two loops, I wanted to be conservative.
I walked the very rocky section before dropping down. Then, the fun began. It was my first time using my La Sportiva Bushido shoes on Tammany and it was just awesome. I'm used to feeling the rocks on the bottom of my feet if I don't land correctly. Today, that wasn't an issue at all. I flew over the rocks. When I could feel them, it felt more like landing on pavement, rather than the stabbing that I'm used to.
The shoes are very grippy and stable. If anything, they almost made me too confident. I think the only time I've run faster there was when the snow smoothed out all the rocks. I'd still twist my ankle every now and then, but I was cruising and so confident. I sure could've used these shoes at the Escarpment Trail Run last month.
I blasted by a bunch of people on the descent. Luckily, I didn't scare them. I came past some more people at the bottom. The only people that commented were two women as I crossed over the pedestrian bridge.
I cruised on the AT. I arrived back at my car at around 52:30. That's a pretty solid loop for me, especially in the heat. The heat did take it's toll though, as I was quite beat. I quickly toweled off and simply refilled my Tailwind and water. I think I probably took a little over a minute rest.
I was back to climbing now. I definitely was nowhere near as sharp or as fast hiking up this time. I just focused on continuing to move forward. I still passed several people, even with my struggles.
I was happy with how I got through the boulder field. If I'm really out of it, I slip and stumble around. I moved through there better the first time, but the second time wasn't bad. It was good to be nearing the top.
I pushed forward past some more people. I got to the summit for a second time. This time, no one was there. It was getting later in the afternoon. I didn't take pictures either time.
I ran some of the Blue Trail along the ridge and also hiked some. I was overheated a little and running low on water. I figured I could still blast downhill though. I wanted to finish up under 1:50.
I ran on the descent again. I was still moving pretty fast. This was much faster than my typical downhills here. It felt a little slower than the first loop though. I passed the young girls that I started with. It was so much fun flying downhill here. What I love about it is the trail is so wide and there are multiple lines to chose from. That makes it such a blast.
I knew I'd be close to 1:50. Therefore, I had to really push on the AT. I don't normally do that, but I wanted to today. I was successful too, as I came in seconds under my goal. I had not been here for awhile, but it was a good run. The new shoes are great. The next test will be using them for longer distances. I'll do that at Mega this weekend.
Tomorrow, there will be hill repeats. I'm sort of tempted to go out to Hamburg for them. However, I have to be cautious this week, so I might not run. I'm thinking maybe I'll run two more days before the race. I'm looking for a big weekend next weekend.
7.41 miles - 1:49:53 (14:51 pace) 2398 feet of elevation gain
Mt. Tammany Summits 34 and 35 of 2015
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