Last week, Julia asked me if I wanted to meet up to run at Trexler this weekend. That was perfect for me, since my training is winding down. I need to practice early morning runs too, so the 7 AM start was perfect.
It was nice and cool this morning and still is. It finally feels like fall outside. I hope this weather stays. I had a regular short sleeve shirt and was comfortable throughout.
I tried to get Julia to lead, since she is slower. I didn't want to push the pace too much. She insisted that I lead though. We took it easy on the new section. It was great having someone to chat with.
She ran here at the Ten Hours of Trexler. A lot of the course came back to her, including the starting area that we ran by at the bison pen. We then went downhill. Shortly after that, we came to a group of runners going the other way. Tim and Tim were among them.
Then, it was on to the road. Before that, I flew down the one hill. Every now and then, I'd take off for a short section. Julia almost didn't take water, but it was a good thing I convinced her to. She drank as we hiked up the long hill.
Surprisingly, the dogs didn't bark at us. One dog did, but I think it was a different one. The hike took some time. It was partly cloudy up here in the wide open field sections.
Julia then had to stop to use the bathroom. I did too, so I went when I got to the view. She took a picture of the hills and we continued on. I was certainly enjoying this relaxed pace. I'm not sure Julia was liking the hills, but I knew she enjoyed the challenge.
We went up over the false summits. We came across a woman running in this area. Then, it was up the giant climb. I hiked on ahead. I showed Julia how to hike faster.
After this was the first steep downhill. I blasted past that and waited for her. Then, we had another uphill. In between was a lot of annoying overgrown trail. We continued along.
On the next steep downhill, I flew ahead again. I waited for her at the bottom. Apparently she fell this time and cut up her leg a little. I felt bad.
We crossed the ice cold creek. It is very low and although cold, kind of refreshing. Then, it was across the road and another climb.
Julia seemed okay, so we ran a lot of the grassy section at the top. We ran more after that too. Now, the miles were clicking off faster. I was happy to see the time we were making.
We ended up hiking at times and running other times. I'd often run ahead and wait for Julia and then when she'd catch up, she would hike too. When we came out the bridge over the road, there was a truck parked there.
Next, it was the last long hill. We hiked up this too. I got a little ahead. At the top, there were two guys, one of them in cammo. I assume either hunting or getting ready for hunting season. The area we were in was archery hunting only.
Now, we were on the jeep road. We ran along. Julia kept on this road instead of turning back on to the trail during the race. This time with me leading the way, we made the correct turn.
We had about 1.5 miles to go. This rolling section is fairly runnable. I tried to force her to run more than she would've liked. I knew we were almost done and she just had to push through.
As we neared the road crossing, a guy was riding a mountain bike up it. I thought that was crazy. I could never do that and he didn't look to be in great shape.
Julia caught up to me again after the road. I tried to get her to run the remaining runnable part. Then, we hiked up the hill to the finish. I had been hoping to get in under 2:15, but we were over that. We ended up with a 2:20, which was still a solid run.
This was a good workout for Julia and a solid day for me. I probably could've done another loop, but I didn't want to force it. I had an easy day and still gave myself some work. It was nice to be done early in the morning for a change. I can't get used to this morning stuff though.
I may run again tomorrow. I'd like to get to Mt. Tammany. However, I'm just not sure about that. We'll see what I feel like. If I do go there or elsewhere, I have to go early, since the Eagles game is at 1 PM.
9:07 miles - 2:20:22 (15:28 pace) 1266 feet of elevation gain
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