Waterlogged

I slacked off again and didn't run yesterday.  That meant I needed to run today.  Even though it was pouring all day, I still planned to run.  I tried to convince Angie to tag along, but she is too wise.  I went to Trexler and decided on the longer 11 mile loop.  I haven't done that it awhile.

Dressing was certainly tricky.  It was kind of warm, but raining so much.  I had on my shell and everything was soaked after nearly 2 hours.  Luckily, I've run in rain like this and worse before.  The beginning was a challenge because it was windy, but most of the trail wasn't that bad.

I started off and knew I'd have the trail all to myself.  I surely did.  There were some nice fall colors, but they were kind of masked by the wind and clouds.  In the new section, I already began hiking.  The top of my quads were sore.  That was probably from the rail trail run the other night.  I haven't had issues with them, other than at J-burg, since I went to all out trail running.

It was frustrating to feel sore, but I pushed on.  I ran for awhile.  When I got to the long, gradual uphill, I decided to hike there too.  I could've pushed through, but it was still too early.  The road below was beautiful.  The trees were orange and yellow.  I enjoyed that.

At least with the rain, the barking dogs weren't out.  If not for the rain, it would've been a peaceful run.  I was starting to get a bit wet, as I headed out to the view.

Then, it was back into the woods.  The grass that was high last time was now dieing off.  I also think they probably trimmed a lot of it too.  I cruised along, still running a sub 10 minute pace.  I wasn't feeling great though, thanks to the soreness.

I walked some of the shorter hills too.  With the shale on the trail, it is hard to get traction anyway when things are wet.  Even if I felt stronger, I likely still would've hiked.  I was continuing to make okay time.

After struggling up the two biggest hills, it was time to cut across on the green blazed trail.  This had another climb, that I ran some and hiked some.  I couldn't quite go the way I wanted, as they are tearing down a ton of invasion trees on the top here.

Since it was raining and it was clear no work was being done today, I jumped over some caution tape and ran through the closed off area.  There were some branches, but it was very runnable.  When I came up to an open field, I noticed singletrack off to the right.  That is the direction I wanted to go.

That was the correct turn, as it took me down the Broken Arrow Trail.  This is a series of switchbacks.  Everyone loves running down this.  It is okay, but I'm not really a huge fan.  Each part seems too long to me.  Back in the trees, this section was pretty.  The rain had picked up too though, so it was very wet.

I cruised on down this.  Then, I crossed the road and went up the blue blazed trail.  I simply hiked the nearly 300 feet to the top.  By now, everything was soaked.  It was pouring and my nipples were even starting to chafe a little.  I was glad to be closing in on 7 miles.

I got to the top and then cruised downhill.  This was fun.  After that, it was across the creek on the bridge and then along the stone path by the creek.  I followed this out and connected back to the Border Trail.

I was very happy to be at the Border Trail, because the hard stuff was now behind me.  I ran a lot over the next few miles, although I still hiked some.  I was hoping to make it in under 2 hours and knew I'd now be very close.

By now the trail was soaked.  The heavy rain basically made it a stream.  I ran in the grass at times, but for the most part just went straight through it.

After crossing over the bridge on the road, it was good to get to the last big climb.  The muddy section before it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  I hiked up most of this climb.  I then ran near the top and along the KidsPeace road.

I knew I had to run the rolling hill section.  Even though the legs were sore, the good news is that my breathing wasn't an issue like it would be in the summer.  That is always what slows me down here.  I knew I could run over these rollers and I did.

I crossed the final road.  I knew if the distance was 11 miles, I'd be in under 2 hours.  If it was a few tenths of a mile longer, things would be close.  I ran the hill for awhile and even scared 4 deer away.  However, the new section just took too much work, so I hiked that.

I came out to the original section.  I was a few minutes under two hours.  I ran up the last short hill and finished the loop.  I was a bit exhausted.

This was a quality workout.  I wish I wasn't sore and could've run more, but I'll take it.  I wasn't looking to push myself.  I put in a nice double digit mileage day.

I'm hoping to run again tomorrow.  Recovery could be a big key to what I do.  I think I need to spend some time on the foam roller tonight.  If I get back on roads, I might need to do that more often.

10.99 miles - 1:57:30 (10:41 pace) 1659 feet of elevation gain