So, I forgot my Garmin again today, but after looking at GPS files from other runs I'm pretty sure today's route was something like 9.5 miles. I'll call it 9 just to be safe. Of course, that makes it worse when I say that I think it took about 2:30 of actual run time. Sure, I climbed more than 4,000 feet, but I was still very, very slow. I started at Dry Canyon and headed north on the BST. I could tell almost right away that something was off. My legs felt fine, other than the persistent soreness in my calves that I've gotten used to, but my lungs were not there. As in I felt winded even as I ran the gradual grade out of the parking lot. Plus, I had a bit of a headache that made it hard to focus. Things only got worse, and by the time I hit Battle Creek I was hiking pretty much everything. And by everything I don't mean just the super steep parts. It's kind of weird, because I felt strong and had some great runs early in the week. Then again, I felt pretty off yesterday and on Thursday, although I didn't think much of it then. Maybe it's allergies. Maybe I've come down with something. Maybe I need to eat a little more. Whatever the reason for my struggles, I decided early in the run just to relax and deal with it. Hiking may not be as good as running, but it will do more to get ready for Speedgoat than doing nothing. Anyway, back to the run. When I left Battle Creek for Trail 51, things got muddy. Ridiculously muddy. Dragon Vulture mentioned the mud in his report from the Timp Trail Marathon last week, but I had no idea that it was this bad. At one point I took a step and sunk into the mud up to my shins. I just started laughing and kept plodding along, postholing my way through the mud to the top of the hill. Near the top I came across another runner coming the other way. We chatted for a bit, and then I started the gradual descent into Dry Canyon. There was no more mud here, but the trail was chewed up from people and horses coming through when there was mud. Normally I would have flown down this descent. Today my head wasn't in it, and I was pretty slow. When I got to Dry Canyon, I thought I should return to the car and call it a day, but instead I headed up the canyon and soon found myself turning onto the Big Baldy trail. I ended up hiking all the way to the lightning rod at the false summit. Unlike last week, there was almost no snow or mud on the trail, so I think I was faster today despite feeling trashed. Of course, I don't think it's possible to do that trail without feeling trashed. I mentioned last week that it's about 2200 feet over one mile, and after today I'm pretty sure that about 1500 of them are in the last half mile. Anyways, from the top it was time to call it a day. I crashed twice on the descent (running on those little rocks can be like running on ball bearings), but both times were at low speeds and I was up and running without skipping a beat. And that's it. I think I'll go eat now.
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