AM- Ran the Bench Marathon trail again for the 4th time since June, starting with Byron and Lester. Rather cold- 22 deg at the start, 36 at the finish. I was going to wear my running pants for the first time in 2 years, but Byron showed up in a singlet and shorts and shamed me to strip down. The goal today was to set a FKT of 4:05, though sub-4 was preferred (fast goal of 3:50). Ran pretty hard the whole way out, with Byron sticking close, never more than a minute or two behind. What a great run- I really love this trail. Hit the bench turnaround in 1:53, and swapped my gear for a couple minutes. Byron arrived just as I pulled out at 1:55 (previous times I reached the bench at 2:08 and 2:06, so this one was a lot faster). I've negative split twice, but that's difficult since the second half is net 500 ft uphill. Anyways, pushed pretty hard (not 50k race hard, but 90% ish), though had a few gear issues (frozen camelbak hose) and pit stop that slowed me. Finished in 3:53:37, a new FKT. I figure I can maybe run 3:50 or 3:45, but probably not much faster than that other than a race. Byron ran like a maniac and finished in 4:07, his fastest bench by a long shot. Leg didn't hurt, which is good and a reflection on how good it is to run on dirt. 24 miles, 5000 ft climbing. Wore the Suunto and it worked well, though the HR monitor doesn't work with a camelbak (chest strap messes up the HR sensor). It agreed with the Garmin on distance with .1 miles, and almost the same on elevation, too. Anyways, fun morning. Now the inlaws come for 10 days so I better go clean the house.
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