Another interesting run this morning - sort of an adventure. There were some friends that were going to run 15 miles at Starkey. I needed to do 20 so the plan was to park my car at Longleaf neighborhood then run to Starkey from there - about 5 miles. I arrived at 5:15 and got going. It was very dark outside with no moon but a sky full of stars - beautiful but not very much light. I had a little key chain light which helped a little bit to see where I was going. At one point it looked like there was a thin white post in the middle of the trail. As I got close I realized what it was and how awful it could have been if I had run into it - it was the biggest spider web I had ever seen. That sure would have been a mess if I had run into it! Shortly after that I heard a coyote howling not too far away (well that's what I think it was) - then it sounded like there was one or two more howling back at the first one. With the darkness, the monster spider web, and the coyotes I was now feeling kind of creeped out. Then a car slows down and the guy rolls down his window and says hi. It was one of my running friends who I was going to meet. So, I hopped into the car with him until we got inside the park then I ran a bit more and met back up in the parking lot. As I was running in the park I heard a crashing in the bushes off to the side of the trail, along with some grunting/snorting noises - probably a wild boar. It was now 5:55 and we were supposed to start between 6:00 and 6:10 but Dixie called, said he was running late and asked us to wait for him. So we did. Finally got started about 6:25. The weather was still nice and cool and it was very picturesque with a faint sliver of a moon, some stars, and a hint of getting light. Ran out 7.5 and then turned around and came back. I had just a little over a mile to do by myself to reach 20. I felt ok on most of the run except for around 14.5 miles I was feeling a little run down. Fortunately I felt better a half mile later and had a good strong finish. Lots of people at the end of the run, sharing coffee, pastries, and some other breakfast type foods. Just one more 20 left to go! I think this was my first 60 mile week.
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