The 18 miles is an estimate. Thanks to Gustav, the River Trail was blocked off, although apparently the trail was not completely flooded and you could get through. But I didn't know that until the return trip, and I had already taken the Campbell Lake detour to get around the barricades on the outward half, so I did Campbell Lake again on the inward run. Pat is out of town, but I ran the first five miles with Anna, who was a good companion, if a tad bit slower than Pat. But Anna gave up when we got to the second barricade on Isabella Jo and headed back to Allsopp Park, so I was on my own.
Weather was wonderful -- clear, low 60s. Right around dewpoint, so high humidity and a little fog, but it was so cool it didn't matter.
Ran into a skunk at the base of Big Dam Bridge, but he was running away from me faster than I was running toward him. Then right after I got back on the river trail off Campbell Lake, I saw another skunk, and this one wasn't running. He/she was raising the tail and preparing to let loose a blast. I slowed, gave him a wide berth, and he didn't fire his shot. Thank goodness. I don't think I could have run another 11 miles smelling like skunk.
This was my first 18-miler since the marathon in March. I'd forgotten how hard 18 miles is. You think back and remember you did it, but you don't remember how hard it is. I remember now. The last six miles was brutal. Even so, I think I finished in less than three hours (forgot to charge my Garmin, so had neither a timer nor GPS capability). Mapmyrun says I ran 18.72, but that's purely an estimate because many of the trails are not marked on the map (neither is BDB). But I'll go with that estimate. | 