Welcome to the Library

aka my future memory palace.

The low last night was only 15 C!  I slept in a bit and got out when it was only 17 C!  I failed to look at the rest of the forecast--the next several nights will be just as good!--so I assumed that I couldn't let the cool temps go to waste.

We headed out.  My gut thing had unfortunately distilled itself into a sharp localized pain, and so my thoughts for the first 20 minutes or so were upsetting and negative.  Meanwhile, the dog was grumpy too.  I think he wanted to sleep in more; at any rate, it was one of those days that he didn't want to leave my husband behind.  Then my pain went away and we ducked into the forest.

My goal was to do 3 complete loops, starting at the ranger station, and hopefully being under 60 minutes apiece at a very easy effort.  These loops are slightly different than the ones I've been doing, which I've never timed precisely anyway, so I wasn't sure how realistic I was being. We got to the starting point after about an hour (scenic detour).

A couple of miles or so into the first loop, we met another runner.  He was carrying a bottle and a newspaper--at least, that's what it looked like at first.  I wasn't near the point where fatigue injects extra humour into confusion, but it still amused me.  At first, it was like he was running for his bus, just a random dude with his newspaper and breakfast smoothie or coffee, and then I thought of a library.  We are in a library!  My gut pain was gone by this point so I was forgetting that I was running, but what if I was really forgetting that I was actually in a library instead?

My realization a few minutes later that he was probably holding a printout of the trail map was somehow even funnier.  I saw him a couple more times after that.

Shortly after, we passed a guy who had long hair, large headphones, non-hiking shoes, and a bottle of water--he totally looked like he belonged in a library.  Almost like he lived in a library.   OMG, we are in a library!  My mirth was renewed.

And then I thought of the memory palace.  I'm preparing for a couple of midterms, one 3 hr, one 3.5 hr, and I really need to start wrenching facts down.  I've never had a memory palace before, but I've wanted to try one for awhile.  As I get to know this loop better, I can start fixing associations.   Like, there's one annoying rooty downhill stretch that I cannot run down completely because it gets too gnarly, and then there are four steps at the bottom--well, that's going to become the first four-part factoid I hit.  And so on. 

We jogged on, passed the serious runner from last week's long run (passed him one more time), and a more amiable shirtless runner (passed him about 4 times total), and a few hikers, and we got to the ranger station in under 50 minutes.  Yeah!  There was one slightly interesting part during the second loop.  My dog was balking at getting out a stream because he was digging things up and chasing things.  After umpteen "let's go"s, I heard loud voices behind me.  Ok, really, let's go out of the way.  Shortly after, we were passed by a runner who asked us if we were ok.  Yeah, of course, thanks.  I didn't put two and two together until he was out of sight.  Maybe there weren't multiple people back there, just one, just him, directing whatever he was saying at us.  Or he was talking with other people he'd passed back there.   SO many people today with the nice weather.  A nice change.

And I more successfully negotiated my 1hr50-start-tripping thing.  I think that's when the first wave of fatigue hits.

Later on, I was getting tired of always looking down for roots.  There are a few sections that are root-free, and there are a few that are almost so--these are the most cunning.  But I didn't bail this time.

I started getting a stitch sometime during this run, but it went away after about a half hour.  Shirtless dude said I was looking good when I passed him for the last time before starting my third loop.

The second loop was also under 50 min.  Yeah!

The third loop was tiring and less populated.  Just over 50 minutes.  I decided to walk home from the ranger station, the short way, of course.  The dog did not want to walk: he kept speeding up.

Total for the run: 3:30, or maybe 3:00 without all the dog/stream breaks.  I think it was about 19 miles.  Not bad for mostly trails.  I had whey protein and a pre-workout mix before, and two gels during, along with water once per loop at the ranger station.  Too lazy to carry a bottle.

I don't think I've stopped eating longer than twenty minutes since!