Notes
Sunny, cold, but no wind. Long run at the Riverlands today. Goal was 14 miles. Started out with gloves and a hat and ran the Homestead trail, sweating by the time I got to the picnic area so I shed the gloves and hat. Ran the second half of the Homestead and headed up the Ridge trail. Lots of oak leaves, which were slippery in spots. Got to the top, kept going and headed down the trail out to the ATV trail. Ran the Bradford loop. Saw a guy with a packback with a chainsaw, peavey, and bow saw walking just before the Deer Path. Stopped at the turn on the loop to have a GU. Finished this loop ok, it was actually easier running this week because the ground was pretty frozen and not as soft/muddy. At the end of the loop, I headed out the ATV trail, for a mile out and back. Power hiked the steepest part of the 3 big hills. Ran all the way out to the big intersection before turning around and coming back. Pretty uneventful. Made it back to the Bradford loop intersection ok. Headed for the Ledges trail. There was a small downed tree across the ATV trail by the entrance to the Ridge trail, which was now gone. Chainsaw guy must have cleared it. Ran out to the intersection to the trail down to the river, the ATV trail was thawing out in the sun and getting slippery and mucky. Stopped at the intersection for another GU before continuing on to the Ledges trail. Power hiked a lot of the steep sections of this trail and also cleared a bunch of downed limbs. There were a lot of oak leaves on the steps going up the face of the ledge, so had to be careful not to slip. Once I got up to the top, there were a couple guys on mountain bike taking a break at the end of the Ridge trail. Stopped and talked to them for a few minutes. They said chainsaw guy and another guy with a leaf blower were working on the trails and the whole Ridge trail was freshly blown. They were heading for the Deer Path, so I decided to go back on the Ridge trail. It was super fun, no leaves just bare dirt. Ran pretty hard all the way down. Never saw the leaf blower guy, but did thank chainsaw guy as I went by him. At the entrance to the Homestead trail I knew I would be over 14 miles, but my legs still felt pretty good. Ran the technical stuff an little more slowly. Just after the 14 mile mark, I caught my left toe as I was bringing it forward and stumbled hard. I thought for sure I was going down. I took 4-5 steps bent over at the waist and could hardly see where I was going, but I didn't fall. Probably the best save I've ever down. Walked a little bit to recover, and was even more careful on the technical sections. Got back to the car ok and felt pretty good. My left foot and ankle were a little sore and legs were definitely feeling it. The inside front of my left knee was sore before the run, but it never bothered me and was ok after. After my left foot was pretty sore, took some Advil and did a lot of stretching. Good long run. Sweat more than I expected and the wet shirt was a little cold when I stopped. Energy was good with just 2 GU's.
Gear: UA tights, orange white to black long T, gloves and hat (shed), water pack.