Notes
This run derailed too soon for my taste. Back near Eldo Canyon and immediately took a wrong turn. A quick summit trip (I started pretty high) before turning around and taking my other option. Only this singletrack started to disappear and got quite heinous. Turns out I had made a wrong turn even before thinking I had made any decisions. Thankfully, this path didn't take long to lead to the obvious main trail. However, the wrong path wasn't done with me yet as while stepping down to the main trail, I skidded and ended up on my rump.
Now on the main trail, there were a good amount of people out and about, mostly hikers, a couple runners, and a decent amount of bikers. A bit odd considering there were quite a few stairs. I'd say the majority that I saw were walking.
I was enjoying the downhill enough that I didn't notice my heart rate was approaching tempo territory the whole time. So almost immediately upon changing to uphill, I stopped to try to calm my breathing. I checked under my shorts for the first time, and my hip had a solid scrape on it, though not deep. The next mile was thankfully an unsteady incline, so I managed, but the last half mile up was pretty steep and I was reduced to walking.
Another long downhill was alright but still couldn't calm my heart rate. Plus, I was getting a side ache to boot. 1 more 600ft climb forced me to a few more walk breaks and a near-collapse at the parking lot.
Does getting a decent scrape make your heart rate freak out? I hope so, cause my legs never felt tired. Or it's just another random effort gone to hell.