Notes
I decided to do a trail run for my long run today instead of a road run. I wanted to get one good trail run before doing a 50K on the 14th. The plan is to also run trail again tomorrow morning and should be good Syllamo training. I was thinking a 24 miler but wasn't sure since I had already run 4 with the dogs. I decided though that it would be best to get it all without a break so I set out with the intent of running 24 miles. I thought it would take no more than 4 hrs. I did not take into account the trails were a big muddy mess. I started on the Devil's Ice box side doing the usual 10 mi loop, but extended a couple places and ended up with 11. I went back to the car a 5 miles to get rid of my jacket and short sleeve shirt was enough for today. Then resumed the run. Stopped for a beak at 11 and then over to the Gans creek side for about 7 miles. Then I ran the Rock Bridge Revenge course backwards to make it 24 miles. I can't remember running in such muddy conditions. I am not even sure I have ever done a 24 mile trail training.
I felt like I was taking it really easy today but eventually the mud and slip-sliding around got to my legs. They were drained. The mud really hurt the pace. I only fell once though and did not ever twist an ankle. I tripped on a root and both hands hit the ground and I was fine. Even though the pace was horrible, I am otherwise happy with the run. It was good to get a long time on the feet and I never once thought about cutting it short so mentally I was good. At least it was warm today but I think it would have been a better run if it had been freezing. A few of the miles were even 13-something. The only place I walked was up the big hill and I kept the watch running. I hope the ground is more frozen tomorrow morning.
Fastest mile was 8:56 and slowest was 13:40 for this run. I've averaged about a 10 min pace for the two 50ks I have done, but hard to really compare since all trails are different difficulty. Normally though at Rock Bridge my pace would be faster. Also, hard to rate quality and effort for this run. The effort towards the end was definitely greater. The temp was good today, but the mud pretty much hurt the quality for me. At the same time, I think it was a great leg workout due to the time on legs and all the muscles balancing to stay on up on my feet. Cardio-wise, my heart rate did not get up and never breathed hard. Back hurt a little for a few miles but later it had loosened up and didn't hurt much.