Notes
Really good day at the ICY-8 HR Trail Run at Lake Anna State Park. This was a timed race on a two-loop course of primarily single and double-track trails. Very muddy; shoe-sucking muddy. But in the higher sections of the course it was dry and good running on pine needles. The race format was interesting: There were two loops, a 4.7 mile loop and a longer one of 8 miles. You could run any combination of loops you want, in any direction, as long as you completed each lap at the start/finish line. You were on the honor system to tell which loop you ran. Things got interesting in the last two hours because I had to decide what loops would get both my mileage goal (40) while still getting back to the finish inside eight hours. My secondary goal was to run 50K, so I did four long loops first. Then I started my last loop with just under 90 minutes left and realized I couldn't do 8 miles in the that time, so I just did a super slow short loop and finish 20 minutes before the end of the race.
Best thing today was I never cramped in my thighs or calves like I usually do in these longer runs. Had a little stomach upset in the early 20s but fixed that with some ginger chews. Otherwise, fueling and hydration worked well.
Saw lots of folks that I've run races with over the past year, and saw Andy O., Ally S. and Steve S. And I finally met Janet C. and ran a good bit of one loop with her. RD Alex Pappadapolous of Athletic Equation put on a great event, and the volunteers were super. Like I said, a good day.
Cloudy, 40s.