If fate had smiled favorably on me, I would have been running the Western States 100 today, where by the way, both Geoff Roes 15:07 and Anton Krupicka 15:13 broke the course record. Instead I have 62 days left until my 100, which is probably just as well. I noticed that last week I said I had 72 days til Sisters to Sisters, haha, nope, that's what I get for having my brain on too many events at one time. Today was my last big training run before Sisters to Sisters which will be here in a little over a week. I started in Laurel, OR, if you don't know where that is, don't worry, neither did I. I ran up and over Bald Peak, big long steep 3 mile hill up to a beautiful view.
Then down a very steep hill to Laurelwood. I felt really good early and probably was running too fast. But a major map snafu slowed me down. I had mapped the route on mapmyrun.com and Jeanne and I both had it on our phones but, we had limited phone coverage for internet access and some of the map road names were not the same as street signs so miles 6 through 12 included several stops and conferences to make sure we were going the right way. From now on, if I have no idea where I'm going and I have the luxury of a road crew, printed maps!!!
While figuring out where I was going I decide to take advantage of the slowed pace and eat something, then I realized that I had forgotten to put the food I had prepared in the car. I was about 10 miles into 30 and in a seriously bad mood, I was pissed at how many stops I had to make and then the prospect of no food for the entire run. Jeanne saved the day by finding a small store and getting me some crackers and peanut butter. She got one more day saver but that comes later.
Once I started seeing signs directing me to Hagg Lake and now knowing I had food waiting for me when I got there my mood improved quite a bit and I ran really well to the lake. I had intended to run the lake counter clockwise to get the big hills done earlier but I assumed that I could pick up the trail on the north side of the dam and directed Jeanne to drive ahead of me. There was no trail access so we ended up going over the dam to the South side. Realizing the mistake and not wanting to get all pissy again I just decided to run clockwise. I ate some peanut butter and crackers and refilled my bottle with Infinit and took to the trails. I'm really not crazy about trails. I know they're serene and beautiful, and you're suppose to have some spiritual awakening while running them, but you end up having to watch your feet so much it really doesn't matter how beautiful the scenery around you is. Here's an example, this is what the brochure would look like
And here is what most of the trails looked like.
Around mile 20 I started really struggling, looking back the majority of it was mental. I was frustrated with the trail, I had rolled my ankle a few times and was starting to think about how beat up I felt after Forest Park. About half way around the lake I took to the road and felt better, then I was quickly reminded that the big hills are on the North side of the lake. Now I was struggling a little with the hills. At mile 24 I found out that Jeanne had also bought a Coke for me. I learned in the Helen Klein 50 miler the magic properties of Coca Cola late in a long run or race. Maybe it's a placebo effect, but within minutes of adding Coke to my bottle I felt really good. I ran really well in from there and even enjoyed the scenery a bit.
I wasn't sure how much switching to the roads changed the mileage so I ran back toward Gaston to finished with a smile on my face.
Oh, one last thing I almost forgot, I found this glass like slipper on the side of the road, and I picked it up. Upon completion I found out, much to my chagrin, that I am NOT Cinderella.
Next stop, Day 1 from The Dalles.
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