Drove up to the Grasslands with Ty (my Whiterock buddy) and John (iroman) -- the location of a 50 mile race that I'm being coaxed into running in March -- for a little trail training. There is NO WAY I could run 50 miles on that!!!!! Imagine running on a beach -- covered with cowtracks. Sandy and bumpy -- not many rocks or roots, but I have blisters where I've never had blisters before! Lots of lateral movement (blisters on the sides of my big toes). We managed to get a little lost -- even though the trails are very well-marked. We thought we were doing a 10 mile loop, and somehow ended up doing 13. We lost John -- he was bonking badly. He walked out of the wilderness about a half hour behind us...and then Ty locked his keys in his trunk. His wife had to drive about an hour to get him a different key. Let's just say my first trail run will be remembered for a long time! I need to ask Santa for a late request -- Trail shoes!!! For the most part, while we were running we were doing miles in the 9:30-10:00 range -- and it felt like we were going faster. We ran about 13 miles -- which felt closer to 20! I have a new respect for trail runners! (Give me a week or two to rethink this 50 miler...maybe I'll find one that's on something a little more firm than sand)
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