Trail Loops

Present were me, my Raid teammate CK and SOF Chase teammate ES. The original plan for this post-Eliminator (and post huge lunch!) training run was going to be much longer and all over the area around southern Guelph. I was a bit over-dressed for the desert weather we were having, and my feet were getting chewed up in a pair of new shoes, so I didn't feel confident going too far from our vehicles. We opted to start on a short 4K woodsy loop on part of a course that served as the kick-off Thomass event in November, so two of us remembered it pretty well.

The trail was actually a lot of fun with lots of ups and downs and roots and mud and things to dodge. The woods were really beautiful. Quite a few people were out enjoying the warm weather. CK and I had our maps to follow the passing features as usual. At some point, CK joked that we should do the loop again to beat our time. Once we got back to our cars, I was so tired from trying to keep up with these two rockets that I said that we really ought to just stay here and run this wonderful loop some more. So we re-hydrated, re-fuelled, and reset the clock.

Route Link

Okay, the second loop was ridiculous. We booked it. I don't know where I found the energy (the Gu Roctane is a good guess) but I hammered up and down those hills. It was fun to keep hurtling past the same bewildered dog-walkers - we would ask, "we're not going in circles, are we??" :) We actually shaved more than 4mins off our time, and each loop is 3.63K. I got back to the parking lot and just collapsed!

At this point, CK still seemed fresh as a daisy, ES wanted to only do one more loop, as she needed to taper for Around the Bay, and I was basically half-dead. My tummy was also not liking the massive lunch we'd enjoyed with the other Thomass die-hards earlier. I consented to one more loop and felt really bad that I'd be slowing the others down and/or keeping the mileage low. But they are so nice about it. That is why they are my teammates. :) I really was slow the third time around, and around 2/3 of the way, I asked them to go all-out to the finish while I walked, clutching my middle. The race-horses took off - I was glad to see them get to run at their true speed. I shuffled back, but managed to nearly finish by the time CK found me on his way back.

--Distance: 10.9K (3.63 x3)
--Duration: 27:10 / 22:31 / 29:56 (25:41 for my teammates)

So, only a combined 18.5K for today, and I was whupped.