Adventureye: Ridiculously Hard Run (almost a crawl)

Last week I described my back to back runs as Type 2 fun. Yesterday's run was ridiculously hard and not any type of fun at all. In fact it sucked. I had felt kind of off for a couple days, and yesterday when I woke up I felt really out of sorts. But often, just getting myself out on a trail will bring everything into balance so I laced up and headed out.

When I started at 6am it wasn't too hot yet at Horse Lake Reserve and although the valley looked quite hazy, the sky above me looked blue and I thought as I gained in altitude it would get even better.

I was wrong.

It got hot right away and there was not a breath of air stirring and with every stride I felt as though I couldn't get a deep enough breath so I walked a lot. But I kept on plugging and climbing, wanting to get to the turnaround of my planned 20 mile route. When I got high enough to get a glimpse of Glacier Peak it was shrouded in haze, just barely visible. I could see the black scars of the Red Apple Fire.

My gait was shuffling at best, so I kept kicking dirt into my socks, so I had to stop to empty them 3 times. I developed a blister on my big toe and I had been carrying around the same moleskin for years (because I almost never get blisters) so the moleskin was welded to the paper backing so it took forever to get a usable piece for my toe. Although I had slathered on sunscreen I could feel the UV rays filtering through the haze to burn my skin and as a bonus I had to make a pit stop in the bushes and utilize my cat-hole digger and pack-out kit. Sheesh!

I stopped short of my turnaround point giving up on one last climb and Glacier Peak was gone. I could see none of the surrounding mountains and the air had a faint scent of smoke. By the last 4 miles I was only walking, slowly, crouching to rest in tiny shade patches next to bushes. It had reached 95 degrees. I had plenty of water and had luckily packed electrolytes and salt tabs but I was still completely depleted at the end and I had only eked out 15.69 miles. There had not been a single other soul on the trail and the parking lot was completely empty when I returned. I guess everyone else realized it was a bad day for a run or hike.

But there were some high points along the way. I saw a coyote, a bunny, a hawk and a chipmunk, and there were rose hips and berries. And later in the evening I met up with my hiking buddies for a huge Indian food pot luck feast and ice cold Athletic Brewing NA beer at the end.