Ran 6 miles yesterday at around 8:05 pace, faster than I meant to. A little sore from running somewhat hard the last two days after a 4-day "break" but I was motivated to run a solid section of the Lake Sonoma race course. The plan was to run from the S. Lake Trailhead up by the ranch to Warm Springs and back but the trail got weird around Buck Meadows area. I followed what I thought it was but after a while, didn't feel right about it. Knew I had a long ways back and no need to kill myself. Still a solid 21 mile run.
And that was seriously the hardest run I've ever done, not even close. Kicked the everliving sh!t out of me. Lots of deadfall. Most streams were small enough to jump over in stride but a few of them took some negotiating. Lots of water flowing, logs, rocks, mud, etc. to deal with. About 4 miles in from where I started, I am pretty sure there must have been an easier way but steep muddy slope into the water with a semi-mossy log about 3 feet off or so that take you the whole way. Sinking rapidly past my ankles towards the bottom of the slope, I jumped for the log but got a little more push than I expected. Kind of a diagonal angle onto the log and naturally overshot it just enough, slid into the water. Statue of libertied my water bottle holster with the key fob in it (no way am I carrying that on me again; lesson learned) so couldn't really break my fall. Cracked my ass on that log but good.
I brought a couple of those cookies and three GU gels, which I carried in my back pocket. 2 of the gels had exploded everywhere when I hit the log. One was intact which I ate. But that pinole cookie, not only did it not even remotely crumble but drove into my right ass cheek and that's the source of the actual injury. Sure I'll have a bruise but realized later had a charlie horse, i.e. dead ass for the remainder of that run - ~17 miles to go. Every stride was painful. Another lesson learned - don't carry stuff in your back pocket. Grab the GUs at the aid stations.
Some other tricky crossings but planned it well. And I have to say 2 of those pinole cookies lasted me the whole run pretty handily. Dry though, need to figure out a way to moisten them up. I ran out of water hard, had to ration 2-3 gulps worth over the last 5 miles.
It was also a ton of fun and a really beautiful day. But ups, downs, mud, boggy, obstacles, etc. man it was hard. I did a little trail maintenance, cleared some deadfall on the way back. Not gonna lie, I walked a lot of those uphills. My ass was kicked. Couple minor nicks but otherwise unscathed. Legs are tired; can't believe I am going snowboarding tomorrow. "Recovery run" indeed.
But all in all, 21 miles, 3,800 vertical feet in 3:48. All things considered, I don't think that's terrible.
Next time I'm running the opposite section. I'm very glad I did this so I know what awaits me 9 weeks from today. Jesus Christ I'm in it now.