Day 4,325—Thinking about a 100-mile loop Course—

 

      I decided to start this run by the River des Peres and go into Maplewood, then Webster, and the trails in Brentwood. I went the other direction on the trails and then turned around a few times. Some random sections just don’t clearly connect. I got turned around a few times. Next, I went back to Webster and then Kirkwood and the trailhead for Grant’s Trail.

        I stopped at the library to get some water and sat down for a minute. They have a little area there that has tables and vending machines in the front. This was the first time I had anything to drink after running for over 16 miles. I was planning to run all of Grant’s Trail, but I added some distance running down a train track because I was stopped by a train on the parallel track.

        I forced myself to stop and get some more water at Grant’s house, about three miles from there. At the start, I was listening to the book about the making of Bruce Springsteen’s album Nebraska. I turned that off and listened to the album, and afterward listened to all the older music that I grew up getting into. I started doing the math, and I realized I would be way over a 50K at this route, so I decided to cut the distances as much as I could. I ran on the  other side of the river when I went to Walgreens after 29 miles. I was so hungry and bought some trail mix and a Gatorade.

This is my longest training run of the year so far. I don’t know if I should try to do a 50 next weekend just to make sure I am ready for the Thunder Kiss 100. I am tempted to buy new poles before the race. My leg is still bothering me, although it is getting better. I figure this race has around 12,000 feet in elevation. I might need to use the poles at night, but I want to avoid using them as much as possible. They do make the run safer, but they also normally take so much more time.

        This run has got to be easier than the Shippey, and I feel like I am in better shape this time, but every race is different, and everything about this one will be new to both Travis and me. I just found out they only have one drop bag location, but I assume we will be able to set up an area at the start/finish. We will see. I am going to the SLUG annual awards event this evening. I didn’t think I should go by myself, so I figured we just wouldn’t go, but Sarah said we could all go, so it will be an adventure. I got 3rd in the male division for the awards they do each year. I did 4 out of a possible 6 of the races. I didn’t do the Double Chub or the Mini Ha Ha, but all the other ones I raced in. I did the Shippey, the Howard Aslinger, the Berryman, and the GYBK on Route 66, so maybe I could have placed higher if I did the other two, but I wasn’t thinking about it at all. I always do three of the four. I did the Howard Aslinger mainly because it was close and a good option to train for the Pot 200. I watched most of Frankenstein last night, so I will be excited to talk about it tomorrow. So far, it has been visually appealing and compelling, but it is such a familiar story. I like it, but I haven’t been enamored by it so far.