Four versions of today’s run
June 21, 2008Bonus miles. My plan was to run two clockwise laps of the ~15-mile Tiger Mountain loop known to some as “Seattle’s Favorite Loop” and to others as the course of the Fat Ass 50K held in January. I was doing fine on the first lap until I turned left off of the Tiger Mountain Trail about a minute too early — onto Hidden Forest Trail rather than One View Trail. It took me 41 minutes to realize I was lost, explore a possible way of avoiding retracing my steps, and then reluctantly climb back up to the TMT, by which time I had nearly run out of fluids. Not including this detour, I finished the first lap in 2:06, about what I had originally hoped for. A five-minute refueling stop at my car did little to revive me, though, and I needed 2:27 to complete the second lap.
The naughty nautical motif. I’ve noted previously that my trail running form resembles that of a drunken sailor. For thematic consistency, I’ve also started cursing like a sailor when trouble arises on the trail. Today there were ample opportunities for foul language: in addition to my 41-minute detour, I fell five times.
Family rivalry. My son is normally the champ of the family when it comes to the daily accumulation of dirt and bruises. Today I easily defeated him in those categories, yet my five falls were probably an order of magnitude shy of his daily trip index.
Flora’s revenge. Our back yard is overrun by pricker bushes (blackberries, specifically), which we mostly ignore. However, the aforementioned wrong turn took me down a very narrow trail that, wouldn’t you know it, was overgrown with pricker bushes (blackberries? nettles?), which gave my legs a bunch of small but itchy cuts. It was as if their little thorns were taunting me: “You can run, but you can’t hide…”
I suppose they’re right, but, to me, doing yardwork is even more unnatural than trail running.
My Track Record 
We have far too much in common. I, too, tend to bleed a lot. I finished a 32-miler on Saturday without falling and actually went straight home and celebrated with a beer! Miracles do happen! Take care.