12 miles of beautiful scenery

Today marks my longest run to date, 12 miles. I was kind of dreading it because this week has been, well different. I did a weak workout on Tuesday, drank, did nothing Wednesday, couldn’t go to track practice and hung out Friday. Basically beyond rest, there wasn’t much positive. I was picked up by a very kind team member, and we made the trip to the beginning portion of the trail up in Portola Valley.

Upon arriving there were already a number of people at the designated starting point. We hung out there for a few minutes feeling the cold 8am overcast misty feeling. Carl our captain told us we would get hot and should shed our jackets and such. It certainly did not feel that it would be possible to be warm at this point, but we acknowledged his advice and stripped down to the essentials.

We started down the road for 1 mile, and then turned around to head back, this was the accommodation for the 12 mile running group. Continuing along a trail it was pretty easy until we reached the first big hill. It’s similar to the beginning of the left side of the dish, not too enjoyable. We tackled that and continued on up and down for numerous miles. There were a few people to talk with and we all chatted, I hadn’t talked while running before and it makes it so much easier. Usually I am out on my own focusing on going as fast as possible, that wasn’t the case today, just enjoying the beautiful morning and Portola Valley scenery.

The trail was well kept and fairly flat even during the uphill portions which seem to drag on for so much longer than the flat and downhill portions. We encountered a few fuel stations (food and drink) by Team in Training volunteers. All of the people involved in this program are so nice, it’s refreshing. We hopped over chains, logs, steps, tree trunks, looked over vast drops and untouched wilderness, passed homes, roads, horse trails, it was quite an adventure. 12 miles seems like a long ways, and it kind of is, but only took around 2 hours and 4 minutes, including the stopping at a few stations. So probably about 1:50 of running time.

It was interesting, this week I actually felt stupid after the night of semi binge drinking. It played a serious toll on my productivity and mood. During the night last night I woke up a few times in anticipation of the run, and it is amazing how quickly I managed to be ready for running this morning. I had a small meal replacement shake and then a piece of toast with peanut butter.

When I finished the run I had an antioxidant bar, and an oatmeal raisin bar, and then a salad, and 2 pieces of toast. The first piece I cut in half and had one half peanut butter and the other half avocado spread, fresh from the tree outside (aged about 10 days). I didn’t have them as a sandwich as I’m not sure how that would taste. The second piece I used the rest of the half of the avocado and had it on the whole piece of toast. It might be my favorite snack now.

That’s all for today, catch you later,
Ryan