Yearning To Howl

The Howl at the Moon 8 hour is a mere month away and I need miles and need them badly. Long runs have been hard to come by this summer for a variety of reasons. My last long trail run was just 3 1/2 hours back in late June. Somehow I've managed to drop six pounds in this time, a fact I was mulling over while putting away a good half of a Monical's veggie pizza last night with the family. Smoke em' if ya got em'.

Despite Sunday being the hottest day of the year so far just about everywhere in the country, I managed to get in a 4 hour run out at Farmdale. Starting temp at 7:30 a.m. was around 84 degrees, and the car thermometer read 93 degrees four hours later. There was some kind of horse ride at the reservoir and I bet I had to stop 10 or 12 times to step off the trail. No big deal, I'm all about "sharing the trail," like the strategically posted signs say, although I'd rather not share it with their sizable piles of horse crap. Despite the crazy heat, managed to stay hydrated with a Gatorade Rain (more tolerable than the regular stuff) and water mix, only took one Succeed! cap, as the rest fell out of my replacement belt pack, which is actually a small binocular case, since I lost my real one.

I'm planning one more long run in two weeks before Howl, then I reckon I'll taper. As for the event, I'm looking forward to it. Being a timed event there's no pressure to complete a set distance. My hope is to get between 26 and 30 and see how things feel.

Soundtrack: Rocker T and Version City Rockers, "Nicer by the Hour"