Until Friday - I had no plans for a 'LONG' run in the near future.
Starting at Birch Creek up Millcreek - from there to the end of the trail above the valley and back is about 9.5ish miles. "It's just a 9.5 mile loop!" And 9.5 isn't that long for me anymore. That's just crazy! First 2 laps I felt pretty good, with a bit of leg issues popping up near the end of the 2nd. Zac joined us as we got out to the turnaround the first time.
The 3rd was quite disappointing. I didn't even make it all the way out to the turnaround (was just under a quarter mile, but I was ready to turn around) and dorsimus and craig still smoked me back to the start. That last half of the 3rd was pretty miserable. And frustrating because energy-wise I felt great. But my hips, calves, glutes and feet were just miserable and aching.
I even used sunscreen so I'm not completely fried after being in the sun for over 5 hours! Also I think we saw almost 2 times as many dogs out there as people. Almost everybody hiking had MULTIPLE dogs. Because it was an odd day the majority of them were off-leash too. Thankfully they were mostly nice doggies.
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