Running (Trail) 3:28:30 [3] 23.1 mi (9:02 / mi) +662m 8:17 / mi
slept:6.5 weight:174.5lbs
MCRRC Greenway Trail Marathon and 50K Training Group. Route 355 trailhead to Riley's Lock via a loop around Lake Clopper and the Seneca Ridge Trail. In preparation for the big event in 2 weeks, I ran the last group training run. We started out at 27 F. By the end it was around 55 F. Though this time Jon Pifer and I started out together, we got separated early. I cruised along getting warm and avoiding the crowd--there were around 20 people again. Before I knew it I'd already gone 2.5 miles and I was leading the group. Ed Shultz, the race director, came running in the opposite direction from Clopper State Park. I had pre-planned to go around the lake but it's daunting to commit to adding on 3.5 miles of distance after only ~3.6 miles on what I figured would be a 22 mile trail day. I knew that due to time commitments, Rich Prior wasn't going to go around the lake but I wasn't sure what Jon Pifer was going to do. I kept a good pace going around it. I'd been hitting half miles from Rte. 355 through the lake loop at about 4:15. As the sun rose the frozen ground softened and was slippery in places.
A little after an hour I had a Gu and took a brief pit stop at the Seneca Ridge Trail head on Riffleford Rd. I didn't linger as I could see a group of runners heading up the Greenway Trail. I got going again just as they rounded the corner behind me, on the Seneca Ridge Trail. I pulled ahead but slowly--I rather dislike the idea of getting caught from behind even when I'm going longer. I moved fairly strongly, eventually catching the slowest of the group that I'd started with even before Rte. 118. Ahead, the 3 deer skulls I'd seen 2 weeks back were gone. Climbing out of a deep valley I lost satellite reception. I caught 3 other guys who'd started with me but didn't go around the lake, right at Black Rock Mill--one of them had lost satellite reception in the same location (I fixed the distance logged based on my track from an earlier run). I finally broke into the Gatorade that I'd been carrying there and ate some cookies. I also removed my sweats--it felt good to run without them.
After Black Rock Mill, I was starting to feel the effects of the distance and speed. The trail climbed and I noticed that my visual focus funneled--my eyes were seeing the same but mentally, I ignored the kind of things I that I couldn't help from doing when orienteering such as large side reentrants. After Rte 28, I felt encouraged with 6-7 miles left and knowing that the next 4 miles at least were flatter. My pace quickened. I caught some more of the runners who'd started out at Rte. 355 and didn't go around the lake. Everyone was pleasant as trail runners almost always are, despite whatever pain they were in. I slowed in a muddy section and at about +19 miles I started feeling a cramp in my right quadriceps. Backing off the pace helped alleviate that but my joints were starting to ache on downhills--earlier, I let myself go on the downhills but now I had to spend energy and slow myself.
After Berryville Rd., I had to walk up the very steep section that everyone does. I continued to slow on the ups and downs after that. The trail had been moved. There were a lot more hills than when I last did this section around 1999. On the paved road, my pace improved but not by much. I was dragging the last bits on the dirt Tschiffely Mill Rd. After passing Mile 0, I turned left toward the towpath, crossed the bridge over Seneca Creek, and went around the building to the parking lot. Food and drink awaited me. It was a nice day for a run. I hope the struggle in the last few miles will help me adapt for the race. There's about another 13 miles for that day.