I spend quite a bit of time running the trails with my dog Struth. Even if it's a hot day out and it hasn't seemed to have rained in awhile, somehow, he always finds what mud may exist and play in it. I suppose that is one of the things I really like about him, he is like a kid who stomps in rain puddles and makes mud pies. It's very comforting. Last weekend he and I and friends Francis and Glenn ran 11/12 summits at Tiger. I was so impressed with all of us, especially Struth who did not know what was in store for him. I think Struth went out too hard b/c by Tiger 2, he needed some water and there weren't any watering hole for some time, so I shared, (photo by G. Tachiyama). I knew what was in store for me, so I got up early, ate, stretched, got prepared in the various ways one does for a long day running in the woods. We started running about 7:30 AM and finished around 4:30 PM. We had made some stops and unexpected turns and overall, I was happy to have been out that long with everyone. I know we were tired because we started out counting the peaks and by number 7, we were far less enthused with the number bagged because it was a reminder of what lies ahead. Good thing I had plenty of biscuits!
In preparation for White River 50, I decided to do some searches and found lots of blogs to read which gave me ideas on how to get ready for this run as well as lots of inspiration. After reading about the 12 summits in Cheri Pompeo Gillis's book, 50 Trail Runs in Washington, I thought that was something I wanted to accomplish. I was really excited about doing it and although we only made 11 out of the 12, had we had different circumstances, I know we all would have made it. But, we still covered lots of ground and lots of elevation. I was surprised how good I felt after the run until I tried some miles repeats a few days later....whoa...still tired...but manageable.
So, Struth and I will head out this weekend again to find some mud for him and some hills for me to run. With plenty of biscuits of course.