Ran this route last week for the first time, with a group, casual style, had a great time and learned the sections I hadn’t done before. I was inspired to give it a shot solo with no stops to see what I could set for a time with my current fitness, given this is the first Unsupported entry.
Chilly but sunny, low wind, a bit of wetness from rain yesterday but overall a great day for a long run. No route finding issues after learning it last weekend, good lines, shot the gaps between cars on a few crossings. Didn’t walk at all. Legs felt good pretty much the entire time. Probably could have gone faster earlier on but had 2 liters of water in a backpack and unknown leg condition so started conservative. Made one blunder which was stopping to take off my shoe on the railroad tracks section because I was getting a blister and it felt like the sockliner was folded. However, it wasn’t and my fingers were too cold to relace so I was swearing moving in slow motion fumbling to make a knot. Didn’t even fix it and got a blister still. That was the only real issue and poor decision. Overall easier than expected.
Went with a carbon-plated road shoe to take advantage of all the pavement, I was fine the trade off of slipping on the few muddy sections. I think it was the right call. Had 1.5 PBJ, leftover pumpkin bread and corn bread from Thanksgiving, and 2 spring canaberry. Didn’t finish my 2L of water but still stopped to pee four times—not dehydrated at least and I feel fine after finishing which is preferred to getting too drained.
Happy with my time given no planning went into this at all and I had fun and finished strong, but there’s a lot of time to gain on this route. Looking forward to giving it another shot next season.