Adventure On The River Trail - Part 1

Saturday morning we met 15 other Cabot Cruisers at the Skate Park. Jackie and her running group had met early and were already the trail. I cant remember exactly how many of them there were but I know at least 5 so altogether we had about 22 or 23 Cabot running people out on the trail Saturday morning.
It was very very humid and in the low to mid 70's and dark when we started. My legs were still killing me from the Wednesday night leg torture and my Thursday massage. The first steps were awful and I was seriously worried that I might not be able to complete the run.
We all started together but everyone had different mileage and pace plans so it didn't take long for people to start splitting up.
Miss Vic was doing a trail run in Emerald Park, she is getting ready for Lake Tahoe next month. She was the only one who was planning that route and I was a bit worried about her going up the trail alone but Dennis decided he would run up the hill with her and then come back down and find Andrea. One less thing to worry about!
Arland and James were just running 3 miles and then biking (Arland just got his orthotics in on Wednesday and has to break them in) they ran with Kelly and I until time for them to turn around.
We weren't that far behind the main group but I was really struggling with the leg pain! I knew it was going to be a rough run.
I was also worried about my stomach since I didn't really have a successful bathroom trip before we left. One of the many great things about running on the River Trail is I know there are quite a few port-a-pottie and restrooms avaliable.
The first one was right after Arland and James split off, the way everyone had been talking before we started I thought there was going to be a crowd there but luckily Kelly and I were the only one's who stopped.
That was the first of three "pit stops" during our 12 mile run.
Considering the leg pain the run was going well, we were maintaining a good pace and my lungs and heart felt good.
Bailey is coaching a few people from the AF Base to run the Air Force 1/2 Marathon and one of the people was supposed to meet her at the Dog Park. Bailey wasn't a 100% sure they would show up and they didn't but that's ok cause we got to run with her for the rest of the 12 miles.

We ran into Jackie and her group on their way back and they all looked great!! I'm not sure how many miles they were running but I think it was 9 or 10. Just before we got to the Big Dam Bridge we saw Andrea she was running 9 miles.
Soon we were at the Bridge I wasn't sure if I was going to need to take a walk break or not, so far we hadn't taken any breaks and I wanted to keep that up. I did slow down to walk during the steepest part but then after about 3 steps thought this is stupid I don't need to walk so I ran the rest of the way. We did take a water/fuel break right after that, and as we were approaching the water fountain we saw Lisa F. (Tri-Lisa or Ironman Lisa) I had already started running, walking just seemed to make the legs hurt even worse. Lisa ran with me for a few minutes until we saw Brenda and Robert and then she turned back to run with them.
I was feeling fine and we hit 6 miles just a little bit before we got to Murray Park, I didn't really feel like I had to use the bathroom but there was one so close and I was afraid if I passed it up I might be pressing my luck and end up with an emergency. I think I could have skipped this bathroom break although it was successful I think it could have waited.
I again ran all the way up the Bridge slowly but always at a running pace. The River Trail was very very crowded this morning there were hundreds of bikes out, at first I thought it seemed like so many more than usual because we started later, but then later on I remembered that the Big Dam Bridge 100 is in a month and everyone is training for it.
It felt like for most of the 12 miles we were constantly hearing on your left and then bikes wizzing by us.
We are always very considerate of the bikers and we would go single file when we would hear them coming, too bad they don't always return the favor!!
There were some very friendly bikers out yesterday though and we did get some nice comments, but those are usually the exception not the norm!
We took another water/fuel break and then when we got to the Dog Park I had to stop again for the port a pottie :( The one good thing I can say is that I never had an emergency, but I don't think I needed to stop at often as I did. I think because I have had so many emergencies in the past I am paranoid and almost afraid to pass up a restroom.
It was a very good run even with the bathroom breaks we had a 10:40 avg pace for 12 miles. I did stop the Garmin once I got into the port-a-pottie/restroom but at the first stop I had to wait for Kelly and it was about a minute or more before my turn and I remembered to turn off the Garmin. Once we get into our longer training runs I won't turn it off for bathroom breaks anymore.
It was a good run and I was very happy with our pace considering the route, the bikes, the bathroom stops and my pitiful legs!! LOL
This was Kelly's longest run in at least 2 months and she did great!! She has really gotten faster and stronger in the last year!!

As soon as we got back to the Skate Park it was time to change into bike clothes and get ready for our bike adventure.

I have to stop for now so I can get ready to meet Brenda, Vic, Michele and Jane for a 30 mile bike ride.