A VERY RUNNING FILLED DAY (NEW LONGEST RUN!)

The old railroad trestle part of my sixteen mile run on the Banks-Vernonia Trail.

Saturday morning I woke up around 7am to get ready to volunteer at the Hippie Chick Half Marathon in Hillsboro, OR. I swung by and picked Libbie up and we were at our post around 8:15am. The first runners came about 8:40am. We were stationed at part of an out and back, so we were at miles 6.5 and 9.2, directing runners down the right roads.

It was fun! After a couple hours I was ready to be done though, but this race is very non-competitive so there were a TON of walkers, which was great, some of them just took a really long time to matriculate their way down the course. So we ended up being there about three hours, but finally all the competitors passed us. It was fun to call out encouragement and have them respond. Would like to volunteer again but next time I'll bring sunscreen cause I got a little burnt!

After we were done volunteering we drove about 20 minutes to the Buxton Trailhead of the Banks-Vernonia Trail. The trail is a 21 mile long paved multi-use path from the small towns of Banks to Vernonia. It passes through the forest along an old railroad track that was decommissioned because it was no longer in use. The state bought the land beneath the tracks and converted it to a path instead, resulting in a very smooth, beautiful trek through the forest. At one point you are running on an old trestle up high in the trees... really awesome!

My plan for sixteen miles involved running from the Buxton Trailhead where we parked to the Tophill Trailhead 5.5 miles north and back. As the name implies, it is at the top of the hill, but the incline is very gradual. Not very noticable at all, but you can tell it's there. Anyways, I set off doing about 9:45s and did NOT feel fresh at all. During those first 5.5 miles I thought there was no way I could do 16 miles. I felt creaky, used, and worn.

I took a small break after reaching the trailhead and stretched out. After about a minute I started back toward the car and felt much better. Seriously those 5.5 miles were a dream. I think the decline on the way back really helped. All of a sudden I felt like I could do 16 miles. The way back felt so much faster (and it was, my splits were about 20 seconds faster per mile).

My body started to feel a bit tired once I hit the car again, about 11.5 miles into my run. I took a break for a few minutes and drank a ton of water and Gatorade and then also ate a Gu. That recharged me a little bit and I went out for the final out and back, the other way this time.

Around about a half marathon my body wanted to be done but I was able to chug on pretty comfortably. It was 82 outside but the trail was very shaded so most the run was in a very nice 72 degree forest with no direct sunlight. However, the tail end of this out and back went through the middle of a field that really did expose me to the sun which sucked because it was HOT.

I did a little celebration at 15.4 miles because each step was now my longest run ever. Wohoo! After that my body really started to complain and things were starting to get a little painful. I made myself chug until the start of the trestle and then stopped and walked the length to just enjoy it. Once that was over I headed back to the car which wasn't far away.

My muscles were screaming but I was able to stretch them out and they didn't hurt too bad. Felt much, much better than after my previous longest run, 15.4 miles last June. That run really fucked me up for a few days after but I am already recovering much better from this run. I am writing this post on Sunday night and I can tell my legs are pretty much recovered. If I went to run they would feel heavy and whatnot, but they don't ache or hurt anymore. I'll take it easy at run group tomorrow and shake them out.

Anyways, it was a really cool run because the trail was awesome and new to me and it also was a huge achievement, my longest run ever! I used to set longest runs all the time last year but this was my first for 11 months. I'll set a couple more on my marathon training, but for now I'll take this one as a very successful training run. Total time was 2:32:51.