Distance: 14.80 miles
Moving Time: 3:10:55
Pace: 12:54 /mi
Elevation: 2,234 ft.
Calories: 1,874

First trail run of the season and I was definitely looking forward to it. We had snow storms the last two Saturdays that kept me on pavement. Again, yesterday morning, but I decided to go for it at the North Table Mountain in Golden. I had been thinking about strategy all week, not realizing it would be useless 10 minutes after starting.

The first of two laps was less terrible because the sun hadn’t completely melted the snow and ice on the narrow single trail. However, the east side facing the sun was an absolute brutal mud hole. For most of the route, I delt with constant sliding while massive amounts of mud and rocks collected like pancakes on my shoes. I stopped several times to slide the mud off on a jagged rock, but it was mostly back just moments later.

The ever-changing terrain of nasty, sloshy, goopy, and icy trails definitely taxed my mind more aggressively today. I even caught myself murmuring something about it not being fair. I had every intention of coming out strong today, but ended up just complaining about the conditions instead. It was a hard pill to constantly swallow.

My cadence got so slow, that even the slightest landslide got my brain fuming. I kept thinking; it wasn’t supposed to suck this bad today. After about the first hour though, I finally caved and just focused on remaining calm to keep moving forward. With soaked feet for the last hour, this was tough until the end.

With all that whining, I was still pleased to persevere and post this run. After a tasty poke bowl and some fresh fluids, my legs feel great.

I wore comfortable gear, used poles, and carried 36 ounces of G1M Sport drink mix with a few Spring gels in a running pack. I had a solid workout last night while my legs felt like Jell-O before finishing. I’m glad to have had the strength physically; to get me through it mentally.