Trail running and talus surfing

Two things: I got myself a new hydration system and tried it out yesterday. I also got to run with someone, in a place I'd never been before.

Our friend John is visiting from Idaho (Roz's husband) and since Jim is still resting from his 50 mile race last week, John went for a run with me. He was also talking about maybe doing the Two Bear marathon, at least, he was before our run yesterday.

We went for a short drive and a long run up in Petty Creek Canyon - just up the highway from here. First though, we couldn't find the trail, so we tried a different one. It was ridiculous. We spent about an hour (and spent our legs in the process) running and climbing, then surfing down some treacherous talus. It was an adventure anyway. So then we're driving out, and we see the trail. So we got out and ran it. Well, we started out running anyway. Until our legs would run no more. It was up up up and it was actually faster and more efficient to walk most of the way up.

We reached the top of this awesome ridge with fantastic views all around, then ran the whole way down. All told, we were running and/or power hiking for about 4 1/2 hours. I'm not sure how many miles we actually covered (we had planned to do 15-16), but I'd say we got a pretty good workout in regardless.

As for my new hydration system, it is a Nathan pack with a bladder in it (like a camelback) made specifically for running (and even more specifically, for women). It holds 2 liters of fluid, and all the little things I need. I also tried out some new electrolyte tablets called nuuns and they are really tasty. One problem was that I didn't know how much liquid I had left, and I drank it all by the time we got to the top. That's ok, I didn't really need it going down. But, in the future, I will keep better track or bring additional water. It also took some getting used to, being able to suck the water out of the tube and breathe properly at the same time, especially when I was out of breath.

I think that John and I were each a little bit disappointed in ourselves that we walked so much on the way up, especially after Jim told us he had run the whole thing. But, this is JIM we're talking about, Mr. Fifty-Miler. I really wish that I had more of whatever it takes to push myself harder and to keep going strong. It is something I need to work on.