Hagg Lake Run

I set out to test myself today at Hagg Lake, a week after the flu took me down. I initially wanted to run the entire loop on the dirt trail, until I realized halfway in that the trail is fifteen miles as opposed to my familiar road biking loop, which is only ten. After five miles of struggling up and down muddy inclines, following elk tracks and scaring huge ospreys, I opted to pop out onto the pavement. Still hilly, but manageable. According to the pedometer, I did just under 12 miles by the time I got back to my car. Not all of it was running, but that's okay. My brain is already used to managing long, boring distances from years of hiking - now it's a question of getting my body in tune with my mind. It took me a couple hours to complete this loop, and granted, I wasn't going for speed: I tinkered with my iPhone, took many "stretching" breaks, slowed down to unwrap cough drops, etc. The point was to finish, having run most of it, without getting sick afterwards. Both before and after, I had carbs and protein in the form of my sweet potato/protein powder/glutamine/blueberry shake and... a tuna sandwich from a gas station. Because it wouldn't be me if I did everything right.