Training for an ultra means practicing a little night-time running. And that's just what my friend, Ellen, and I did last weekend. She is training to attempt the first known time for the Columbia Plateau Trail (130 miles on an old railroad grade that has been converted to a trail). I'm not training for anything specific, yet. We arrived at Snoqualmie Pass and started on the Iron Horse Trail at about 8:15 pm and finished at 3:00 am. I arrived at home and showered just in time to slide into bed before the sun came up!
It was really cool to run on the Iron Horse Trail along Keechelus Lake. We could look across the lake and see the I-90 freeway. The sky was alive with stars, the Milky Way, and satellites.
I tried out my new running light, the Kogalla. I loved it! It is a strip of lights that I attached to my shirt with magnets. It has an external battery pack that I put in my running backpack. I never want to run with a headlamp again!
The run was relaxed-paced 30 miles, 15 mile out and 15 miles back. I didn't eat very much because we were going so slow that I didn't feel like I needed the calories. I also didn't eat when we finished because I went home and went to sleep. My recovery over the last few days has been slow and I'm sure it is because I didn't have a good recovery meal right away!
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| Running through an old train tunnel |
