Morning fun run

This morning I got up at the ungodly hour of 6:15am and ran for about an hour, thinking, for some reason (bad mapping last night) that I was only going about 3.6 miles round-trip. Turns out I went 6.4! Above is the course I took, a simple, flat, barely meandering run, similar to the first half of the Missoula Marathon (and half-marathon).

The run was in preparation for this weekend’s Prickly Pear 7.2 mile (12k) trail run (map of that course). At their website we are warned:

With 1400 feet in elevation gain, this 7.2 mile course is not for the faint of heart. With less than 1 mile of pavement, this challenging course provides runners with a round trip tour of some of the greatest running trails in Helena’s south hills.

Yikes. I didn’t quite realize what a 1400 foot elevation gain meant until I checked out Missoula’s famed “M” trail, only to find that it is only 600 feet! So I’ll be running 7+ miles and effectively hiking the “M” twice.

Oh dear.

But, back to this morning’s run. I feel great, mildly sore in my flat feet, but overall great. I plan to run another five or so miles on Thursday, then Saturday’s race. Perhaps another long run on Monday and I could have a 25 mile week. Kind of exciting for this flat-footed, lazy, busy Buddhist academic. But for now… back to the books.