I’m definitely feeling the mileage. During the 40 minute drive out to Rocky Point Recreation Area, my body began to wail. I said nix, nix.
It was a 14-looper. Jesse and Daniel said they wanted to keep it 12 but it would have required running on a more trafficked road for a segment and thus they opted for a shorter, loopier course.
The loop ran through RV hookups near a lakeside boating ramp (and we all tried to be quiet as there were folks camping NOT affiliated with Mainly Marathons and thus didn’t need to be dealing with a pack of runners at 5:30 am).
In the darkness it was hard to appreciate the beauty of the place. But as the sun rose in my third loop, I got to appreciate the serenity and the juxtaposition of water and billowing plains of grass.
The light of dawn confirmed what I noticed I the night. There was a small incline up to the black cone for the turnaround. It was no more than a relative molehill that seemed like a mountain. Maybe not Everest but certainly K2-esque. And we all got to ascend it 14 times if we were doing the marathon. You’d think that’d mean 14 downhill races worthy of Eddie the Eagle… but somehow the return never felt like anything more like a short, small decline. Why is that?
So round and round we went. With each loop I found myself slowing a bit. Cheering people on, and being cheered on, helped pass the time but mentally and physically I found it a bit of a struggle today. And this is merely the halfway point.
In ringing the finishers’ bell, I notched another day on the ol’ marathoning belt.
They’re never easy but some days are easier than others. This was not one of those days.
Tomorrow brings us to Sundance, WY. If I can keep it under 4 hours there, I’ll complete my second circuit of 50<4.
My body is saying nix, nix. What does my heart tell me?
“Let’s rock.”