This morning I intended to run 12 miles, and I did, but I had to change my loop around a bit from the original plan. The first 4 miles were with Erin, and then I planned on running 3.5 out and back and then the final mile on the roads.

After getting chased by 3 Australian Shepherds and mile 6.5 or so that didn’t like me using the trail next to their farm, I decided that I’d run out to 8.25 and turn back, running the final 2 miles on the road.

Around mile 7.75 or so the trail goes up to a road and goes along the edge of it for a few hundred yards. A German Shepherd didn’t like me using that trail so I decided I’d back up and just run back.

Once I got to the roads, I did the first mile there, ran off to a side trail and did a short out and back, and then finished up with another mile on the roads to get my 12.

That left 5 miles left to run, which I took care of in the evening when a friend of mine came up to visit. I showed him some good Maine trails, and despite the fact that he claims he doesn’t run much he put up a good pace. Must be all the bicycling around New York City. I was able to slow him down a little while we were running in the snow, but a good part was on the roads where he pushed the pace a wee bit.

I felt great on both runs, though, which is a great relief when you’re afraid of hamstring problems in an endeavor such as this. It was nice for Dylan to push the pace a little so I could test my leg, and no problems at all.

For post race recovery, I spent a little time with the foam roller and a lot of time with some good food. I’d baked 2 loaves of bread today (one of which destined was destined for croutons) and had the second cooling on the rack when Dylan and his girlfriend arrived. I cooked a quinoa taboule salad up yesterday that’s been marinating for the past 30 hours or so. I also had had a ham in the oven while we were out on our run, so with the apple and nut salad that Erin put together we had the makings of a good meal.

All the food was quite tasty. We also had some Erin-made ice cream to enjoy while we watched the 2^nd half of the Jets and Chargers game.

Not a bad way to fuel up for tonight’s snow storm and trying to figure out when I’m going to run 18 miles tomorrow in a foot of snow.

I’d like to thank Eileen Hamilton for today’s donation!
Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 17 Miles (153 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 17.13 Miles Today (160.8 Miles Total)
Duration: 2:34:45 (27:24:13 Total)
Net Weight Change: -1 Pound (+1½ Pounds Total)
Money Raised: $25 ($425 Total)