Triceratops Virtual Marathon

The Background

I had been running pretty consistently short distances.  Terri and I had gone out of town on Saturday to Paloma's gymnastics meet in Irving, my parents graves in Dallas, and Magnolia Market in Waco.  After the busy day Saturday, I was hoping to be ready to race Sunday.

I wanted to try out a new trail so I headed to the eastern end of the Lone Star Hiking Trail that passes through Sam Houston National Forest.

The Race

After about a half mile, I decided I was tired and didn't want to run.  So I hiked.

Mosquitoes swarmed and whenever I stopped I was bitten.

By the halfway point, I was tired and slowed to 18-20 minutes a mile.

On the way back, I noticed was on the wrong trail (blue marker instead of white).  Rookie mistake, instead of backtracking I looked at my GPS and thought following it would connect me to the main trail.  It did, but in the wrong direction!  Long story short, I found myself on the road hiking back, with 3 miles extra to go.

Halfway Point

Reflections

I noticed in this race and the last my GPS seems to be about a half mile short per marathon, based on the posted mile markers.  Not to much in a marathon, but in 100 miler that's two extra miles.

If I do the Lone Star Hiking Trail again I need bug spray.

I was not moving well, but at least under 36 hour pace.