First of all, I sent my application in to the West Highland Way. It is old school, by mail, so I guess it will be real when I see my name on the website.
Now, the last two days were pretty gruelling! On Wednesday, I did Paradise Loop and extended it around Belvedere (about 13 miles) and felt fine.
In keeping with my plan, less than 24 hours later I went out for a "long" run that I had been plotting for a couple of months. I parked downtown Mill Valley and proceeded to ascend Mt. Tam. Up and down is about 8 miles and it was a beautiful day. It turns out that descending is definitely a bit taxing on the legs because once I hit Mill Valley again, I was setting out for the next tallest thing visible — Twin Peaks!
I stopped briefly at the Whole Foods to grab some soup and a baguette, and then meandered my way through Sausalito, up and over the Golden Gate, through the Presidio, the Richmond, Golden Gate Park, the Inner Sunset, and finally, an assault on the Sutro Tower and Twin Peaks behind. By the end, my feet and ankles had about had it, but I felt good on the uphills and actually ran the last climb (wasn’t that hard because Julie was cheering from the top and had a car full of food, beverages, and ice packs!)
It was about 25 miles with 6,000ft of elevation gain!
I am a little tired today, but generally feeling pretty good thanks to accelerade, 2 asprin, some traumeel cream, and a bunch of food.
No Soap, Radio! 