Morning marathon

This morning, I did something pretty crazy.  I ran a marathon before dawn, making it into work at the normal time.  Right above my house is a tree-less ridge that the locals call Rattlesnake Ridge because of so many rattlesnakes that like to make their homes in all the cracks in the cliffs.   Around that ridge is a pretty flat dirt road that loops around the ridge.  The loop is about 1.035 miles, very close to a mile.   The loops are fairly smooth except for an area that is being crowded by new development.  They have dumped some mounds of rocks as they are constructing roads a little lower.  So the trail through that section is a little more technical, with some rocks to trip on.  The entire loop has about a 50-foot elevation climb/descent. 

From my house the approach is 0.7 miles with a 250-foot climb.   So, to get a marathon in, I would need to do the approach, run 24 loops, and return home for 26.24 miles.   I was up for the challenge and hoped to finish it in about 4:15.   It would be a challenge because it  would all be in the dark and include a total of 1450-feet of climb/descent.   4:15 seemed to be a good goal to get it done without pushing too hard.I left the house a little after 1:30 a.m.  My wife is out of town so no “you are crazy” comments would be forthcoming.   I took up with me three bottles of fluid and some Reeses for some energy along the way. 

A nice moon was out to light my way.  I decided to alternate the direction of each loop, which would help me keep track of the numbers and help my legs to have some variation.  I felt funny about using my bright flashlight much up there at this time in the morning, for fear of attracting attention from the overly ambitious Saratoga Springs police, who have their offices less than a half a mile from my loop.  I could just see a police cruiser coming up there and then having to explain my crazy adventure.   So, for the first 12 miles or so, I ran almost entirely by the moon-light.  It slowed me down somewhat, but was a great challenge.   It was neat to look down to the neighborhoods lighted below.

After 4 a.m., I was more confident about turning my light and started to for a least a half a loop.   On the west side of the ridge, which is usually very quiet because you can’t hear any noise from the homes or roads below, I heard a strange roar of an engine above me.   I was very surprised to see a truck driving down from the ridge.  Someone had spent the night up there.  Last evening, I noticed a young man rappelling of the cliff up there.  It must have been him.

By 5 a.m., the homes and roads below were waking up as more cars were on the roads making their way to work.  I only had a few more loops and I pushed the last loop pretty hard.   I finished the 24th loop, gathered my stuff and headed home.   My finish time was 4:17:47 for my early morning trail marathon.

climb 9:06
1 8:56
2 9:15
3 9:06
4 8:59
5 9:29
6 9:40
7 9:59
8 9:37
9 9:53
10 9:56
11 10:06
12 9:57
13 9:34
14 10:14
15 10:30
16 10:38
17 10:06
18 11:17
19 10:14
20 10:45
21 11:53
22 11:31
23 11:12
24 9:29
return 6:28
total 4:17:47