Perhaps I'd have made a half-decent boy scout

The Path

The timelapserunner thought he had planned it all so well.  After all, it isn't every day you walk out the front door and start a 23-mile run. Therefore, planning was essential. The temperature range for the roughly five hour experience was plotted out, taking into account the time for the start-of-run: 5:30 AM. The start-of-run time was calculated to put the timelapserunner at the never-before-seen-or-run path through the woodlands - the path that would provide the key link between his neighborhood and the LSU Lakes and City Park loop. We wouldn't want to enter that stretch when it was still dark. All was going so well until we realized that there was ANOTHER wooded stretch to be navigated even BEFORE the path. Several miles into the run, only a short stretch from having to enter that darkened wooded stretch, this realization dawned on the timelapserunner. What would he do now?

Flashlight app to
the rescue

Well, they say that necessity if the mother of invention, or at least of anxious thinking. We would have to make up for our lack of preparedness with ingenuity. Luckily, we had with us our Swiss Army knife. Not exactly, but perhaps the 21st century version: an iPhone. in the 400 meters prior to enter the darkened wooded stretch, the timelapserunner successfully downloaded a flashlight app, turned it on and successfully maneuvered through the near pitch black circuit, avoiding a very large submerged zone created by the past week's rain. More than once, our attention was turned to a rustling in the trees, hoping that the sound did not signal the impending pounce of some wild cougar or hog. (Alright, perhaps a bit of exaggeration going on there - but not much, at least as indicated by my rapid heart rate.)

Maps to the rescue

That behind me, the next quest was to meander through a labyrinthian subdivision maze in quest of The Path, hopefully just after dawn. Again a distinct lack of preparedness - never having explored this subdivision - led to the necessity of invention. After clearly getting lost in this maze, the timelapserunner whipped out his trusty knife again, this time to show a map of his current location and the means to get back on course. In just a moment, we figured out just where we were (a cul-de-sac) and where we needed to go to get back on track. Before we knew we were coming up upon the spot where The Path should be, an with that also the new light of day. The fog and the filtering daylight gave view to the complete surprise that was The Path - a grass-carpeted, nature-soaked alleyway through the woodlands and field (see first inset pic at the top of the post). The Path is not long - less than 200 meters, I'd guess - but a complete surprise was the well-kept appearance of this trail, with bench and all for sitting midway through.

The miles began to pile up, roughly nine of them completed by the time we reached the Lakes area. One 'quick' loop around the Lakes and City Park and we'd be back at this juncture to head home. When we hit this spot again - about 15 miles into the day's run - the remaining miles began to be more a matter of mind, or perhaps mind over matter. At 16 miles, leg soreness became apparent. But - conveniently - we were yet many miles from home, so we continued on, missing one turn that lopped off a quarter-mile or more. Clear thinking is not the easiest task to pull off as the miles pile up.

Run Louisiana Girls on the Run - 5K

Just as we were about to retrace some of our steps we realized that part of our route was now being used for a running (or perhaps walking) event (see inset pic to left). Of course, I would not intrude upon that, so we made our way around that portion of our route, thankfully avoiding the water-soaked woodland that required the flashlight app so many miles and hours ago. Somewhere about 20+ miles, the timelapserunner's right calf - the one that gave him trouble three weeks ago at mile 18 - starting to threaten to cramp up. Thankfully, it did not get worse nor cramp up.

Ms. timelapserunner at homecoming

We finished up, returning to home, some 4 hours, 48 minutes and 45 seconds after first starting the stopwatch, completing 23.06 miles in the process. Home was a most welcome site made even more welcome for the timelapserunner as he was greeted lovingly by Ms. timelapserunner who had been following her spouse's morning exploits ... yes, you guessed it ... using a tracking app on her iPhone!

All in all, a great morning yesterday was. The 2nd-to-last long training run done. Only six weeks left till race day. We're in the home stretch now for sure.