Saturday morning was quite lovely. I was awake, dressed, and out the door as soon as the sun rose. I arrived at the Foreststream section of the Seaton Trail where I was meeting the Mud Puppies for our Saturday run. The parking lot there was quite full due to the opening of trout fishing season in West Duffins Creek. Everywhere we went, there were fishermen wading in the stream, hoping to get a bite. It was particulary crowded at Whitevale.
The group was split according to the distances that were to be covered. The first group covered the distance from Foreststream to Whitevale (not sure if they covered the southern loop), while five of us - Rick, Gavin, Helen, Howie, and I - covered both the northern and southern loop with the north loop ending at Green River, and the south loop ending at the dump.
Gavin started the run earlier because he had the dog with him. Rick and I started off with Greg and Cathy before they turned back at the Whitevale Dam with some of the other shorter distance runners and we continued north. We stuck together for the entire run with Rick chatting all the way through. Howie and Helen were behind us going at a rather leisurely pace while covering the entire distance, roughly 26k. Along the way, Rick kept finding golf balls. We also did the eco-runner thing by carrying some extra trash on the way out to the dump. Just before we got to the dump, we put the golf balls next to a tree. As we reached the dump, we saw Gavin and Coco turning around. We both had a feeling that the golf balls would be swiped by Gavin. Sure enough, the balls were gone when we returned to retrieve them. We made a note to ourselves to roll Gavin when we got back to Foreststream.
Rick and I both ran at a leisurely pace because we were both still in recovery from the 78K race. Upon arriving at Foreststream, we saw Gavin at the stream with Coco. Rick immediately asked Gavin about the golf balls and he denied seeing them. He kept it up until I was able to locate them in his pack. After I splashed Gavin, he tried to throw me in the water. We then returned to the cars to do the tailgating thing that we do after every run while waiting for Helen and Howie to return. After they returned, we hung around for a bit before we all dispersed and went about our merry ways.
One of the things Rick, Gavin and I did after Saturday's run was plan for a hike on Sunday. The hike was necessary to work the walking legs in preparation for 100M and 24H efforts. We arranged to meet at the dump Sunday afternoon after 14h00. I woke up on Sunday morning and started planning my day. One of the things I ended up doing was heading to the gym for an hour before heading off to mass and then heading to Seaton afterwards. I was able to cover roughly 3 miles before the treadmill abruptly terminated the workout. After mass, I hit the highway and headed over to the dump. Rick and Gavin, along with Coco, were waiting for me and rearing to go. After getting my gear together, we headed off.
Our first stop on the trail was at a spot alongside the water. This spot is affectionately known as Rob's Quiet Place. Rob was a fellow Mud Puppy who had died of cancer last year. To keep his memory alive, some of the Mud Puppies planted flowers in his honour that morning. The only thing missing is the ashes. Rob's request was to have his ashes buried in this spot. Unfortunately, his daughter is still having a difficult time dealing with Rob's passing and is not ready to let go. At this spot, we bowed our heads and prayed for Rob's spirit, as well as his family and friends who were left behind.
We then continued on with our hike. We made it to Green River in under 2.5 hours before turning around and heading back to the dump. On the way back, we took a pause to lay some of the dead branches and logs across some of the mud pits we encountered. When we got to the dam in Whitevale, we noticed a tree had fallen and was perched on the dam. Rick and Gavin decided to climb the log to the top of the dam.
With the fun now out of the way, it was full steam ahead to the dump. We were getting tired but we kept on moving. After my Heed ran out, I had a pouch of Vega Sport drink mix that I wanted to try. That stuff was great! I actually started coming back to life. I will definitely be buying more of this in the future for longer races as well as for a quick pick me up at the gym.
We got back to the cars in under five hours. After Rick and Gavin made a detour to drop Coco off, we met up at Massey's Restaurant for a hearty supper where we traded stories and planned race strategy for the upcoming races. When supper was over, we all went our separate ways to prepare for a brand new day.
The group was split according to the distances that were to be covered. The first group covered the distance from Foreststream to Whitevale (not sure if they covered the southern loop), while five of us - Rick, Gavin, Helen, Howie, and I - covered both the northern and southern loop with the north loop ending at Green River, and the south loop ending at the dump.
Gavin started the run earlier because he had the dog with him. Rick and I started off with Greg and Cathy before they turned back at the Whitevale Dam with some of the other shorter distance runners and we continued north. We stuck together for the entire run with Rick chatting all the way through. Howie and Helen were behind us going at a rather leisurely pace while covering the entire distance, roughly 26k. Along the way, Rick kept finding golf balls. We also did the eco-runner thing by carrying some extra trash on the way out to the dump. Just before we got to the dump, we put the golf balls next to a tree. As we reached the dump, we saw Gavin and Coco turning around. We both had a feeling that the golf balls would be swiped by Gavin. Sure enough, the balls were gone when we returned to retrieve them. We made a note to ourselves to roll Gavin when we got back to Foreststream.
Rick and I both ran at a leisurely pace because we were both still in recovery from the 78K race. Upon arriving at Foreststream, we saw Gavin at the stream with Coco. Rick immediately asked Gavin about the golf balls and he denied seeing them. He kept it up until I was able to locate them in his pack. After I splashed Gavin, he tried to throw me in the water. We then returned to the cars to do the tailgating thing that we do after every run while waiting for Helen and Howie to return. After they returned, we hung around for a bit before we all dispersed and went about our merry ways.
One of the things Rick, Gavin and I did after Saturday's run was plan for a hike on Sunday. The hike was necessary to work the walking legs in preparation for 100M and 24H efforts. We arranged to meet at the dump Sunday afternoon after 14h00. I woke up on Sunday morning and started planning my day. One of the things I ended up doing was heading to the gym for an hour before heading off to mass and then heading to Seaton afterwards. I was able to cover roughly 3 miles before the treadmill abruptly terminated the workout. After mass, I hit the highway and headed over to the dump. Rick and Gavin, along with Coco, were waiting for me and rearing to go. After getting my gear together, we headed off.
Our first stop on the trail was at a spot alongside the water. This spot is affectionately known as Rob's Quiet Place. Rob was a fellow Mud Puppy who had died of cancer last year. To keep his memory alive, some of the Mud Puppies planted flowers in his honour that morning. The only thing missing is the ashes. Rob's request was to have his ashes buried in this spot. Unfortunately, his daughter is still having a difficult time dealing with Rob's passing and is not ready to let go. At this spot, we bowed our heads and prayed for Rob's spirit, as well as his family and friends who were left behind.
We then continued on with our hike. We made it to Green River in under 2.5 hours before turning around and heading back to the dump. On the way back, we took a pause to lay some of the dead branches and logs across some of the mud pits we encountered. When we got to the dam in Whitevale, we noticed a tree had fallen and was perched on the dam. Rick and Gavin decided to climb the log to the top of the dam.
With the fun now out of the way, it was full steam ahead to the dump. We were getting tired but we kept on moving. After my Heed ran out, I had a pouch of Vega Sport drink mix that I wanted to try. That stuff was great! I actually started coming back to life. I will definitely be buying more of this in the future for longer races as well as for a quick pick me up at the gym.
We got back to the cars in under five hours. After Rick and Gavin made a detour to drop Coco off, we met up at Massey's Restaurant for a hearty supper where we traded stories and planned race strategy for the upcoming races. When supper was over, we all went our separate ways to prepare for a brand new day.
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