Sunday, August 10, 2008 [16M]

Rancho San Antonio. I wanted to get out earlier than my typical Sunday but didn't help my cause by going to bed late last night and naturally sleeping in this morning. It was already 1:30PM by the time I made it to Rancho San Antonio, which wasn't the best time to start my long run with the temperature approaching the 90s. I didn't do a great job hydrating well before the run and I was starting to feel it after a few miles. I ran a couple of loops on the lower trails to start with, first taking the Wildcat loop trail to PG&E trail then going back to Wildcat loop and continuing to the Coyote trail. On each of those loops I stopped at the Deer Hollow farm and drank some water, risking getting stung by the bees that were crowding over the water fountain. From then on there weren't any water stops as I climbed up the Upper Wildcat Canyon trail, came down the Upper Rogue Valley trail and took Moira trail back to Deer Hollow farm. I added on another loop on the Coyote trail and made it back to the car in 1:56:30. I was pretty spent by the end and the last couple of miles were a bit tough. Most of the run was pretty good, though, I was putting in some good climbs and moving fast enough to safely call this 16. I suppose it wasn't too surprising that I was feeling spent by the end, after all this was a long run which included a couple thousand feet of climbing in fairly hot weather. I think the heat was probably a bigger factor, I weighted myself when I came back home and was about 5 pounds lighter than usual (and this was after having already drunk a 16 oz gatorade and about a quart of water) . I should make sure I hydrate more before another run like this one.