5+ miles @ ~9.3 min/mi

The sun rises over forested ridgelines in front of me and memories of my first 50 miler, the Tussey Mountainback 2004 race, resurface. From the motel where I'm staying in State College Pennsylvania the Atherton St bikepath leads over gently rolling hills towards Boalsburg. Ultrarunner Morgan Windram let my comrade Steve Adams and me crash in her home there on the night before the race. Six years later I'm back for a couple of days, wearing a pair of Nike "Free" minimalistic slippers because they were lighter to pack than regular running shoes. Two-plus miles eastward take me past strip malls and farms to the end of the path just beyond Boalsburg Pike. On the way back I divert to loop across the grounds of the Pennsylvania Military Museum, where a big tree has been blown down and lies, trunk shattered. I explore a side road, Warner Dr, that deadends in a swanky neighborhood. Accelerating pulls my average pace down, with GPS-estimated splits of 10:23 + 9:21 + 9:33 + 9:20 + 8:09 plus a brisk fractional mile.

^z - 2010-09-27