The Owl and Bradbury Bruiser

I woke up again to the great horned owl hooting out back, and looked at the clock and it was 2:30am. Too bad I never went back to sleep, but it was cool listening to it. I called Neighbor Kate to alert her of it (I had her prior approval to do so if I heard it again).

I flip-flopped on the idea of going outside to see if I could see it, but opted not to. I've been lucky enough to have seen them in the wild before, so I opted to just stay in bed. If it starts hooting really close, I may change my mind though. Great horned owls are my favorite owl, so I'm hoping this is his/her new territory.


Anyway, so I stayed awake and met up with the Trail Monster gang at 7am up at Bradbury Mountain. In attendance were Ian, Emma, Stephen, Jim, Lilly, Randy, and Kevin. We ran the Bruiser course, and it's a great buttkicker. I'd put the elevation in the "very hilly" category, though the hills aren't as dramatic as Pineland or on the other side of the park where the trails go up the "mountain". They're still there though, and there are no flat spots. The trails are also very technical and rocks and roots abound. But what's unique is that the trails constantly wind around like a snake through the trees and boulders. The turns are so numerous, sharp and quick that you almost feel like Dramamine would be helpful. All those combine to make it pretty darn tough! At least three of us had pretty good wipeouts during the run, myself included.

The race is on September 14th at 9am. Hope to see some of you out there. If you pre-register, it's only $20, and the t-shirts are always sweet. Click on the banner or here for more info.

As for my run, I felt pretty good for the most part. I went farther than the 10-mile limit I had set for myself, but so be it. I'll just take it easier tomorrow to make up for it.

Best part of today's run... NO DEER FLIES!

Ran 12.6 miles @ 10:18/mile pace.
Trails, very technical.
Very hilly.
Upper 50s to upper 60s, sunny.
Shorts, short sleeved shirt.