New Years Weekend Trail Run

A few posts ago I introduced you to the Cellon Creek Loop at the San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park here in Florida where the Dietitian and I ran a 5-mile loop and I regrettably forgot my camera. I was forced to use a couple stock photos of the park in my recap.

But guess what?!?

I returned to the park for another trail run this past New Years weekend with the Dietitian and two of her running friends. They set out to do 15-miles. Not wanting to risk aggravating my Achilles tendon, I decided to run the first two miles with them and then take the Cellon Creek Loop back to the truck and see how I feel. This time we saw even more deer. My last count was 22 I think. I completed one loop and then a little extra to make it 5 miles and felt amazing. The air temperature was in the upper 30s when we started out. Nobody like it. I wore my Nike Fit long pants, wool socks, long sleeve Under Armor Heat Gear, Addias running gloves (which I'm absolutely in love with) and a beanie. It took at least 3 miles to warm up, but by the end of the first loop I felt so good I decided to go for another loop. It would be about 10 miles. Hey, it's better to be running and staying warm than freezing cold and waiting for the girls to finish their 15-miler!

Not 30 seconds after I finished my 10 miles and started to stretch I hear voices behind me. The girls have returned. I think to myself, "Holy crap, they did 15 in the time it took me to do 10? Damn, I'm slow." The Dietitian runs up and gives me a big hug! They are all stoked, but have only done 11.5 miles. "Thank God," I think to myself. They doubled back to use the restrooms and still plan on finishing off the 15-miles on the Cellon Creek Loop.

For good measure, I jumped on my mountain bike and did the Loop one more time crossing path with the Dietitian and her friends somewhere near the middle.

So... Less than a week until the Disney Marathon and I was able to run a 10 mile trail run at around a 10-minute pace (picture taking included) and do another 5 miles on the mountain bike with very little Achilles tendon pain. What's even more exciting is I kept telling myself after the run/bike that I need to remember to take some anti-inflammatory drugs and ice my Achilles. We all went out for a glorious brunch at The Flying Biscuit and I totally forgot about my Achilles until hours later. I neglected it by accident only to realize there was no difference. It wasn't swollen up or aggravated. While the ice and drugs make for a good precaution, I didn't need them after all. Maybe I'm more healed up than I think?

I remembered the camera this time around! Here are a few pictures I snapped during the run.