Vacation day long run

Sometimes, for the really long runs, it pays to take a day off work and make it an event. That's what we did on March 22, just eight days before the Gorge Waterfalls 50k, for our longest training run. We were supposed to do it on a Monday a week and a half earlier, but with Ann's awfully torqued back it wasn't in the cards.

Brand new shoes in a painful, screamingly bright color way
Even though it was soon before the race, since we're not the speediest runners anyways, I didn't notice any ill effects. Instead, we had a great time spending the day running in an accumulation of hail, ending with a soak in Ann's hot tub and delicious salt bagels. Sounds like a vacation to me!

Sign post at the start: Newberry Road
John dropped us off at Newberry Road, the far north end of Forest Park. From there we ran to Springville Road, down to Leif, and back up on Waterline to Wildwood. After that, it was a straight shot to Birch and back to Ann's house, for a grand total of 26 miles.

Hail begins; Ann demonstrates for effect
The weather forecast showed a chance of snow before 9am, and I was shocked that some flurries fell in Beaverton as I drove to Ann's house. I txted Ann that it was snowing, but she seemed to think I was joking...

Icy close-up
Until just after our first break, about nine miles in, when it suddenly started hailing small, round pellets. It hailed for about nine miles, making our second break not very fun, but tapered off soon after that. By a certain point there was so much hail on the trail that it looked like snow-- and we had first tracks!

Hail in action at a trail crossing
Headed south on Wildwood, the hail accumulation slowly tapered off, which I assumed was due to melting. Then we realized there was no hail at all on the ground, and it almost looked dry. But the sky was darkening. As soon as the words "Hey, I don't think it even hailed here" left my mouth, I knew I made a mistake. It started hailing, and followed us for our last mile and a half.

Hail accumulation on trail-- fresh tracks
It's funny that just a week after running in these wintery conditions we'd be in tshirts and capris, running in the sun.

Hideous bright shoes not dimmed after 26 miles in hail

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