Camp Thunder

 22 miles, 3:51:19, 3730 ft of ascent. No hiding at Camp Thunder, my first time running there. Iv'e ridden there many times but never ran. I believe you can get good training here for any event, be it cycling or running. John and I started in the normal direction, river road first, then up the switchbacks. Going up the switchbacks was easier running up at the beginning than ridding. I guess I get warmed up faster running. I ran in my Columbia Ravenous, their first true trail test....my new favorite shoe. I love these running on base(pavement and mild trail), but on true trail these really are awesome. Camp Thunder has a lot of rock, everything from small rock to baby head. All of it loose. Cushy, cushy, cushy, but I could still feel the trail, but not uncomfortable. Well John in me ran together for lap one, ate a couple of Newtons then back out.   We went backwards on the second loop, going up the moguls first. They've been logging at the top so the view was a good one.

About 1175ft

 After the glamour shot it was back to running. When we started down water tower hill John pulled away. At the bottom I recovered and caught back up. John bombs down hill like he is on his bike. We then got to the yellow trail, which starts to go up, and I lost contact with him for good. Only five more climbs to go....oh joy.  I actually felt stronger than anticipated, but the pain still hurts the same. Finally reaching the top of the switchbacks was a good feeling, then the river road and back to the truck. I looked at my watch and knew if I could keep a steady pace I could break four hours, that effort hurt. I had a good run, I think If I could have done another lap in less than 2:30. It would be my fastest 50k ever. But we will save that for another day. I can't wait to get back, but after Pinhoti....Later