Bass Lake Run

AM: 46 mins.
6 miles
PM: 30 mins. ellip.

We departed the mountain cabin just after 9pm and began winding our way back toward civilization. Before we got there, we stopped off in Blowing Rock so the team could get in their long run at Moses Cone park. Unfortunately for me, the terrain consists primarily of steep ascents followed by steep descents (or vice-versa), which meant that for the sake of my foot I was relegated to the ~1500m flat loop around Bass Lake near our home base. Fortunately the novelty of the scenery made the time pass quickly, and I didn't mind too much that everyone had left me behind.


The path around Bass Lake, as seen in autumn

What I did mind was that my legs felt absolutely terrible. It's like no matter how slowly I've run the past few days, things just feel off. I'm sure part of it comes back to my foot--which incidentally didn't hurt today but was a bit uncomfortable--but overall my stride just feels awkward and unnatural and I find that I'm struggling for every step. No part of this run felt comfortable despite the slow pace, which is quite frustrating. We're still at altitude and that has to play into it somewhat, but still...hopefully I can snap out of this soon, because running sure isn't fun right now.