A Little Barkley Pain With My "Monday Off" Post

   On Monday, I headed out for another of my "Monday Off" runs, this time at nearby Kains Woods.

The real trail starts on the
other side if this pond.

   I was a little conflicted as I left the house. I knew I would likely be out for about two hours but I also knew that the Barkley Marathons would be reaching its time limit while I was out and I strongly desired to find out if Canada's Gary Robbins was able to finish under the time limit. Unfortunately, they were also calling for heavy rain shortly and I wanted to avoid that, if I could. I made the decision to head out anyway, knowing I would have the phone on me and could check social media when I wished.
   I was thinking yesterday that I wanted to hit the elusive 11K mileage mark if I possibly could. This had eluded me (again) this past Saturday and I really wanted Monday to be the day I got there.

Honestly, my 220-some-odd
(some-even) pounds barely
fits through this gate! lol

 
   It's been pretty mild in London the past few days and this meant running in shorts again, which is always awesome after a long winter. The first part of the Kains Woods trail, from the entrance I used, involves almost a kilometer's worth of multi-use trail which winds its way past a subdivision and then around a large collection pond. You then need to squeeze your way through a narrow post opening so that you can access the wooded trail portion.
   Technically, Kains Woods is just one long trail from end to end and as I got to the start of it there was a sign indicating the trail was closed. This was a little disconcerting but the sign was vague enough in its wording that I just ran past it and kept on going. The plan was to reach the end of it and then turn back until I eventually got to the 11K. 
   

My favourite part of the trail.

The rain started falling almost right away, just a light rain and nothing which gave me pause. In the beginning the legs felt pretty good. I was a little worried because on Saturday I was totally exhausted after my 10K run in Komoka and I'd only had the one rest day in between. There were quite a few sections where I was able to "let it all out" for extended periods and it felt great. Eventually the legs began to feel a little worse for wear and round about that same time the rain really started coming down and I turned around before I reached the end of the trail and headed back, still running. 
   Not sure if my hard running did me in or not but at 6.5K I decided to just walk it in. I took this opportunity to check on the Barkleys and found out that Gary Robbins had finished but had been six seconds late. Six seconds! This deflated me.

Just to prove I was there!

As I walked back I found it hard to imagine the pain and the effort he had undergone only to fall short by this amount. All I could think of was the thousands of opportunities he would have had to have saved six seconds, here or there. Honestly, I had a hard time wrapping my head around it.  Once I got back to the car, I had a chance to see some of the video of his return to camp and it was absolutely heart-breaking, getting me all choked up as I sat there. Later, after I'd gotten home and even more so on Tuesday after all the fallout, to find that not only was he six seconds late but had also gotten disoriented by fog and had not gotten in the proper mileage, I felt better. Sort of. Mainly, though I was full 

Through the trees, and across
the Thames, the fabled London
Hunt and Country Club. (be
careful how you say that...)

of awe at both Gary and John Kelly, this year's sole finisher, and all they had accomplished. As I was sitting there in  my car, the irony of me stopping after 6.5K and a little bit of rain compared to what the Barkley competitors had endured was not lost on me. I then remembered what the 10K had done to me on Saturday and it only cemented in my mind the the true nature of the athleticism and mental strength Kelly and Robbins possess. Well done, gentlemen!!

Another of my fave parts!