White Trail Only! (Almost)

   I headed off to Komoka Provincial Park this aft, primarily in an attempt to get an 11K trail run in.

May have been a sign...

   My plan was fairly simple---I was going to stick to the White trail, the one which runs through the park end-to-end, until I got my 11K in.
   It was about 6C when I actually got running and I had overdressed just a touch, could have done with one less layer. I knew I was overdressing, but I have this crazy need to be warm when I start running and am happier divesting myself of garments rather than the other way around. I also passed by fairly close to where I was parked and could have done a quick change but I never really was that uncomfortable.
   

Steep, muddy, rocky...

The reason why I'd planned just to stick to the White trail was that I've had the tendency lately to go exploring little side trails and then eventually finding myself, machete-less, trying to hack my way through underbrush and thickets to get back to any kind of marked trail. This has derailed my mileage plans several outings in a row now. This then the reasoning behind my "one trail" plan today.
   For the most part, the plan worked out okay. When I got onto the White trail I headed east and ran to the end. This had me running down a couple of steep, muddy (rain and snow lately), and rock-infested slopes. Then, of course, I had to turn around and then run back up them. The last time I'd been to Komoka, I'd avoided this section of trail mainly to not have to deal with these hills. Oddly, going down them is the worst part, due to the muddy rocks and gravity's tendency to fling you hazardously forward. Going back up is no treat but at least if you fall you stay right there.

Flat! Yes!

   At this point, I was headed back west and ran all the way to the other end of the park. This was pretty uneventful but also included a couple of truly steep and muddy climbs. Having reached the end, I turned and started running back, headed east. 
   Soon I found myself back where I had started from and, to get the mileage in, I had to start doing it all over again. Shortly after this, though, I screwed up with the plan. In an attempt to avoid the two steep and rocky hills, I took a side trail. It was also marked as "white" so I wasn't technically deviating from the plan. As has happened to me so many other times, though, the trail petered out and rather than simply backtracking, I went overland through thickets. The running stopped at this point and I was never really able to get myself started up again.
   

At the end of the trail...Lego!

I had put in 10K's worth of running and was pretty satisfied with that. I walked the rest of the way in and finished up at 11.5K.
   I was exhausted.
   I have only been this tired and in this rough a shape once before since I started trail-running and that was back last summer. Then, though, it was hydration. Today, it was the extra mileage and the hills. And the thickets. Briefly, I am sure, I'm missing running on pavement....

At this point, I was walking and
really didn't feel like bending over.