Slow Ride

Went out for some miles on the forest single track this afternoon.  Whoa.  90-ish degrees and humid.  I didn't realize that northern Michigan got transplanted to the gulf coast.  So, it ended up being a slow ride for sure.  So, I just took it easy.  Even stopped in a couple of shady spots that were catching a nice breeze to cool off a little.  The way sweat was dripping off of me, evaporative cooling was not working very efficiently.

Big M: North Country Run Course Preview

This isn't really part of the trail tour series, but will be pic heavy.  This morning I ran on the trails at Big M as part of the North Country Run course preview.  I ran the half marathon course.  The marathon and ultra loop  has similar terrain but maybe a little flatter.  Along the way I took some pics to share with people I know are running the race at the end of August, but couldn't make it up for today's run.  I hope these give you a sense of the terrain and trail conditions.  Conditions today were very similar to what we may see at the end of August.

And so it begins...

In some places passing will be difficult.

In other places, the passing won't be so difficult.  The pine needles on the trail make a wonderful surface to run on.

The terrain is kind of rolling

Trail marker.  During the race, the trail will be marked with colored flags.

On top of a dune.  The breeze was really nice at the top.

LOL!  This was at the top of probably the mildest descent all day.

The course flattens out at the end.  Time to drop the hammer and go.