Labor Pain 12-hour race

On Sunday I did some Big Dog training at a 12-hour timed race in Reading, PA.  It was called the "Labor Pain" and even featured one pregnant lady who ran at least two 5-mile laps.  The race was billed as mostly flat, but it turned out to be basically one large switchback-y climb followed by a long descent (with various other stuff intermixed).  This was a great workout for my legs, and the trail was slightly rocky in a fashion not too different from the Tennessee event, so I was happy with the decision to go do this one.

Sporting the Big T-shirt for the occasion:

The lap start/finish had a nice pavilion and plenty of space.

Lots of people at this one!  Ready to start:

John captured a photo of me on the last steep climb up to the lap finish - the hardest part of the 5 miles, but at least it was short:

One lap done, feeling fine:

I worked on consistent pacing, heat management (it was a bit humid), and not getting carried away in a race with anyone else (not hard since there were plenty of speedy folks I couldn't compete with).

Half done my goal of getting in 50 miles:

Happily it was pretty uneventful and I finished with plenty of time to spare (11:45) - also happily, not even close to enough time to consider another lap:

Yay!

Look what we found in Allentown:

On the way home we stopped by the FDR library/museum to see the new exhibit.  It is really well done and we were glad we had returned to see it.

Also, the flower garden looks a lot better than it had in the winter:

FDR and Churchill:

Overall a satisfying weekend.