Well, this one is going to be a bit of an experiment. And a bit of risk.
Here goes...there is a 42 mile stretch of Appalachian Trail that spans between two train stations of Metro North I will be dropping off at the Manitou Train Station close to the Bear Mountain Bridge, find my way about a mile or so onto the Appalachian Trail, and there I run/hike all the way to the Appalachian Train Station near Pawling, where I hope aboard back onto the City.
The map of the route going from the Hudson to Pawling NY.
The times are quite critical - if the train is on time, I'll be at Manitou at 8:49AM ready to rock-and-roll.
The schedules for pick-up at Appalachian Trail are either 4:44PM or 6:39PM depending on how fast I arrive. The risk is that I must make the Appalachian Trail Train Station at 6:39PM or I'll be stranded for the night.
Arriving at the trail station at 4:44PM will give me 7 hours and 55 minutes of hike time. This would leave me at an aggressive 11:05 min/mile pace to make this train. That's going to be a humdinger of a run! I might set out at that pace and see how far I get with it though.
The later time, 6:39PM, will give me 9 hours and 50 minutes of hike time. This would leave me at a much more leisurely pace of 14 min/mile pace to make this later train. I *should* be able to make this pace above all else.
But it's a long run, and there is always a risk that I might not make both trains at all if I develop complications during the run.
If that's the case, I can run the extra 2 miles to Pawling itself and stay there for the night. I hope that's not the case though.
The idea here is to get as many miles as I can on my legs tomorrow. But, the other significant aim is to have fun exploring trails in my area that I've never done before.
And fun is why I keep running. If this wasn't any fun I would never do this ultrarunning thing at all. :-)
If anyone else wants to come, let me know. In the meantime, wish me luck tomorrow! :-)
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