In the early summer and late spring my training is quite a bit slower than other
times of the year. It's not because of the heat or the humidity. I train so slow that
all that does is speed up my rather slow heart rate. What slows me down are temptations that abound this time of year. BERRIES !!!!
I have been enjoying black raspberries, blackberries, wine berries and an occasional mulberry for a few months. After lunch i usually go for a 1 mile walk to keep my legs from stiffening up. Yesterday was nothing unusual. I went for my walk. My walk takes me a half mile out on a bike path and back. On a few portions of the trail, the trail is raised above the ground around it. On one of these raised sections i saw an area where people had beaten down the undergrowth to get to a blackberry patch. I looked at the patch and saw a few berries further away from the trail. I reached and got one. I saw another and i reached further. I saw another one even further away and i put my leg out behind me to balance myself to get it .....and i fell face first into the blackberry patch with my head much lower than my feet because of the embankment. I just laid there for a moment while i though of how to get loose. First i tried to turn on my back and managed it but still my feet were way higher than my head and i was tangled in the briars. I tried to sit up - i could but i could not GET up so i slowly tried to angle my feet downwards by turning in an arc. Every effort only gained me a miniscule result because of the awkward position i was in and because of
the briars. It reminded me of falling down on snowshoes with a heavy pack in deep soft snow. After struggling a while - not sure how long a woman peered over
the embankment and said "do you need some help". I said yes and thanked her profusely. It still was not that easy to get out of the briar patch but she managed to help me out. When i was out i started walking with her. She was walking at a
very respectable pace - probably around 14:00/mile. She told me that she saw something off the embankment and went back to look at it and found me. She must have passed the sad pile of cloth the first time.
When i got out i was covered with smashed blackberries and i had thorns all over.
It was hilarious, though i will remember this incident and be more careful picking berries. If it had not been for that woman i might have had to call my partner to come and save me ;-)
---- Marina
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Nice little run
Today my partner and i run the Women's distance Festival 5K in Reston. It was a lovely WELL ORGANIZED run with markings and course marshals to point the way.
When Laura runs a race with me i am pretty much always the side show no matter how fast i go. She does 5k's on crutches or in this case, trekking poles.
Today one of the runners told her that they started running because they were inspired seeing her do races even though she is disabled.
My run was good. Despite having a hurt left foot i managed to run 21:30 for 7th place overall. I was told after finishing that i was 6th place. Looking at the results it seems it skips from 5th place to 7th place. Fine by me ;-)
I won a nice lava lamp for winning the 45-49 age group.
Later in the day i crept 20.5 miles walking 3 miles of it in the hope of working
out the kinks in my legs. It turns out that it really hurts to 6:54/mile for 3.1
miles when you mostly train at 10-11 minutes/mile ....or slower. Anyway - all part of what it is to run distance ;-)
---- Marina
When Laura runs a race with me i am pretty much always the side show no matter how fast i go. She does 5k's on crutches or in this case, trekking poles.
Today one of the runners told her that they started running because they were inspired seeing her do races even though she is disabled.
My run was good. Despite having a hurt left foot i managed to run 21:30 for 7th place overall. I was told after finishing that i was 6th place. Looking at the results it seems it skips from 5th place to 7th place. Fine by me ;-)
I won a nice lava lamp for winning the 45-49 age group.
Later in the day i crept 20.5 miles walking 3 miles of it in the hope of working
out the kinks in my legs. It turns out that it really hurts to 6:54/mile for 3.1
miles when you mostly train at 10-11 minutes/mile ....or slower. Anyway - all part of what it is to run distance ;-)
---- Marina
Saturday, May 14, 2011
I got lost during a 5 k race !
I got lost during a 5 k race !
by Marina Brown on Saturday, May 14, 2011 at 1:56pm
I must get a prize for this. Getting lost during a 5k Race ! I ran a 5k race this morning with friends from work. I was doing really well staying faster than 8 minutes a mile for the first half mile then mostly faster than 7 minutes a mile til the end. At the end there was a turnoff and i was kind of out of it from the pace and i went straight where i should have turned. There was no one directing the runners. I ended up with 26:56 for 3.84 miles which is a 7:00 pace. Ah well. ;-)
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Sunday, May 1, 2011
The Potomac River Run Marathon
A year ago today i ran my first Marathon at the lovely Potomac River Run Marathon. In the past i avoided marathons for longer races. My first really long distance race was the JFK 50 in 1984. In avoiding marathons i missed out on a LOT of fun. In my first marathon i found out how charming a distance it really is. You start hurting somewhere around 18-20 miles and as soon as you know it, the race is over. In my first Potomac River Run Marathon I was barely in shape to finish the distance so i did a walk/run patter on 20 minutes run and 10 minutes fast walk like i do on long training runs. The race was delightful ! I got to see the sun rise over the Potomac and the entire path along the C & O canal path was scented with the intoxicating fragrance of black locust flowers. It was quite hot that day too. Today it was quite cool and there were fewer flowers blooming but the path along the Potomac was wonderful. This time the river was VERY high and it was a little intimidating for me to run along the canal path with a precipitous drop into fast moving water. The power of water has been an ongoing theme in my weekend runs.
I started the race with the hope that i would be able to break 4:15 in order to qualify for the Escarpment Trail race in July. I love the course there ! I was running quite a bit faster than i normally do in training but my heart rate as measured on my GPS was suitably low. Even from the beginning the fast pace hurt. I kept it up til about 8 miles when i realized that there was no way my legs were going to let me get away with it. I train slowly so that is pretty much what my legs want to do. From 8 miles to 20 miles i went into a holding pattern just trying to keep proper form and cadence. A few trips to the bushes to deal with digestive issues slowed my time a bit. I should stick with my usual omllet for race day breakfasts. After 20 miles i realized i was hurting a bit from moving faster than usual so instead of slowing down i pushed a bit. The harder effort made the last miles drag a bit. I played tag with a woman named Mary from Georgia. We stayed together til almost the finish where i picked up the pace to around 8 minutes a mile. I wanted to at least finish under 4:40 but i ended up 18 seconds over. No problem. Mary got a hug when she passed the finish line. After finishing i took off my race number and went for a walk. While walking i picked up random trash left by the racers. I really wish that people would be more respectful of wilderness. The C & O is a thin sliver of lovely wilderness from Washington DC to Cumberland MD. It’s not a city street in a city Marathon.
Wile walking i saw Tammie Massie coming in for a finish. It was very nice to see her. I had hoped to run with her but she got a bit of a late start and had to take it easy for the first couple of miles to warm up her legs. When i turned back to the finish i saw Tammie had the same idea to walk off the Marathon so we walked and talked about ultramarathons for quite a while. She is doing the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning which is 4 tough 100 mile runs in 4 months. The runs are The Vermont 100 miler, Wastern States, Leadville and Wasatch. She was very lucky to get in the Western States lottery. Lots of people try to get in but don’t.
After walking with Tammie i spent some time helping move stuff back to the van for the race director. People did seem surprised that i did that after running a marathon but for the most part the distance is not that hard for me. The difficulty comes in at running fast and that is self limiting. I’m just pretty slow. Maybe i would go faster if i trained faster but i like to creep along in my training runs ;-)
The food after the race was really nice. There were bagels and there was pizza, fruit and even some sharp cheddar pieces. I wish some of that food had been out on the race course rather than just gels, water and gatorade. That sweet stuff might have been the cause of some of my digestive distress. I forgot to bring along some salt so i did take some gatorade for salt and as usual,.that is a mistake. The usual packets of Medjool dates and almonds with one hammer gel kept me well fueled. I’m just spoiled with good ultra aid stations ;-).
After i had been moving stuff for the race for a while i got in touch with Laura. She was less than a mile away. It was sweet to hear that. I wanted a bath and a nap. These early morning race starts get me very sleepy.When we got home we had a nice cup of coffee and i got cleaned up before we had a long nap. We awoke for dinner, ate and after dinner i wrote this race report.
It was a good day. Other than sore feet probably from the rocky path i feel like i have had a very good but not overwheming workout.
I started the race with the hope that i would be able to break 4:15 in order to qualify for the Escarpment Trail race in July. I love the course there ! I was running quite a bit faster than i normally do in training but my heart rate as measured on my GPS was suitably low. Even from the beginning the fast pace hurt. I kept it up til about 8 miles when i realized that there was no way my legs were going to let me get away with it. I train slowly so that is pretty much what my legs want to do. From 8 miles to 20 miles i went into a holding pattern just trying to keep proper form and cadence. A few trips to the bushes to deal with digestive issues slowed my time a bit. I should stick with my usual omllet for race day breakfasts. After 20 miles i realized i was hurting a bit from moving faster than usual so instead of slowing down i pushed a bit. The harder effort made the last miles drag a bit. I played tag with a woman named Mary from Georgia. We stayed together til almost the finish where i picked up the pace to around 8 minutes a mile. I wanted to at least finish under 4:40 but i ended up 18 seconds over. No problem. Mary got a hug when she passed the finish line. After finishing i took off my race number and went for a walk. While walking i picked up random trash left by the racers. I really wish that people would be more respectful of wilderness. The C & O is a thin sliver of lovely wilderness from Washington DC to Cumberland MD. It’s not a city street in a city Marathon.
Wile walking i saw Tammie Massie coming in for a finish. It was very nice to see her. I had hoped to run with her but she got a bit of a late start and had to take it easy for the first couple of miles to warm up her legs. When i turned back to the finish i saw Tammie had the same idea to walk off the Marathon so we walked and talked about ultramarathons for quite a while. She is doing the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning which is 4 tough 100 mile runs in 4 months. The runs are The Vermont 100 miler, Wastern States, Leadville and Wasatch. She was very lucky to get in the Western States lottery. Lots of people try to get in but don’t.
After walking with Tammie i spent some time helping move stuff back to the van for the race director. People did seem surprised that i did that after running a marathon but for the most part the distance is not that hard for me. The difficulty comes in at running fast and that is self limiting. I’m just pretty slow. Maybe i would go faster if i trained faster but i like to creep along in my training runs ;-)
The food after the race was really nice. There were bagels and there was pizza, fruit and even some sharp cheddar pieces. I wish some of that food had been out on the race course rather than just gels, water and gatorade. That sweet stuff might have been the cause of some of my digestive distress. I forgot to bring along some salt so i did take some gatorade for salt and as usual,.that is a mistake. The usual packets of Medjool dates and almonds with one hammer gel kept me well fueled. I’m just spoiled with good ultra aid stations ;-).
After i had been moving stuff for the race for a while i got in touch with Laura. She was less than a mile away. It was sweet to hear that. I wanted a bath and a nap. These early morning race starts get me very sleepy.When we got home we had a nice cup of coffee and i got cleaned up before we had a long nap. We awoke for dinner, ate and after dinner i wrote this race report.
It was a good day. Other than sore feet probably from the rocky path i feel like i have had a very good but not overwheming workout.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Chocolate Bunny - The last MMT training run
This weekend was the weekend of the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club (VHTRC)’s annual Chocolate Bunny. The Chocolate Bunny runs over the last 38 or so miles of the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 (MMT 100). It combines a little bit of dirt road, a touch of asphalt , some fire roads with some truly awesome steep rocky trails. In it’s 38 miles you climb and descend 7500 ft not only crossing mountains but a lot of streams. This year the course was quite wet so our feet were wet and or muddy pretty much the whole time we were out. On drier days the trail sometimes follows dry creek beds. This weekend these dry creek beds were creeks. Needless to say the run was quite a challenge.
I will be pacing a Karen T during this years MMT 100 so we ran together again. We ran this same exact course in March in drier conditions during the day. The day started off with us trotting out of the upper horse parking lot at Camp Roosevelt. We had not left the parking lot before a couple of the runners made a wrong turn on the Orange blazed Massanutten Mountain Trail (MMT). We would be going the other way into the Duncan Hollow portion of the MMT. I will run that portion in 3 weeks with Karen and both the portion where the others made a wrong turn and Duncan Hollow during the Old Dominion 100. We started out trotting easily with the handfull of runners running this year. Soon we got into some pretty mucky terrain and some walking crept into our gait. Before we turned right onto the blue blazed Gap Creek trail the trail became particularly beautiful. I was relieved to be on our first climb of the day as we left the endless mud and occasional splashing through of water behind. Karen climbed this first climb particularly well. I was pleased to see how much she had improved on the climbs since February. It was quite a chore to keep up with her and my newly stretched out hamstrings hurt a bit. I’ve been doing a lot of stretching for PT for my knee/leg. When we got to the top of the climb we crested the ridge and trotted down. The downhills with Karen go quickly. She liked downhill running a lot and is quite good at it. On the way down we encountered the first of many blown down trees. One was challenging to pass with branches at various heights. After some downhill running and a bit of level trail/fire road we were at Gap Creek which during the MMT 100 race will be an Aid station bustling with runners and volunteers and possibly crew people. Tonight there was only a couple of people camped there with a beautiful, inviting camp fire roaring. We crossed Chrissman Hollow Road which, at this point is a nice smooth dirt road and proceeded about 200 yards up the road to the Jawbone Gap Trail. We still had a few runners close behind and in front of us. We then started up the Jawbone climb actually running slowly. Soon the steep fire road had us walking. I was looking carefully for trail blazes and the point at which the trail makes a right turn off of the fire road. The sun had just set and it was twilight. Karen turned on her headlamp and flashlight. I went for a few more minutes before i put my headlamp on its low setting. When we got to the top of the ridge a couple of runners made a right turn on the Orange MMT trail where they should have turned left onto Kerns Mountain. Luckilly Karen saw this and was able to yell to them before they were out of range.
Kerns Mountain is considered by many to be the hardest part of the MMT 100 course. I find it absolutely stunning. You are running for a long time on top of a narrow rocky ridge. Sometimes it feels like you are a mouse running up the back of one of these dinosaurs with the armour plates sticking out of its back. Running Kerns Mountain in the daytime is spectacular enough. Running it at night was almost surreal with great rocky formations appearing out of the darkness. We could see the lights of towns in the valley off in the distance. Karen performed wonderfully on the occasional stiff little climbs on Kerns mountain and kept fluttering along with her steady ground consuming gate along that rocky ridge. Soon we crossed over to the right side of the ridge and they over the top to the left side of the rige going south where a decent descent started happening. There was a flash or two of lightning and some thunder but all we got was the tiniest sprinkle of rain. That was a relief because there had been worries of thunderstorms. We were running with another pair of runners and we almost missed a switchback going down but Karen saw where the trail went and got us all back on course. We soon left the pair of runners behind us and hit Chrissman Hollow road again. We would go several miles on Chrissman Hollow Road. As the road nears rt 211 and civilization it becomes a paved road but it is still pretty steep and switchbacked. Karen excels at downhill running so the pace became quite steady run down this section. Soon we could see the headlamps of other runners and Rt 211. We crossed rt 211 and went to the aid station. We had gone about 12 miles of the 38-40 miles.
The aid station was replete with the usual aid station foods: soda, lots of potato chips of various sorts, and cookies. Not much for me to eat. Luckily i had packed 12 packs of Medjool Dates with a couple tablespoons of almonds to eat. I had just hoped for some real food. I did have a little mountain dew for caffeine as it was getting quite late and i nibbled a cookie and i had some pretzels to replenish my salt. The Aid station people had emailed me that drop bags were available. I should have put some non-sugary non-junk food in a bag for me to eat. It was, however GREAT to see all the volunteers. I had packed enough water in my 5L water pack and enough food for me to easily go 50 miles.
We left the Aid station encouraged and ready for the next section ahead of us. As we trotted down the White blazed Wildflower trail to the Orange Massanutten South trail it occurred to me what a big responsibility i had taken on to pace someone. I began to say prayers of gratitude and prayers that my runner would make it home safe tonight as well as me make it home safe. Bird Mountain is a nice climb that brings you to several very nice lookout points. At night the lights of the towns make it even nicer. From one of the lookouts it seemed that we could make out the outline of a small airport - probably a grass field airport. At this point another runner had caught us and was running with us. After a nice ridge run the orange Massanutten South trail turns onto a dirt forest road. This road is called by the running club “The Ant Hill Road”. I had gotten pretty badly hurt here the last time i ran this with Karen. We were running at a good pace and i tripped over a rock. I stopped for a quick prayer on this road. The Ant Hill road went quickly but it was wet and there were big puddles to negotiate here and there. When we hit the dirt road that carries actual traffic after the gate on the Ant Hill Road we had a bit of a discussion on where to go. Karen and the other runner were holding turn sheets which said nothing of the fork. I got out a map and saw that we were to go downhill just as Karen had said. The left fork went to a radio tower then stopped. Karen was pleased about the downhill and she began to run but after a bit we were walking again, the we ran. I spotted the Purple blazed Roaring Run Trail. The sign for the trail had both the purple of the Roaring Run train and the pink of the new Browns Run trail. We settled into climbing again. The trail would climb a lot before we reached near or over the top and turned Left onto the pink blazed Browns Run Trail. After a time on the Browns Run Trail we could see the radio tower off to our left. For a good amount of time this trail was not too technical and was downhill so Karen moved quickly. I did my best to keep with her as she trotted down the mountain. Soon the stream crossings started again and i noticed how wonderful the stars were. I called Karen over to see and we turned off our lights. It was a wonderful sight for someone who has been living in suburbia for years. The trail went on for a long time and there were occasional blown down trees to negotiate. Soon we hit the Orange trail on the gate but Karen realized that we had gone too far and would be going the wrong direction on the Massanutten South trail if we had gone here. We turned around and soon found the right turn off. I was very glad that Karen was so good with this course. When i pace her she is supposed to follow the course on her own. I am pretty much there for moral encouragement and safety. I’m not even allowed to carry anything for her.
After the Orange Massanutten trail turned off of the Pink trail it went a while on a forest road type path before doing an abrupt left on to single track trail. We missed that turnoff briefly before turning off. The temperature had gone from quite warm to comfortable as we ran. Along this path we felt several puffs of really warm air then we noticed something like dust floating in the air. This dust would be with us the rest of the night. On this stretch we would hit several more of these blasts of warm air followed by cooler air. Soon we could hear cars on Rt 211 and we hit a short uphill section and we were in the Rt 211 parking lot. There was another aid station, the last one before we finished set up in the parking lot. Karen changed her soaked socks for dry ones. I took off my shoes and tried to get as much of the grit out as possible. The grit felt like it was tearing my feet up. At this point i took one of my caffeine shots. It was getting very tired from sleep deprivation. I ate what i could at the aid station and probably a few things i should not have and i ate a packet of dates and almonds before we crossed Rt 211. The runner who had been with us for miles was no longer with us.
We crossed Rt 211 which like the first time was a bit of a harrowing experience after being on remote mountain trails for the longest time. Soon i found a plastic bag and then a bottle top that someone had dropped. I always like to leave trails cleaner than before i ran them. The white trail follows a forest road for a little while before branching off to the left on a true trail. There was more sloshing through water at this point. Soon we were back on the Massanutten Mountain Trail. The Massanutten goes on for a while then you turn left onto the Gap Creek trail. After being on the trail for so long the climb on gap creek seems endless. There is one portion just before the end of the climb that runs through a dry creek bed. It was not dry this time so we were basically wading along a creek in the water for quite some time. I had given up hope of getting enough grit out of my shoes to help my feet. I was expecting a disaster when i took off my shoes. Thankfully the creek bed portion came to an end but it did not come to an end before we began to worry if we were still on the proper trail. We were. After the trail turns out of the creek bed there is some more climb and you are soon on top. The Descent off this trail is a lot easier than the ascent. There were the notorious “Massanutten Rocks” but not so many on this bit. There were some blown down trees to deal with. Soon we were crossing a creek to Chrissman Hollow Rd. We would then turn right on this forest Road and trot back to the Jawbone Creek with its steady climb. Along this stretch during the race we will find a nice friendly aid station personned by the Trail Dawgs running club.
The Jawbone climb went a bit slower this time. This was the first time that Karen had to stop to breath very much on a climb. I guess the 11 miles she ran earlier in the day were starting to get to her. As we labored up the forest road i told her that soon the cats would be waking my partner to feed them. She kept her patience til near the top where she asked how far. At that point my mind was pretty vague and fuzzy. All i could tell her was “the top will be here pretty soon”. An altimeter would have been nice. As promised the top came and we were trotting over the backside of the mountain only to have to clamber over at least 2 more blown down trees. This section is extremely rocky and was the sight of Karen’s fall the last time we ran here. As i went over the rockier sections where she might have fallen i tried to find the metronome she lost there. No such luck. I had thought that this section was long but it was not. No sooner had we started this section of trail did it end with a sign for Moreland Gap Rd or more accurately the Number for Moreland Gap Rd. The sign said 4 miles to Camp Roosevelt. Our turn sheet said 3.1 miles to the turnoff to the finish. We started trotting down Moreland Gap Rd at a pretty good pace. I asked Karen if i had taken good care of her. She said “yes”. Karen asked a few times how much further til the cars. All i could do is be vague. I knew it was not far and i knew the cars were on the other side of the valley which i could point out to her. As we passed the entrance to Caroline Furnace Lutheran Camp i told her to take note. The start and finish of the MMT 100 is there. By then the dirt road had become paved and i knew it was soon before we would hit Fort Valley Rd. At Fort Valley rd we turned right after a little navigational discussion and ran then walked up the hill. We turned into the parking lot and finished in 12:04:01. When we got there we found out that we were the only women who had finished that night as well as being the last finishers. It was a good morning. Karen was delighted at winning a race. We decided to share the award which was a fun kids toy. As finishers we also got a chocolate bunny each. I got an extra one for my partner as they had too many. A lot of people had dropped out that night. We just kept on grinding on.
I asked Karen if she was going home. She said she was not safe to drive without taking a nap. I retraced my drive in over the Massanutten ridge and through the country roads to Rt 340. I stopped a place or two to rest for a few moments before getting some coffee for the ride back. The coffee was not enough. I ended up having to sleep for a half hour or so in the rest area near Manassas on rt 66 before finishing my drive home. For some reason i was more tired after this run than i was after the Philadelphia 100 miler where i was up for well over 30 hours before i got some sleep at a friends house. After my nap i exited rt 66 to the Fairfax County Parkway. I had wanted to call Laura to see if she wanted to go out for some breakfast but i couldn’t. My water pack had leaked on my cell phone and killed it. Luckily i was able to dry it out and restore it to function.
When i got home at a bit after 9:30 am i found that Laura had already eaten so i stripped off my filthy muddy clothes and got the wet shoes off my feet. My feet were all white from having soaked in water for around 12 hours. The grit had made the bottoms of my feet pretty sore. It’s 2 days later and the feet are starting to feel better. At least there were no blisters, just water and grit. I’m still a little sore but in a day or two i should be fine and ready for another hard run this weekend. At least this weekend will be a bit easier. It’s a marathon on a pancake flat course along the Potomac.
Monday, April 18, 2011
The Wild Oak Trail
This weekend i set out for a lovely adventure. I had read about The Wild
Oak Trail now the Wild Oak National Recreational Trail on the Virginia
Happy Trails Running Club website and on backpacking sites. The trail is
just over 26 miles long and sports around 8200ft of climb and descent,
almost as much and as steep as my beloved Devils Path in the Catskills
which is 25 miles long and has 9200ft of climb and descent. After a very
early morning breakfast of an omlet, banana and some mate i began my long
drive to the headwaters of the Shenandoah. The weather predictions were
pretty dire so i was prepared to cut my run short or even do short hill
repeats close to the car to stay safe. The drive there was pretty
uneventful til i got off the main roads where the navigation got a bit
tricky. Luckily i still had cell reception so i called Laura and she
walked me through the drive using Google Maps. I stopped at the
Stokesville Grocery and supply just a couple of miles away from the trail
head and asked how far. The woman there said not far. I bought a really
delicious piece of beef jerky and was on my way. After a couple of turns
The Wild Oak Trail parking lot appeared on my right. There were 2 cars
parked in the lot. I felt encouraged. At least there were other people
out today. During the whole time i was on the trail i would see no one
except when i got to Camp Todd. At the trail head i spent a very few
minutes getting my packs together, putting on my all to insufficient rain
gear and putting myself in a mode that was respectful of the trail and of
the mountain. I knew if i was not respectful of the mountain that the
mountain could really hurt me.
The run began with me lightly and happily trotting off on a trail that
felt quite easy and fun. Soon the trail came to the loop and i took off
on the left fork of the trail. The white exclamation point type trail
blazes would be my comfort for many hours on this trail. I was very happy
to see them. The trail began a gentle climb up lookout mountain and the
rain continued. When the climb got more steep i began to walk keeping my
heart rate to a reasonably good number for a long distance workout. At
this point i was of the opinion that the trail was a very sweet place to
be. I felt that the feeling would last for the rest of the run but i
tempered my expectations a bit knowing that the weather was bad and that
this trail was steep. As the trail climbed over Hankey Mountain i got
a sense of the seriousness of the run but combined with that was a feel
that it would go well. The scenery was ever so beautiful and the ridge
running was amazing. It was difficult when the trail dropped down to
forest roads and ran along them for a while. The single track on TWOT
(The Wild Oak Trail) is just so nice.
As i ran this run i was eating 1 packet of food an hour with an
occasional extra. The packets contain 2 dates, usually medjool dates, and
a couple tablespoons of unsalted raw almonds. I find this combination to
be good fuel for me for moderately long runs. I supplemented the packets
with a raspberry or huckleberry flavored Hammer gel here or there and a
ate a piece or two of power bar. The power bars don't work that well.
They give me a sugar high then low.
Coming down off Hankey Mountain was trail then Forest Service Roads. The
Forest Service Roads played with my head because there were not very many
trail blazes on them and where they were blazed the blazes were often
very faint. Needless to say, despite the fact that the Forest Service
Roads offered easy running, i was happy to get off them. At the end of
the Forest Service Road there was a gate and the single track trail
resumed and the trail started climbing pretty seriously. At one point it
was so steep that i was going around 30 minutes/mile but i did not care.
I was still enjoying myself. I was a bit concerned because of the rain
and wind and the fact that i was all wet in the weather. The concern kept
me from lingering very much where there were views to take pictures. I
just kept moving along whether running, shuffling downhill or walking. I
had to keep moving. Near the top of the next mountain, which according
the the map is around 4080ft i had to pause. A big thunderstorm had moved
into place and lighting was striking the summit about a half mile away. I knew how far away it was because i know how fast sound travels.
The flash precceeded the boom by 2-3 seconds. It was not time to be up
high. After just a few minutes the lightning moved on but the rain did
not. It was very very wet and cold. There were little cores of ice in the
very large raindrops. I summitted that mountain and enjoyed a short ridge
run before starting down the other side. The running was pleasant while i
stayed on the ridge. Despite all the rain, the rocks and sand that
comprised the sweet TWOT stayed solid. There were just a very few muddy
patches. After i left the ridge things changed. It seemed like the trail
was routed through a dry creek bed which seemed to go on for at least 2
miles. The creek bed was not dry. The best i could do was slosh quickly
and carefully through the cold ankle deep. To add to the frustration of
the water there were few trail blazes on this section. At least there
were few unmarked trail junctions. After a good long time in the dry
creek bed the trail began to follow a hillside some distance uphill from
a small creek. As the trail got closer to the creek or gully i could see
i was approaching a campsite. I crossed some more water and crossed the
road and saw trail blazes going straight towards the North River. The
blazes then directed me to the left. I followed the trail and the blazes
disappeared. I sat on a stump and because the rain had lessened i looked
at the trail narrative. The trail narrative from VHTRC says "Cross the
road, cross the river and climb Little Bald Knob". The river was
absolutely raging. There was no way i could cross it safely. Or was there
? I went to where the trail goes to the river and i saw the grey white
exclamation point blazes on the other side of the river. Well, at least i
will try. I stepped into the river. Just about 4 feet into the river the
water was up to my knees and threatening to throw me off balance. No Way
! I scrambled back to the bank. I tried again and came to the same
conclusion. No Way ! It was the end of the trail for me. I would have to
find another way back to my car. I had run 18 miles in the mountains at
that point including about a mile or so of backtracking where i thought i
was lost but wasn't.
I walked to someone who was camping at Camp Todd and asked them how to
get back to the beginning of FR (Forest Route 95). They said they were
not sure but they pointed the way to Elkhorn Lake and the way to the West
Virginia Border. I knew i did not want to go to West Virginia. I told
them i knew the trail arced to the right over Little Bald Knob and
Grindstone Mountain so i decided to go right. I only had the trail
narrative because i was unable to get a map of the area at the local
stores so i was not sure how far the run back to the car would be. There
were a few intersections with other forest roads none of them marked with
the FR number along the way. They had signs pointing how far to various
camps and to the West Virginia Border. I knew i needed to go towards Lake
Todd. So i kept going that direction when i found a sign for Lake Todd. I
knew it was 8 miles from Stokesville to Lake Todd so what i thought would
be a 3-4 mile run on FR 95 was a 9+ mile run. It was no big deal. Even
though i was running through running water at times and even though i was
wet i was nowhere near hypothermia. I had LOTS of water in my improvised
5 liter water pack and i had lots of food. I could easily have gone 50+
miles that day with the supplies and clothes i had on. The rain shell on
the top was much appreciated and i wished i had worn a rain shell on the
bottom too but i figured it would not do me much good if i ended up
wading through a lot of water. I was wrong. The water resistant part
would have helped.
Every now and then i would see trail head parking and different colored
exclamation point type trail blazes. Sometimes it would be raining and
for a while the sun came out and there were the most glorious white puffy
cumulus clouds. The run on FR 95 was very very nice. I ran most of it
with the exception of a few of the steeper uphills. After a while i saw a
trail crossing sign and a familiar friendly grey/white trail blaze. I had
run that many hours earlier. The car would be coming up soon on the left.
When i got the the car i went to the trail register and made a mark that
i was out safely.
It had taken me 8:01 to run and walk 27.41 miles of mountains including
about 15 minutes at the river staring across wondering what to do. The
run had 6500-7000ft of climb and descent.
My overall impression of the trail is that it is a sweet sweet trail and
i want to come back and do the whole thing when i can actually cross the
river without risk of drowning. I loved the TWOT !
At the car I took off my packs and hesitated before getting in. I found
an old magazine to put on the drivers seat before i sat down. I was
drenched. I got in and turned on the engine and turned on the heat. It
took me a while to clean the water off my glasses after i put them on. I
called Laura to tell her that i was safe and to tell her that i had
survived a deluge of water. More was to come. I reversed the route i came
in making one short wrong turn. I passed the cute Stokesville Grocery and
Supply and drove down the North River Road. All along the road there were
deep puddles of water. I seemed to be the only vehicle out there that was
not a high clearance pickup or 4 wheel drive. When i got to the bridge
crossing the North River there was water. I drove into it until i
realized it was going to be way too deep at the bridge for my car. It
even looked like there were parts of the bridge washed out. There were a
couple of stumps on the bridge that had floated there. I backed up and
waited. A local came along in a pickup. I expected him to just ford the
flood. He just watched and walked towards my car. I got out and walked
towards him. He told me to take Natural Chimney Road to get to rt 42. I
thanked him profusely and turned around and went to Natural Chimney Road. As i looked to my left i saw a the river raging and i saw other bridges
overrun with high water. Natural Chimney had a much higher bridge over
the river. At this point the landscape was beautiful, green and hilly.
There were rainbows all around. When the rain did not come back rainbows
would follow me all the way up from the headwaters of the S Shenandoah
River to the Junction of the North and South Shenandoah River near RT 66.
With my partners help in navigating i found my way back to 42 and then
saw a sign for rt 11. I took that road. When i got to 11 i saw rt 81 and
i saw a gas station a few hundred yards to the South. I turned South and
went to the gas station. I filled up the car, got myself a big cup of hot
coffee, a couple of cookies and a bag of chicken jerky. As i ate and
drank on Rt 81 i felt a lot better. The warmth in the car helped. The
bottoms of my feet stung from being in cold water and i did not know if
they were blistered or if i just had a very mild case of trench foot.
On the way back to 66 i saw the Southern Massanuttens, Bird Knob which i
have run over in the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 (MMT) Training run
#3. I saw the lovely Kerns Mountain which i ran over in the same run. I
past the Shenandoah County Fairgrounds where the Old Dominion 100 mile
run will start in June. I noted the proximity of the various hotels and
motels the the fairgrounds. Woodstock VA where the fairgrounds are
located is just a few miles South of where Rt 66 intersects rt 81.
When i got on Rt 81 the weather was not so bad. There was one of the
rainbows that had followed me all the way up 81. This was not to last. As
i drove on i saw a ridge beautifully draped in white clouds. It was not a
high ridge but it was just enough of a ridge to trigger condensation.
Soon there was a bit of rain on the windshield. Then i saw a bright flash
off in the distance like a flashbulb going off. It startled me a bit. As
i got closer to that area. It started to rain more and more and lightning
light up the sky. Sometimes there were enormous bolts going sideways
across the sky. While the show was amazing the drive began to be an
ordeal. The rain seemed to go on and on and i had to slow down a lot to
keep from hydroplaning. Finally when it let up just a little i called
Laura. She put in an order for Kabobs from our favorite Kabob house. She
asked for her regular, veggie kabobs. I would have fish kabob instead of
chicken because i had already had chicken that day. The short drive from
Manassas to Herndon seemed to take forever because of the weather but
really according to the clock, it was not that much time.
When i got to the Kabob house there was the usual short wait while they
cooked the food. I ordered us homemade salted yogurt drinks too. The
kabobs came quickly but i had to wait a bit more because they forgot to
make the drinks. After a wait that was very well worth it i left the
restaurant with my order. Home is a couple blocks away. When i got home i
gave my partner the food and quickly stripped of the sopping wet clothing
and got into a hot bath. No blisters, just feet white and slightly
burning from soaking in cold water. Nothing that dryness and some coconut
oil wont fix.
Getting into my nice dry nightgown never felt better and dinner never
tasted better !!!
It was a good day on a sweet trail but it was an adventure too.
The Wild Oak Trail Pix
Oak Trail now the Wild Oak National Recreational Trail on the Virginia
Happy Trails Running Club website and on backpacking sites. The trail is
just over 26 miles long and sports around 8200ft of climb and descent,
almost as much and as steep as my beloved Devils Path in the Catskills
which is 25 miles long and has 9200ft of climb and descent. After a very
early morning breakfast of an omlet, banana and some mate i began my long
drive to the headwaters of the Shenandoah. The weather predictions were
pretty dire so i was prepared to cut my run short or even do short hill
repeats close to the car to stay safe. The drive there was pretty
uneventful til i got off the main roads where the navigation got a bit
tricky. Luckily i still had cell reception so i called Laura and she
walked me through the drive using Google Maps. I stopped at the
Stokesville Grocery and supply just a couple of miles away from the trail
head and asked how far. The woman there said not far. I bought a really
delicious piece of beef jerky and was on my way. After a couple of turns
The Wild Oak Trail parking lot appeared on my right. There were 2 cars
parked in the lot. I felt encouraged. At least there were other people
out today. During the whole time i was on the trail i would see no one
except when i got to Camp Todd. At the trail head i spent a very few
minutes getting my packs together, putting on my all to insufficient rain
gear and putting myself in a mode that was respectful of the trail and of
the mountain. I knew if i was not respectful of the mountain that the
mountain could really hurt me.
The run began with me lightly and happily trotting off on a trail that
felt quite easy and fun. Soon the trail came to the loop and i took off
on the left fork of the trail. The white exclamation point type trail
blazes would be my comfort for many hours on this trail. I was very happy
to see them. The trail began a gentle climb up lookout mountain and the
rain continued. When the climb got more steep i began to walk keeping my
heart rate to a reasonably good number for a long distance workout. At
this point i was of the opinion that the trail was a very sweet place to
be. I felt that the feeling would last for the rest of the run but i
tempered my expectations a bit knowing that the weather was bad and that
this trail was steep. As the trail climbed over Hankey Mountain i got
a sense of the seriousness of the run but combined with that was a feel
that it would go well. The scenery was ever so beautiful and the ridge
running was amazing. It was difficult when the trail dropped down to
forest roads and ran along them for a while. The single track on TWOT
(The Wild Oak Trail) is just so nice.
As i ran this run i was eating 1 packet of food an hour with an
occasional extra. The packets contain 2 dates, usually medjool dates, and
a couple tablespoons of unsalted raw almonds. I find this combination to
be good fuel for me for moderately long runs. I supplemented the packets
with a raspberry or huckleberry flavored Hammer gel here or there and a
ate a piece or two of power bar. The power bars don't work that well.
They give me a sugar high then low.
Coming down off Hankey Mountain was trail then Forest Service Roads. The
Forest Service Roads played with my head because there were not very many
trail blazes on them and where they were blazed the blazes were often
very faint. Needless to say, despite the fact that the Forest Service
Roads offered easy running, i was happy to get off them. At the end of
the Forest Service Road there was a gate and the single track trail
resumed and the trail started climbing pretty seriously. At one point it
was so steep that i was going around 30 minutes/mile but i did not care.
I was still enjoying myself. I was a bit concerned because of the rain
and wind and the fact that i was all wet in the weather. The concern kept
me from lingering very much where there were views to take pictures. I
just kept moving along whether running, shuffling downhill or walking. I
had to keep moving. Near the top of the next mountain, which according
the the map is around 4080ft i had to pause. A big thunderstorm had moved
into place and lighting was striking the summit about a half mile away. I knew how far away it was because i know how fast sound travels.
The flash precceeded the boom by 2-3 seconds. It was not time to be up
high. After just a few minutes the lightning moved on but the rain did
not. It was very very wet and cold. There were little cores of ice in the
very large raindrops. I summitted that mountain and enjoyed a short ridge
run before starting down the other side. The running was pleasant while i
stayed on the ridge. Despite all the rain, the rocks and sand that
comprised the sweet TWOT stayed solid. There were just a very few muddy
patches. After i left the ridge things changed. It seemed like the trail
was routed through a dry creek bed which seemed to go on for at least 2
miles. The creek bed was not dry. The best i could do was slosh quickly
and carefully through the cold ankle deep. To add to the frustration of
the water there were few trail blazes on this section. At least there
were few unmarked trail junctions. After a good long time in the dry
creek bed the trail began to follow a hillside some distance uphill from
a small creek. As the trail got closer to the creek or gully i could see
i was approaching a campsite. I crossed some more water and crossed the
road and saw trail blazes going straight towards the North River. The
blazes then directed me to the left. I followed the trail and the blazes
disappeared. I sat on a stump and because the rain had lessened i looked
at the trail narrative. The trail narrative from VHTRC says "Cross the
road, cross the river and climb Little Bald Knob". The river was
absolutely raging. There was no way i could cross it safely. Or was there
? I went to where the trail goes to the river and i saw the grey white
exclamation point blazes on the other side of the river. Well, at least i
will try. I stepped into the river. Just about 4 feet into the river the
water was up to my knees and threatening to throw me off balance. No Way
! I scrambled back to the bank. I tried again and came to the same
conclusion. No Way ! It was the end of the trail for me. I would have to
find another way back to my car. I had run 18 miles in the mountains at
that point including about a mile or so of backtracking where i thought i
was lost but wasn't.
I walked to someone who was camping at Camp Todd and asked them how to
get back to the beginning of FR (Forest Route 95). They said they were
not sure but they pointed the way to Elkhorn Lake and the way to the West
Virginia Border. I knew i did not want to go to West Virginia. I told
them i knew the trail arced to the right over Little Bald Knob and
Grindstone Mountain so i decided to go right. I only had the trail
narrative because i was unable to get a map of the area at the local
stores so i was not sure how far the run back to the car would be. There
were a few intersections with other forest roads none of them marked with
the FR number along the way. They had signs pointing how far to various
camps and to the West Virginia Border. I knew i needed to go towards Lake
Todd. So i kept going that direction when i found a sign for Lake Todd. I
knew it was 8 miles from Stokesville to Lake Todd so what i thought would
be a 3-4 mile run on FR 95 was a 9+ mile run. It was no big deal. Even
though i was running through running water at times and even though i was
wet i was nowhere near hypothermia. I had LOTS of water in my improvised
5 liter water pack and i had lots of food. I could easily have gone 50+
miles that day with the supplies and clothes i had on. The rain shell on
the top was much appreciated and i wished i had worn a rain shell on the
bottom too but i figured it would not do me much good if i ended up
wading through a lot of water. I was wrong. The water resistant part
would have helped.
Every now and then i would see trail head parking and different colored
exclamation point type trail blazes. Sometimes it would be raining and
for a while the sun came out and there were the most glorious white puffy
cumulus clouds. The run on FR 95 was very very nice. I ran most of it
with the exception of a few of the steeper uphills. After a while i saw a
trail crossing sign and a familiar friendly grey/white trail blaze. I had
run that many hours earlier. The car would be coming up soon on the left.
When i got the the car i went to the trail register and made a mark that
i was out safely.
It had taken me 8:01 to run and walk 27.41 miles of mountains including
about 15 minutes at the river staring across wondering what to do. The
run had 6500-7000ft of climb and descent.
My overall impression of the trail is that it is a sweet sweet trail and
i want to come back and do the whole thing when i can actually cross the
river without risk of drowning. I loved the TWOT !
At the car I took off my packs and hesitated before getting in. I found
an old magazine to put on the drivers seat before i sat down. I was
drenched. I got in and turned on the engine and turned on the heat. It
took me a while to clean the water off my glasses after i put them on. I
called Laura to tell her that i was safe and to tell her that i had
survived a deluge of water. More was to come. I reversed the route i came
in making one short wrong turn. I passed the cute Stokesville Grocery and
Supply and drove down the North River Road. All along the road there were
deep puddles of water. I seemed to be the only vehicle out there that was
not a high clearance pickup or 4 wheel drive. When i got to the bridge
crossing the North River there was water. I drove into it until i
realized it was going to be way too deep at the bridge for my car. It
even looked like there were parts of the bridge washed out. There were a
couple of stumps on the bridge that had floated there. I backed up and
waited. A local came along in a pickup. I expected him to just ford the
flood. He just watched and walked towards my car. I got out and walked
towards him. He told me to take Natural Chimney Road to get to rt 42. I
thanked him profusely and turned around and went to Natural Chimney Road. As i looked to my left i saw a the river raging and i saw other bridges
overrun with high water. Natural Chimney had a much higher bridge over
the river. At this point the landscape was beautiful, green and hilly.
There were rainbows all around. When the rain did not come back rainbows
would follow me all the way up from the headwaters of the S Shenandoah
River to the Junction of the North and South Shenandoah River near RT 66.
With my partners help in navigating i found my way back to 42 and then
saw a sign for rt 11. I took that road. When i got to 11 i saw rt 81 and
i saw a gas station a few hundred yards to the South. I turned South and
went to the gas station. I filled up the car, got myself a big cup of hot
coffee, a couple of cookies and a bag of chicken jerky. As i ate and
drank on Rt 81 i felt a lot better. The warmth in the car helped. The
bottoms of my feet stung from being in cold water and i did not know if
they were blistered or if i just had a very mild case of trench foot.
On the way back to 66 i saw the Southern Massanuttens, Bird Knob which i
have run over in the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 (MMT) Training run
#3. I saw the lovely Kerns Mountain which i ran over in the same run. I
past the Shenandoah County Fairgrounds where the Old Dominion 100 mile
run will start in June. I noted the proximity of the various hotels and
motels the the fairgrounds. Woodstock VA where the fairgrounds are
located is just a few miles South of where Rt 66 intersects rt 81.
When i got on Rt 81 the weather was not so bad. There was one of the
rainbows that had followed me all the way up 81. This was not to last. As
i drove on i saw a ridge beautifully draped in white clouds. It was not a
high ridge but it was just enough of a ridge to trigger condensation.
Soon there was a bit of rain on the windshield. Then i saw a bright flash
off in the distance like a flashbulb going off. It startled me a bit. As
i got closer to that area. It started to rain more and more and lightning
light up the sky. Sometimes there were enormous bolts going sideways
across the sky. While the show was amazing the drive began to be an
ordeal. The rain seemed to go on and on and i had to slow down a lot to
keep from hydroplaning. Finally when it let up just a little i called
Laura. She put in an order for Kabobs from our favorite Kabob house. She
asked for her regular, veggie kabobs. I would have fish kabob instead of
chicken because i had already had chicken that day. The short drive from
Manassas to Herndon seemed to take forever because of the weather but
really according to the clock, it was not that much time.
When i got to the Kabob house there was the usual short wait while they
cooked the food. I ordered us homemade salted yogurt drinks too. The
kabobs came quickly but i had to wait a bit more because they forgot to
make the drinks. After a wait that was very well worth it i left the
restaurant with my order. Home is a couple blocks away. When i got home i
gave my partner the food and quickly stripped of the sopping wet clothing
and got into a hot bath. No blisters, just feet white and slightly
burning from soaking in cold water. Nothing that dryness and some coconut
oil wont fix.
Getting into my nice dry nightgown never felt better and dinner never
tasted better !!!
It was a good day on a sweet trail but it was an adventure too.
The Wild Oak Trail Pix
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