I was hoping to run 20 miles on the trails. However, I haven’t run that far on trails
alone before, so I didn’t know if I would be able to do it. I also wasn’t sure if I’d like the trails and
of course the hot weather could have an impact too.
Our campground is close to the RV dump station and one of
the trails starts there. There is a lake
here and I was hoping to run a loop around it.
I wasn’t quite sure how far that would be. There are so many different trails that I was
just hoping that I wouldn’t get lost.
After a short grassy section, I was to a wonderfully
forested floor. It was wide and soft and
also had a limited amount of rocks. It
was perfect. I just hoped that it would
stay that way.
Most of this early part was downhill. I came to a road after a short while and I
headed one direction and quickly found a trail.
I went down it and then I saw private property signs, so I just headed
the other way, back to the road.
Shortly after I was back on the road, I came to a dam. I knew the trail went around the dam and I
found the bridge for it. I came up
behind some hikers and since it was uphill, I walked behind them. I passed when it became flat.
It was nice because there wasn’t a lot of elevation change
throughout the routes. There were a lot
of rolling hills in the area, but it seemed like there were less of them on the
trails. That can be good or bad though. I actually ended up running a lot more of the
route than I thought I would.
These first few miles just flew by. I remember getting to about 2.5 miles and
thinking this was some of the best trail running I’ve ever done. It was mostly smooth dirt trails, like I
imagine trail running should be. There
wasn’t much overgrowth with the high canopies and the few rocks that I came to
were mostly flat. It was nearly perfect.
I eventually came out to a boat launch area on the south
side of the lake. I had ridden my bike
in this area on Friday, so I knew where I was.
After running up the road a short distance, I found the trail across the
main road.
I ran this section to continue the loop. When I came to a split, I took the downhill
part. That is typically what I did in
the early going. This was another
excellent section through the woods.
There are these old, flat stone walls everywhere in the area. I came across a bunch of them. Eventually, I came out by the main road. I wasn’t quite where I had hoped to be.
The good news was that I was near a big boat launch
area. I ran over there and grabbed some
water at the water fountain. Even though
I was in the woods, it was still pretty humid at this point. It was approaching noon. I ran without a shirt on, so that was a big
help.
After the boat launch, I headed back to the main road. Even though I had been close to our camper, I
wanted to get some more mileage in before I headed back there. When I was at the boat launch, it was 4 miles
into the run. Those miles seemed to go
quick, but I still had a long way to go.
It is amazing how fast trail miles can be when you run a new trail,
especially one that you are enjoying.
I wanted to loop around the outside of the lake. When I found the trailhead that I was looking
for, it said “Do Not Enter.” I looked at
the map and headed down the road to the trail on the inside of the lake.
I ran along the lake.
Every now and then, I could see the lake, but it was mostly a wooded
trail next to the lake. Again, this was
an excellent section to run. It was
pretty open and there was some gradual up and down, but not too much of it.
I finished this up and came to another road. I crossed the road and started running up
it. I found another trailhead. Luckily, the trailheads at each road were
well marked. This was another fun route
through evergreen trees. I only ran a
short distance though and decided that I wanted to turn around and run around
the lake.
I went down a boat ramp and looked at my map. I realized that I wasn’t at the end of the
lake, as I thought I had been. I headed
back to the trail that I had just been on.
Eventually, this would come back to the backside of the campground.
After running through the woods for a bit, I came out to an
open field. In the heat, I didn’t like
that idea. Then, I came to a pond. Even when I took my map out, I was kind of
confused where I was at. It wasn’t until
later that I realized that I had actually crossed a different road. That is what threw me off. I saw the trail went to a parking lot, but
not knowing where I was, I just decided to backtrack.
I ran all the way back through the woods and then through
the lakeside trail. Really, I should’ve
just continued on and then went to that parking lot. This still worked and I would get plenty of
mileage in. Eventually, I was back at
the big boat launch. I stopped for
another drink and used the restroom. I
ran along a paved path along the lake.
It was crowded though, so I figured that I wouldn’t run there again.
I ran on pavement back to the camper. I was happy to be over 8 miles when I got
back. I was actually just over 9 miles
into the run. I would’ve preferred to be
at 10 miles or more, that way I’d be halfway done. I was just under 2 hours into the run when I
got to the camper.
I rested for about 10 or 15 minutes at the camper. I was soaked, so I changed shorts and
boxers. That was a big help. I also made sure to eat something. I had a few pretzels. I ate a big breakfast, but wasn’t planning on
eating lunch because of this run, so I needed some calories. I also drank a soda. I realized that my electrolyte tablets were
left in the truck and my dad was using that to boat. I had to just fill up my handheld with
regular water.
I began my run the same way as the first time. I figured that that route was fun and I might
as well stick with what I know. I would’ve
liked to have run the north part of the park.
My one concern is that there wasn’t anywhere to refill water in that
section.
I cruised along, enjoying the second loop. I tried the opposite direction briefly, but
there were too many small up and down sections.
That was more suited for mountain bikers. Later on, I could hear a mountain biker
switch gears, so I got out of the way.
This seems like it would be a fun place to ride too. It seems easy enough that I could even ride
there. I saw quite a few mountain bikers
and hikers. There was only one other
runner though.
This time, after the lakeside trail and road crossing, I
headed uphill on the trail. I thought
I’d try something different. Plus, I
knew that this section would cross the road and go around the side of the lake
that I was hoping to run in the first loop.
I wasn’t going to run the whole way around the lake, but I thought I
could do an out and back. This section
wasn’t tough, but it was hillier. It was
fun though.
I ran over the road and was headed to the lake. I ran along a creek on another fun
section. By now, I was around half
marathon distance. It was tough to think
that I still had 7 miles to go. My first
goal was to get at least 15 miles in and to run back the camper, so I just
focused on that. I could worry about the
final 5 miles or so after some rest.
I heard some people on the other side of the creek, but I
never saw them. Eventually, I was
running along the lake. It turns out I
was still on the nearside of the lake, not where I thought I was. I came out by the “Do Not Enter” sign that I
saw earlier. I figured I might as well
just run an out and back on the section that I had run along the lake
earlier. I came across a bunch of hikers
and a mountain biker.
When this section ended, I was just less than 15 miles. I figured that I would at least get to 16
miles when I was back to the camper.
Then, I could manage to get 4 more miles in somehow.
It was funny because I was now feeling good and in a
groove. Earlier in this loop, around
mile 11, I started to get lightheaded.
Luckily, that didn’t get any worse and it eventually went away. Now, I was feeling good. My legs were starting to get a bit sore and
tired, but overall, I was happy with how I was feeling. Nearly 16 miles into the run and I couldn’t
have expected to feel better.
I ran 16 solo trail miles a couple weeks ago and that was my
longest run alone on trails in my life.
Now, I was pushing past that. I
ran back on the road to get back to the campground. I didn’t enjoy this too much, especially
because there was some uphill. I stopped
at the camper at just over 16.5 miles. I
was 3 hours and 27 minutes into the run.
I thought about going farther since I was in a groove, but I
figured I needed the rest. I grabbed
another soda. This time, I just opted to
fill my water bottle with it. I grabbed
some more pretzels. I also drank an iced
tea and water. I didn’t have another
pair of shorts to wear, so I kept this pair on.
It didn’t seem like I was sweating as much now anyway. I had not changed socks earlier, but I did so
at this point. That was a great choice
that my feet thanked me for.
I figured that I would head back down the original
trail. There was a lot of downhill, so
that was nice and easy. The big issue
was that I wasn’t sure how long of a loop it would be if I decided to take that
route. If I ran an out and back, I would
have to run or walk uphill quite a bit on the way back to the camper.
I just headed out, not worrying exactly what I was going to
do. At one point, I jumped over a rock
and my groin tightened up. I used
shorter strides from then on. I really
didn’t have many muscle problems, other than some general soreness. I think the slow pace was a big help.
I came do the dam and walked up the hill again. I then passed a couple mountain bikers who
were just hanging around. I cruised
around the forest path on the outside of the lake. That was fun.
I just focused on each mile. I
really focused on getting to mile 19. At
this point, I knew I’d hit my 20 mile goal.
I was quite impressed because before the run, I wasn’t sure if I could
do such a thing. Anything over 15 miles
would’ve made me happy.
There was a young kid will a small mountain bike. He was riding with his father. That was pretty cool. Since I wasn’t sure how long the loop would
take, I opted to turn around. I knew
there would be some tough uphill, but I figured I would just walk those
sections if I had to. I did quite a bit
of walking in the slow last mile. I
finished up at the camper at just over 20 miles. It was great to be done.
This was my longest trail run ever and obviously also my
longest solo trail run ever. It was the
longest I’ve ever run from a time standpoint too. I think my longest run ever before this was
just under 4 hours, in my first marathon in 2009. Even at 20 miles, this was one of my longest
run ever. I had a couple longer training
runs on the road, including a few weeks ago.
Then, of course there are the two marathons. Hopefully, I break through all those distances
in the not too distance future. I want
run a 50K in the fall. It is hard to
believe that that is 11 more miles than today.
I’m sure running it with other people will be a big help.
This has been my most productive week ever. I ran and biked for a total of 101
miles. I ran over 35 miles and biked
over 65 miles. I hoped to bump those
numbers up in the future too. That was
over 12 hours of working out and over 7400 calories burned too.
Tomorrow, we’ll be leaving here. I’d like to either run or bike. More than likely, I’ll do so at home. It is raining a lot now and I’m not sure if
that will continue on into tomorrow. It
is also a matter of how well my body is recovered. My legs already feel pretty good, thanks to
the soft trail. I’m definitely going to
run mostly trails, at least for the near future.
20.02 miles – 4:12:25 (12:36 pace)
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