It was warm for winter. The temperature was around 40 degrees. I wore shorts and a lightweight long sleeve top. Gloves and a headband went off and on throughout. I was chilly at the start and at times during the run. Most of the time, I was comfortable though.
Last time I tried to run here, it was super icy and I didn't want to put on my MICROspikes. This time, I was prepared to wear them. I was unsure though, since northbound on the AT looked fairly clear. However, I knew southbound didn't see a lot of sun and the top of the mountain might have snow too. It was a great decision to wear them, as I could not have run without them.I walked along the road to the trail. I then began running and it was immediate climbing. The southern parts of the switchbacks get sun and they were clear. The north side had a lot of snow and some ice underneath. I lost a little grip at times, but overall it wasn't bad. I was able to run. I think the snow did provide some resistance.
These switchbacks were nearly perfect. Every time that it would get too steep and my breathing was labored and my legs burning, things would level off. I was on the brink of hiking several times, but I kept running. I powered up to the top and made this first climb of about 400 feet in 3/4 of a mile, without any hiking.
After the switchbacks, there is this other ridge climb. It has massive rocks and it is difficult to run in the summer. I hiked here. At the top I began running again.
Now that I was at the top of the mountain, most of the elevation changes were small. There's another fun up and down ridge section the north side of the mountain. This was icy, but I had good grip with my MICROspikes. They are amazing.
Earlier in the winter, I went out about 2.5 miles this way. Today, I wanted to go farther. I came upon two women who were hiking in the other direction. They must've thought I was crazy running in shorts over this rocky terrain. They told me to be careful, but I told them my spikes were working great.
I was really enjoying this run. It was a nice day with some snow covered singletrack. It was rocky, but not too rocky. I ran this section back in 2012, shortly after coming back from surgery. With all the rocks, I deemed it not runnable. What a difference a few years makes. Now, I was running it in the snow and running sub 12 minute miles. I'm clearly getting better and better on technical terrain.
I cruised along. I knew I wasn't too far from a powerline. I could see that cut from the drive to the run. I wanted to at least get that far. I did that and I got views both to the north and south. I had go go through some high grass and a blade cut me as I went through it. I didn't pay much attention at the time, but noticed some blood later on.
Since I was feeling good, I decided to run even farther out. I got to mile 3 and kept going. I thought that that would be my turnaround point. Instead, I ran over some rocks and out to 3.5 miles before turning around.
Coming back over the rocks was a little tricky. I was starting to tire and there wasn't as much snow here. That meant more likelyhood of twisting an ankle. I managed to make it through okay.
I could tell I was getting depleted, so I took a GU. That seemed to help, as did getting on better terrain. Still, my legs were more tired than I expected on the short climbs. I guess running in the snow was giving them more of a workout.
I kept wondering when I'd pass the hikers again. Finally, I did, just before the rocky downhill ridge part. That part was very hairy and hard to even hike down. It was one of the few non runnable sections.
Next, I was on to the switchbacks. I cruised down them. That was slightly slippery, but pretty easy. I went almost all of the way to the bottom. I wasn't quite that far down though. I wanted more climbing, so I headed back up the switchbacks.
I was hoping I could still run uphill, but I was unsure. Some parts were steep and really burned my legs and had me breathing heavy. I managed to make it though. Near the top, I passed the hikers coming down. They were nice and made room for me.I was so exhausted by the top. I actually had to stop and rest a bit. I grabbed some water and took some pictures of the rocks, with a view to the north. I headed on the trail toward the ridge climb, but turned around before it.
I headed back down. I passed the women again. Seeing someone familiar was a huge boost. They asked me how far I ran and I told them the mileage and elevation gain. They seemed impressed.
Again, I turned around near the bottom. Now, I was heading back up one last time. While the second time up was hard, it did seem kind of quick. This climb seemed to go on fairly long. It seemed like more switchbacks than earlier. I was super tired. I managed to make it past the women and on from there.
This climb was exhausting, but I basically made it all the way to the top. I did stop right near the very top, but it was close enough. I was so beat. I needed to recover. I headed back down.
Since the elevation gain on my watch was 1928 feet, I wanted to go over 2000 feet. I turned around and ran up. This was a struggle, but I got over 2028 feet. When I did an elevation correction, it was much less.
I then cruised on down. I was over 9 miles. I stopped at the bottom, with a very productive day. I was quite beat. I was thinking yesterday that I often have to hike a lot on these runs and it kind of makes it easy. Today's run was almost all runnable and that made for a challenge. I don't think I've been this exhausted since I ran with snowshoes for 5 miles in the Parkway last year.
I was so happy to get mileage and a great workout into one run. It was awesome on a weekday too. I came away so satisfied. If I don't work tomorrow, I might travel somewhere. I'd love to get near double digit miles again. I'm thinking that I'll have a pretty busy weekend ahead of me.
9.51 miles - 2:03:37 (13:00 pace) 1757 feet of elevation gain
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