Four Loops of Mt. Tammany

I need to get training for the Escarpment Trail Run.  I need lots of climbing and technical terrain.  Therefore, Ryan, Kobey and I headed to Mt. Tammany this morning to run loops.  Earlier in the week, I had planned on 5 loops, but as I struggled with the heat, I cut it down to 4 loops.  That would still be a PR for me.  In the snow, Ryan and I did 3 over the winter.

The weather was actually nice when we started at 9 AM.  It was around 70, not too cloudy and only slightly humid.  I still ran without a shirt.  I knew it would be a long day.  I'm glad I made that choice.

Elaine from Trail WhippAss posted that they were starting at 9 AM there.  Since we were already planning to start at 8:30 AM, it turned out good.  Ryan and I were there first.  We didn't get rolling right away.  Therefore, we ended up starting with a couple other Trail WhippAss members Chipp and Mahesha.

Chipp had never run there before, so he followed our lead while Mahesha hung behind.  Elaine had not arrived yet.  Ryan took to the front.  I let him do that, because he says I run here too hard and that is my problem.  I told him I never run at all and I still struggle.  I was the one that was right today.

It wasn't long and Ryan was climbing quickly ahead of Chipp and I.  Ryan's climbing skills have improved a lot.  I let him go, as I needed to run my own pace.  Since Chipp didn't know the terrain, he stayed back with me for most of the climb.

I wasn't struggling at all this early, but I wouldn't say I was doing great.  It was a lot of hiking.  The trail was fairly busy and this point and got even busier as the day wore on.

Ryan had his GoPro, so he stopped at times.  I took a summit photo, as always.  We hung for a little bit and then continued on to the Blue Trail.  I ran along easy.

We got to the Blue descent and Ryan just took off.  It was obvious his easy and my easy are completely different.  He was long gone.  The only time I could ever see him was on one very long, steep section.  He was way up ahead.

Near the bottom another guy Gabriel came along.  He came up the other way and joined Chipp.  They knew each other.  Ryan waited for me and we bumped into another friend Dan who was coming from Sunfish Pond.  What odd timing, as he nearly literally ran into us.  I finished loop 1 around 56 minutes.  That was solid.  My watch had not started right away initially.

We rested for a bit.  I took salt caps, added some Tailwind to my water, toweled off and also used a cold rag to keep cool.  Even though it wasn't that hot, I did still struggle a bit in this first loop.

Kobey joined us for loop 2.  Chipp and Gabriel went flying uphill.  They were hiking so well.  Ryan followed for a bit, as he was strong.  Once again, his easy and my easy are different.  Kobey and I were both struggling with the humidity.  For me, it was so much so that my shorts got soaked after this loop.

The climb was a bit of a struggle.  However, it was still mostly hiking, so I survived.  We both couldn't wait until the Blue Trail and the descending.  Kobey and I switching leading on and off down the Blue Trail.  He decided he was only doing one loop, so he pulled a bit ahead to finish.

Near the bottom, we had caught up with Elaine.  Kobey had met her a bit earlier.  She was also with a fast guy, Paul.  They ran behind us.  We never saw Chipp and Gabriel again.  Apparently, Ryan caught up to them and had a mini race.

I wasn't too bad after loop 2.  I figured I would be able to finish 4 loops, but I knew it wouldn't be pretty.  I think I came in these two loops under 2 hours total.  I had not slipped yet, but that would change.

I knew loop 3 would be a struggle.  I hiked along, behind Elaine, Paul and Ryan.  It was fun and the chatting made things less painful.  Still, hiking was starting to become a bit of a struggle.  We were now approaching 3,000 feet of gain.  I didn't fair too bad on the hike actually.

I think Ryan and I got ahead.  Elaine and Paul have 100 milers next weekend, so they are taking it easy.  There were so many hikers up there and they often saw us doing multiple loops.  A few were impressed by our craziness.

We made it to the summit and I snapped a quick photo.  However, I couldn't run much on the technical, flat Blue Trail.  I struggled hiking along the ridge.  At least I could try the descent.

That was tricky too though.  I began losing concentration a little.  It wasn't terrible, but I was landing funny on some of the rocks and it was just slow.  The parts that I find fun, were quite the challenge today.  I had to simply hike some of them, where I would otherwise normally run.  I made it back to the car, but wasn't in great shape.  I think it was around 3:10 or 3:15 into the run now.

We rested a lot more now.  We took some group photos.  I cooled off.  I added some extra Tailwind.  I kind of just wanted to get going and get the suffering over with.

Almost immediately, I noticed that my quads were sore.  Hiking up the steep section was tough.  I felt a little better as time went on though.  Maybe it was knowing this was my last loop.  Whatever the case, I pushed a pretty solid hiking pace.  Ryan fell back a little and Elaine a little farther.

We all met up at the summit though.  I struggled hiking along the ridge on the Blue Trail.  Elaine and Ryan chatted away and pulled ahead.  I thought I might never see them again.

Another guy was running and he went by me.  I decided to run a little and surprisingly, I felt good.  It allowed me to catch up to Ryan and Elaine.  They were still hiking the descent.

I decided that I needed to run and get it over with.  I ran on down.  I picked my way over the rocks.  My concentration was actually better now.  I wasn't fast by any means, but I was at least solid and running.  The legs didn't hurt too much, but my feet were getting very sore from pounding the rocks.  I'm not sure they could take much more.

It was great to finally get to the bottom and on to the AT.  I enjoyed knowing I was nearly done.  I finished about a minute before Ryan and Elaine.  It was a good day and I hit my goal so I was happy.  I didn't overheat too bad, although I didn't do great in the final 2 loops either.

I could've went out for a 5th loop, but it would've been pointless.  I was just slowing too much and hiking too much at that point.  It really wasn't accomplishing much of anything.  If I can figure out how to not fade at Escarpment, then I'll do okay.  Otherwise, it could be a struggle.  This was close to the same distance as that, yet with much more elevation there.

Tomorrow, I'm waking up bright and early to ride my bike.  Kobey has a big group run.  I'm going to bike with Angie and Mel, as they run.  It should be fun and easy.  Maybe I'll add more miles too.  I'll probably take video as well.

14.61 miles - 4:32:59 (18:41 pace) 4768 feet of elevation gain
Mt. Tammany Summits 19, 20, 21 and 22 in 2015