I couldn't get myself out there yesterday. I was tired, it was hot, and there were a million excuses. I might've been able to go out for something, but I wanted to do these tough repeats again. Instead, I headed to Delps Trail after an early dinner this evening.
It was quite hot at the start. I had on shorts and a sleeveless shirt. Steep ascents were making me sweat a lot too obviously. It got cloudy and looked like rain, but none ever came. I was starting to get some chafing, so I took my shirt off for the final repeat and a half.
I knew about this trail, but I'm so glad I started going here. Not only is it super tough, but I have it all to myself. This is the second time I was the only one in this remote lot. For the entire 2.5 miles, I never saw another person. I assume I'll only regularly see people on the AT or going from the AT down to the spring.
I took off running, feeling strong. I ran a little farther than most of the time last week. I went for a short distance past where it started to really get steep. I want to work on getting even farther in the future.
My breathing became super labored. After the first log type step, I began to powerhike. I moved up the steep stone steps quickly. I climbed and climbed and climbed, as I was sweating. I ran some of the flat near the top.
I got to the AT in just over 15 minutes. That crushed my time from last week. I want to eventually be able to get up this climb in less than 15 minutes, on a consistent basis. I was feeling good, so I ran where I could on the way down. I still can't run the stone steps of course.
I got to my car around 1.5 miles. I stopped briefly for a towel and drink. I had some water and some Tailwind. I took both. I needed to get some calories.
The good thing was that this took a little less than half an hour. Still, that is a slow 1.5 miles. I wanted to do 5 loops and I knew that if I kept close to this pace up, I'd have just enough daylight for that.
I began hiking a little sooner the second time out there. It is always tricky because I could push more up steep terrain, but then my breathing would get more labored. Even after I hike up for a bit, it is so steep that I can't recover. I'm breathing heavy, most if not all the way up the stone steps. I was hot and I believe I drank from the spring this time. I had no issues with doing so last week.
It was good to get up and head back down. I walked down a lot more rocky parts this time. I was slightly lightheaded and didn't want to chance it. I was happy to finish this repeat and be 40% done. I was also still under an hour into the run.
I headed back up for the third time, after another brief car rest. I might need to make these rests longer when it is hot out in the summer. I don't give myself much recovery though and that is good.
I felt the burn just slightly as I went up this time. Near the top, it began to get cloudy. I thought it might rain. The rocks would be slick in the rain. The good thing is if it did rain, I can get down in about 10 minutes or so.
At the top, I was now over 2100 feet of gain and hurting a bit. I had been good this week of not looking at my watch too much. I just moved forward. I ran on down again. There was still a lot of walking.
I was back to the car briefly and on to the 4th repeat. This is the one where I started to feel it. It was a lot of gain in such short distance. This felt like the point of an ultra where I would start to tire. I'm sure I drank from the spring again, as I was quite thirsty. The spring is just past halfway up and in a perfect location. The spring is a huge bonus to this run.
It was a slow go to the top, but eventually I trudged my way up there. I was just shy of 2900 feet of gain. I rested very briefly at the AT and headed down. It was good to make it to the bottom for a 4th time. I was getting a little sore, but not too bad.
My times were slipping a little. It was now just over 2 hours when I got back to the car. I had some slight nipple chafing going on, so I had taken my shirt off during the previous loop. I dropped it in the car now. My stomach bothered me a little too.
Although I was tired, I knew this was the final repeat. I made it a goal to blast up there. I ran past the log a bit. I don't know if that was a good thing. I was super labored by the stone steps and couldn't get my breath back for some time. I tried to even hike fast.
I stopped briefly at the spring, but then plowed ahead. The elevation was surely taking its toll now. It was good to get near the top. I moved as fast as I could. I ran when I could. It was starting to get a little dark too.
I was happy to be at the top. I had less than 13 minutes to descend. I wanted to be under 2:30 and average less than half an hour per repeat.
I figured I could make it in time if I really pushed. I didn't run fast, but I made sure to run as much as I could. I ran a lot of parts that were pretty rocky and that I had not run much in other loops. I put on an intense focus and that really helps over the rocks. I can do that for short periods while trail running.
I ran most of the way to the spring. Of course, I had to hike down the stone steps. I made sure to try to hike fast, without falling.
I looked at my watch and it was 2:25. I now had a more runnable descent. Still, I had to go over a quarter of a mile. There were some rocks to navigate too. I couldn't see my watch while I was running, so I just kept running and I kept pushing.
I was thrilled to be to the bottom and finally done. I had just beat my goal time for the repeats. Even if I didn't run a lot, it was a great day and a tough outing. I need more workouts like this.
I hope I can commit to doing this weekly. If I do, I should get faster over time. This is a great section for training on tough terrain. It is perfect for my mountain races and not too far away either. It is so time consuming that I'm not sure I'll ever do more than 5-7 repeats. Doing 3500+ feet of gain over 7 miles is a great workout though.
Tomorrow, I will take off. On Saturday, I'm sure I'll run again. I hope for a Sunday run as well. I should get to Tammany sometime. I don't like it on weekends, but maybe I'll go there. I'd love more elevation. I think next weekend I'm going to Shenandoah National Park.
7.16 miles - 2:28:16 (20:42 pace) 3554 feet of elevation gain
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