Training Day

One of the stipulations of me accompanying Frank to Richmond over Labor Day weekend for his soccer tournament was the necessity of me fitting in an 18 mile run on Saturday morning. Frank did all of the research and found that Pocahontas State Park had good trails to run on – He had confirmed with the park rangers and the Richmond Runners Club. Ok – Although I was leery about running on dirt paths through the woods, I decided I was game.

Saturday morning, 6:30am: The alarm clock in our hotel goes off and I get geared up for my run. The park was about a 20 minute drive from where we were staying, so I didn’t start running until close to 7:30. It was a nice cool morning and my run started out great – somewhat relaxing through the forest…For the first 4 miles. It turns out that the ‘well marked trails’ (as quoted by the park ranger) are NOT so well marked. I took a wrong turn about 4 miles in and ended up trudging through what appeared to be swamp land. I was terrified about stepping on a snake or running into some other type of woodland creature, so I was cruising. When it became quite obvious that the trail I ended up on was not the correct path, I turned around and navigated back to the fork where I had taken the wrong turn. Ok – I was back on track…For another mile or two…As I neared the bottom of a hill, I noticed a sign to the right saying something like “Be careful crossing due to strong currents”. WTF? Strong currents? How did Ranger Joe forget to mention this??? Just around the bend I see a creek…a river…I don’t know what the heck it was, but I certainly wasn’t about to cross it and get my feet completely soaking wet only 6 miles into my run! (At this point, I have to admit I was cursing Frank for sending me into the wilderness for my longest run to date!) While the thought definitely crossed my mind to go back to my car and drive home to Arlington and get in my 18 miles the next morning on known territory, I persisted. Off to the left, I noticed another path back up the hill and decided to try that – Where at the top I was greeted by campers outside of their cabin and a gated path. After exchanging a few words with them, I gathered that they wouldn’t shoot me if I continued past their gate and was told the path would lead me to the ‘main road.’ At this point I had no idea where I was and was quite thankful that the park ranger had suggested I bring my cell phone along with the ranger’s office phone number in case I got lost. After another few miles, I came to a sign that led me to believe I was still in the park – Ok, I was starting to feel a little better. I managed to navigate back to my car somehow and still had another 7 miles to go until I reached my 18 mile goal! No problem – I figured I would just go the other way on the trail and hope for more clearly marked paths and no streams/creeks to pass. The entire run was definitely more hilly than I am used to (which didn’t surprise me since the park ranger mentioned, “Ma’am, you’re in the Piedmont of Virginia – It’s hilly”.), so my legs were definitely getting tired. Proof: Mile 12.5 back on the dirt path and I tripped over something (I’m assuming a tree stump and not my own feet) and completely fell to the ground. Luckily there was no one around to see me fall or hear the choice words that may have come out of my mouth about my husband at this point. There were definitely tears shed, but I got back up, tried to brush most of the dirt off, picked up my water bottles, and pushed on. I didn’t get up at 6:30 and get this far to stop at 12.5 miles. In the end, I completed my 18 miles with only a few bruises, scrapes, and a bloody palm and somehow managed to keep a decent pace throughout everything – My average pace was 9:38, not ideal, but I’ll take it considering the ‘adventures’. Looking back, I can laugh now, but at the time I was certainly extremely unhappy with Frank (for making me run through the woods!) and the park ranger (how do you not mention the stream to someone you know is running on the trail???) – I figure, if I can complete 18 miles of hills and dirt paths with a few unpleasant obstacles, then I can certainly complete 26.2 miles through the city of Baltimore!