Sunday, August 10, 2008

In for the Long Haul

Saturday morning Scott and I drove a little over an hour to meet the NC Adventures Running Club for the 3rd Annual DuPont Waterfall Bonanza.  In all 18 runners would meet, be briefed on the route and then set off for some running and fun in the waterfalls.  We were warned on what to do if we encountered a bear and told to stay sharp with the directions we were given.  A 22 mile run could easily turn into a 40 mile run if you took the wrong turn.
Map and Directions hand out before the run

The group stayed together for the first 7 miles.  This would be our first waterfall stop and we quickly dropped our gear for a soak in the falls.  The water was ice cold and very refreshing.  I quickly realized that this group would treat this 22 mile course as a fun social with lots of running between the falls.  We spent 35 minutes at the first fall.  Some eating, laughter, and pictures would wrap up our first stop.

The next 7 miles would be just myself and another runner named Dave.  It was cool talking with someone new and it made the miles pass by rather fast.  Around mile 14 I felt as if I was bonking.  This entire route was one big loop and totally self supported.  This meant if you did not bring something key than you went without.  I had already eaten my food and knew that I needed more calories.  No matter how many times Dave helped me look at the map it never changed and he finally said "You are in this for the LONG HAUL."  He offered me a GU and after another 2 miles I took it.  Anyone who knows me knows I can not do the GU's but on Saturday I forced it down and was thankful.

I skipped the last two waterfall stops and headed back to the parking lot where it all began. The course had offered a lot of climbing and nothing but endless single trek trails.  It was a beautiful, very isolated course.  Scott was able to mountain bike and do some reading while I was running.  Relaxing for him but a long time to wait for me.  THANKS AGAIN SCOTT!!!!

Distance: 22 miles
Running Time: 4:15
Waterfall Stops: 1 hour
Soak in the Stream following the run: 10 minutes.  

Interesting Sightings:
Coyote Poop 
3 Deer (one of them was the largest I had ever seen)
Parrots (As I was leaving the trails I saw 2 people walking in with 3 parrots on their shoulders)

Each long run gives me an opportunity to gage where I am at in training.  I am pleased with the pace of this training run but I am not pleased with my lack of taking in the proper amount of calories.  Not being hard on myself but I learned a lot from my first self-supported run.

Looking forward to meeting back up with this group again hopefully real soon.  Also got to run some with Mike (part of our Team Dirty Feet) and his friend Mike.  Both super nice guys.

Waiting on the pictures to be posted within the next few days.  My camera is broken and it is runs like this that I wished I had had one.

Robin

17 comments:

Michael at 49 said...

Robin

I missed the bear briefing, did sound something like this "don't be last". Great job, food, food, and more food, while I only did 12, I really started to bonk at the end. I'm learning that you must eat while trail running. Great Job, superb, awesome.

Mike

Greg On the Run said...

I wish we had trails on the coast. Well, actually we do, but there aren't any waterfalls to play in and the rivers and ocean here feel like bathwater.

Wes said...

Awesome job on the 22 mile trail run. Phew!! That's a long time no your feet!! I'm sure the dip at the end was sooooo good :-)

Marcy said...

OK so how the heck did you know it was coyote poop? Does it look different from dog poop? Inquiring minds need to know :P

AWESOME JOB CHICA!! You rock!

Anonymous said...

Sounds wonderful - especially the waterfall part. Looking forward to seeing some pictures.

teacherwoman said...

That sounds like a wonderful experience!

Stuart said...

Ouch boinking at M14 is not good, gotta watch that caloric intake! Good pace time over the miles though.

Runner Mom said...

I'm just glad that you didn't run into any bears...or step in their poop!!! The caloric intake is something that we all have to be fully aware of. It's hard to know how much to pack! I am SOOOO proud that you were able to stomach that GU!
Love ya!
Susan

J~Mom said...

That sounds awesome!! Congrats on 22 miles! :>)

Kevin said...

Overall sounds like a great run. Nutrition can be so hard to figure out, but is so important in long distance racing (especially those that are self supported). I dont think you will be making that mistake again

ShirleyPerly said...

Wow, a lot to deal with besides running! Great job on the 22-miler. I actually never took in any nutrition when training for my first marathon and ended up running the race only on a 50/50 mix of Gatorade which someone suggested I do like a week before the race. Not ideal but it can be done if you don't know any better and had trained your body to run sans food!

jen said...

Wow, that sounds SO fun!! Great job enjoying the day. Can't wait to see some pics.

Sherry said...

Wow! What an event! Twenty-two miles worth of a hilly trail run! Egads!

Even though my legs probably would have exploded by mile 5, the name "Waterfall Bonanza" sounds breathtaking!

I've said it before, but I like when you write about nutrition. A lot of people skip that part in their blogs (including me) and it's such a vital part of racing. I always learn a lot from you.

Phil said...

I don't know if I'd like to start out I run with a briefing on, "what do if we encountered a bear". Come back to Arizona. The worse you'll run into is a mean javalina.

You crack me up though ... you get through a 22 mile run and talk about bonking. Most of us are out of breath by the time we get out to 10 miles. You and Scott have the most interesting running adventures.

Judi said...

Sounds awesome, for real!

zanne said...

that sounds so awesome! what a fun run!

love those pre-race briefings - some of them can be pretty daunting!

zanne said...

oh man, totally missed that part about bonking! lord girl ... you should know better! that stinks, but it still sounds like a really fun run! now EAT!