Beautiful. I was first impressed by this view...
I was also privileged to see firsthand why it is called the Great Blue Heron trail. Too bad he flew away before I could get a pic. Truly a magnificent bird!
Before I'd gone a mile, the trail brought me to this little stream. I was faced with a choice: turn around and finish the rest of the my planned 4 miles on the roads, or jump in the water and cross. The old me would have turned around, but the new me--the soon-to-be-ultramarathon-trail-runner--embraced the experience and enjoyed the sensation of the water rushing over her feet.
I had a few other little places to cross water, and it occurred to me as I was going down one of the steeper hills that even with short mileage, my fuel belt would be preferable to handheld hydration, just to keep my hands free in case I need to break a fall or steady myself. Thankfully, today, I kept my feet the whole way, despite a few spots being quite slippery!
In terms of preparation, it also occurred to me that I was alone in the woods...defenseless against wildlife. I should have probably at least brought pepper spray or SOMETHING. Thankfully, I didn't see anything that slithered, and the only four-legged furry thing was a cute little bunny. :)
I continued on enjoying the scenery. It was so serene...like something you see on those inspirational posters...
However, it wasn't all bliss. "Running" would be a generous term to describe the activity. Some of it could not be characterized as anything other than "slogging." Because I didn't have to worry about it on the earlier road run, I didn't even think about mud on the trails after 2 days of rain. Rookie mistake. I can hear my father humming the Aggie War Hymn. Yes, I still bleed maroon!
I'm quite proud of myself for continuing on, despite parts of the trail being messy. Again, the old me would've called it quits, but the new me reasoned at least I would be able to find my way back if I left footprints! I have no desire to do another mud run like this and will pay more attention to conditions before I head out next time. But on this particular day, it was about persevering. And I did. Until I reached the trailhead at the other end!
The trail itself was nearly 3 miles from one end to the other, which was a bit of a surprise since looking at the map, I thought it was going to be about 3 miles out and back. Another rookie mistake. I was feeling good at the halfway point but still wanted to take a different route back that would make it a little shorter as well as offer some new scenery. I had grown in my confidence of being able to read the signs, figured out where I needed to turn to get on the alternate route, and where it would link back up with the main trail I'd been on to take me home.
Everything was going according to plan. I passed up the other detours and found the one I wanted. Even found where it reconnected with the primary trail. Saw a few of my tracks from earlier but didn't see which way the footprints were facing. I was encouraged when I saw landmarks I had passed on the outbound trip...but failed to notice they were on the right when they should have been on my left coming back. Thankfully, I finally clued in to the fact that the numbers on the trail signs were getting smaller again, when they should have been getting larger. Ooops! I couldn't believe I had goofed this up (though really, knowing me, it shouldn't have been that big of a surprise), and I actually used my phone's GPS and drop pin feature, moving toward it and away from it, to get my bearings. Yes, I found the primary trail. I just turned the wrong way because I stayed on the trail in front of me instead of realizing the turn would take me a little bit backwards. I figure that little mistake cost me a little over a mile, bringing my total to nearly 7 instead of the 4 I had originally planned. Still, this was a great first trail run, not only because of the beauty of it and the opportunities to persevere, but also how much I learned! Let's recap:
- Don't run trails if it's been raining. It can be a mudfest.
- Use hydration belt to keep hands free.
- Bring something to protect yourself.
- The map shows distance from one end to the other, so double that if you're going out and back.
- Allow extra time in case you get lost.
- Pay attention to which way you turn; the direction you need could be behind you!
The other thing I learned: I am going to LOVE this!!!
And it's a good thing--because it could take me a long time to run 31 miles of trails. I had originally figured I'd shoot for 6 hours with the idea that if I could meet my goal of a 4-hour marathon, I should add an hour for the extra 5 miles and another hour because trails tend to be slower than roads. Still, I was shocked to see that this 7 miles took me over 2 hours! However, I have to take into account I stopped to take pictures, clean my shoes, check my route, etc., and there were places where it was too muddy to run so walking was the only option. Hopefully, with additional training/experience and better conditions, I'll be able to average better than 20-minute miles! Fingers crossed! :)
The trail looks gorgeous even if it was a mudfest. I was to stubborn to turn around and take the road and had my own train mudfest a bit ago.
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