Tuesday, January 22, 2013

the Lost...long run


Chesterfield, VA. Pocahontas State Park, 17+ mi. Trail Run.  

 Its been a little while since my last post.  I've been training a lot though, just lazy to turn the home computer on.  Not a lot of excitement to write about until this past Saturday's run with Capt Will Johnson.  This run was special is so many ways.  The first time in Pocahontas State Park, I was pumped to get on the trails that everyone always talks about here in Richmond, VA.  I've had dozens of friends say that this park was so much fun to run and ride (mountain bike).  The Capt and I were going to head out on one of the main trails, the Fendlay Station Trail, which completely circumnavigates the outer limits of the park on fire road type terrain.  As we headed west on our excursion, both of us were trying to figure out the right route to take along the way with trailheads directing us.  At about the half way point we came to a parking area with camping grounds and an amphitheater type venue for gatherings.  We got lost a bit, as the trailhead directed us to some camp grounds where we couldn't find a trail to run on.  Circling back the mistake probably cost us just an extra mile, no big deal right?  Wrong.  As we found the correct trail, we apparently must have missed the sign that designated this a HUNTING zone.  We figured this out the hard way, as at about mile 10 we came across some heavily armed orange covered country boys.  We got that look of 'what in the hell are you guys doing running through here'.  As we kept running, I knew that there was going to be a stream up ahead.  From there it would be 3 miles back to the car, totaling 13.5 miles.  We were talking about how illegal it was to be hunting in a state park, when BAM!  There it was.  This little stream turned raging river, right next to a dam which was letting water over its edge at a very quick rate.  Just as we were thinking 'why isn't there a bridge here' we saw a sign that clearly read "Beware, you are entering a hunting ground".  I guess this was no longer the state park we were supposedly running in.  There was just no way we could risk trying to cross.  Our legs would be wet at the least, and god forbid one of us fell all the way in.  It would be too long of a run back to the car (where we didn't have extra clothes) in 20 degree weather.  Faced with this challenge we decide to circle back to a trail we saw half mile back and try to use it to get to the adjacent street to lead us back to the car.  I thought this would be a mile or so off our course, no big deal.  Wrong.  This trail lead us to a private property area which was owned by the YMCA.  We thought for sure that we couldn't be shot on a property owned by the YMCA, right?  From here we were trying to find another trail that would lead us back to the street.  Once we found our way to some kind of road, we were soon to realize that we were much further off track than originally thought.  My mile or so prediction turned into 4 or 5 miles off course real quick.  Once we reached the main road, I turned to Capt and said, "well the good news is I know exactly where we are, the bad news is we are no where near the car".  I didn't want to tell him how far, but I knew it was a number of miles away.  My legs were starting to get tired, but his were close to shot.  We started a walk/run system of about 3 minutes run 3 minutes walk.  This worked for about 2 miles, but then they kept getting shorter and shorter.  Towards the end it was more like 30 seconds run, 3 minutes walk.  When we finally reached the road that would lead us back to the park entrance, we were more than 4 miles away from the car.  We had been running for more than 2 hours and were out of water, gels, and most our energy.  The road we were walk/running on now was a very skinny road, with a lot of traffic.  In most spots the white line on the side of the road didn't even exist.  No shoulder, deep ditches, and heavy snow were our challenge now.  And not getting hit by speeding cars.  These 4 miles would prove to be very hilly and difficult, even to walk.   Reaching the car, after about 4 hours of running and hiking, we were spent.  Capt had never been so happy to see the car.  He was graving food.  I just needed to get some warm clothes on, as they were drenched in cold sweat and nearly frozen to my body.   Looking back, it was a great experience.  Pushing much further than originally thought is both humbling and mentally strengthening, knowing that I can go beyond what I set out to complete.  TFR -w