23 Mile trail run at Glade Springs

This was a great run. I have never run this far with this much elevation change. There were 5 of us ranging in age from 60 to my age of 33. We started at the bridge at Prince and ran about 6 miles along the new river. That got us to the mouth of Glade Creek. From there we could look down the river and see where we would eventually be. Way up on the ridge at Grandview state park there is a lookout. We then ran up Glade Creek along a trail/road which was beautiful. It was all uphill. Did I mention there was snow? Not a whole lot but as much as an inch or two. So sometimes it was like running in sand.

We walked every time the trail took us over rocks or bad spots where you just couldn't run. We also walked some of the steeper hills because we had a long way ahead of us. I noted several turkey tracks in the snow and we saw some deer along the way. The trail up Glade Creek lasted about 6 miles. So about 12 miles into the run and I was doing fine.

You reach the trailhead where people drive in to and then you are on this steep mountain road leading away from the creek through some farms. It is very steep! I had to walk most of this. Just walking up these hills, I could feel my heart rate skyrocket. I almost had to stop several times just due to my heart rate. It was intense. The other guys were able to run up a lot of this so this put me way behind. This is where my troubles started. The back of my legs were burning and I was losing speed and endurance fast.

You then hit the main road and go straight up even more for about a mile or so to a shell station where we refueled. I was zonked by this time. I almost thought about finding a pay phone and telling my wife to come get me as she was in Beckley at the time. The shell station is at the I64 Grandview exit. So If you are traveling to Beckley and note the really tall bridge just before you get to Beckley that says Glade Creek, we climbed from the bottom of that gorge up to the interstate.

From there we ran towards Grandview park along a two lane road. My friend Lee hung behind with me to coax me along. He was pointing out the nice houses and I was like... uh huh whatever... when is this going to end. I know I must have aggravated him because I kept asking how much farther? We cut through a residential area to avoid the traffic. This was tough as well because it went up and down and up and down. I was really hurting, I would run for about 5 minutes then walk about 5 minutes.

Finally at mile 19, we arrived at Grandview state park. All 5 runners were back together. We went to the overlook and looked down at where we had been on the new river at the mouth of glade creek. I was really hurting by this time. I could hardly walk actually. My legs were burning. That is when Lee offered me some drugs. He had some tylenol and ibuprofen. I took an ibuprofen.After walking around in the park for about a mile and sightseeing the ibuprofen started to kick in. The pain vanished! It was great. I felt good once again! I still couldn't keep up with them but I could run pain free now. We headed down a steep mountain road with ice and snow for about 3 miles back to the vehicles. A few times one of the runners would hit a patch of ice and start skating that was kinda scary but for the most part it was a pretty good trail. I arrived at the vehicle feeling good and ready to eat. The trip took me 5 hours and 10 minutes.

When I told my med student sis-in-law about taking the ibuprofen she made a bad face and said that it couldn't be good to do that. But I tell you, I felt great. Next time I run more than 15 I plan to take one about mile 14 or so. I think it reduces the muscle inflammation in my legs. I'll have to look into this further. Overall it was a great trip and sad to say we took no camera. I've got to look for a tiny one to carry on trips like this. I just didn't want to lug my rather boxy old digital camera around for 23 miles of running! There will be pictures next time I do this!

My mile times were:
1 10:44 Run/walk along New River
2 9:07
3 9:10
4 14:13 Walked a hill along New River
5 9:14
6 18:20 Walking around at mouth of Glade Creek
7 15:21 Walking around Glade Creek starting up trail
8 12:15 Glade Creek Trail
9 14:35 Glade Creek Trail Stopped at Bridge
10 11:56 Glade Creek Trail
11 11:06 Glade Creek Trail
12 23:06 Climbing hill away from Glade Creek
13 14:27 On main road to store uphill
14 15:03 Went into store
15 15:02 Coming out of store
16 9:51 Along two lane road with Lee
17 10:48 Going through rolling subdivision
18 11:54
19 11:25 Coming into Grandview
20 23:19 Walking around the park
21 18:19 Started down mountain - Ice and snow
22 10:45
23 9:51
Back at vehicle

Making Mistakes

Today, I met my buddies Lee and Shawn for another 20 miler on the Greenbrier River Treadmill. Well from the beginning we had said we were going to run 20 miles. Running at least 20 miles is still a fairly new thing for me. I have done it successfully 5 times now including my marathon and this was to be my 6th time crossing that mark. I can generally run about 14 miles without much thought of food or preparation and hold somewhere under a 9 minute pace with ease.

Well to complicate matters, the weather was calling for snow, ice, cold, etc. you get the idea. So prior to the run via email we had joked about possibly running less. This morning when I got up I was very excited about going. Yes I have a running addiction. It was 27 degrees and the snow was flying but I didn't pay much attention to that. Mostly it depended on the wind. I figured it would be bad weather and we'd run about 16 and that would be fine. Without giving much thought to the matter I grabbed a protein bar which is roughly 180 calories and put it in my camel back water pack that was almost filled with water. For once I was going to be on time meeting them for a run. I always seem to forget something and have to run back which makes me late. It's about a 30 minute drive to the trail which goes by fast when you are listening to podcasts about running on the ol' ipod.

When I arrived it was snowing lightly and there was no wind. I had 4 layers on my upper body and two on my lower. I had gloves and my Hokie toboggan just for you Lee. Soon we were ready to go. The wind was still and believe it or not, they were very good conditions for me to run. After about 1 mile I was getting warm and we were cruising along just over a 9 minute mile pace. We were talking and laughing as we normally do and enjoying Shawn's stories.

At about 9.8 miles, we stopped and refueled at the turn around point. I was starving. See, this past week I have started an attempt to lose my last 10 lbs which you can read about at http://cranberryrock-lose-last-10.blogspot.com. So the day before I had had a Grilled Chicken salad and raisin bran for dinner and had swam lightly for about an hour and a half with my wife and kids. I was still really hungry and the guys could tell it. Shawn noticed my hands were shaking. Lee offered a cliff shot which is basically a packet of gooey carbs and sugar. I had the apple pie flavored one with no caffeine. I wolfed it down and soon we were off. It is actually hard to stop running and then start again. Especially when it is cold.

I ran along with them just fine until about mile 13ish. That's when I started to fall apart. It felt like someone had hooked a hose up to me and sucked every ounce of energy out of me. I was not hurting (anymore than normal) and felt pretty good but I had zero get up and go! I was bonked, done, a goner, stick a fork in me, it's over. Just like that. I started jogging really slow. I told them to go on I'd make it but it'd be awhile. The next 6 miles were kind of like a runners bad dream. The idea that you have 6 miles to go and normally could run them in about 50 minutes but it was going to take about 90 minutes at the pace I was going. I would walk a little then run a little.

Soon after I bonked, Shawn ran out of juice too. So we sort of seesawed back and forth one in front of the other for a mile or two. Lee our elder, our leader, our mentor, our trainer, and coach and yes sometimes idol was putting the hammer down on the young pups. He would be back at the vehicle, clothes changed, sipping diet mountain dew and contemplating WVU winning yet another bowl game next year before we would get there. About mile 18, Shawn left me in the dust as well. So there I was, Mark, the marathoner, the long distance runner, capable of running 26.2 miles in four hours and seven minutes, gasping for air and energy at mile 18. I would walk for about 5 minute then try to run. I would run for about 4 minutes then give out again. I had nothing. I made sure and walked up until about a quarter mile from the finish so I could run that last quarter mile and show up at the vehicles still running. How vain of me. Oh well.

I got schooled. When you make a mistake you must learn from it and I did. From my marathon training I knew that I need to eat about every 5 miles to make it over 20. I also need to eat something substantial the night before. Lee would liken this to eating a buffet while running but that seems to be what I need. I didn't do this so my calorie burn rate overcame the easily accessed energy stores in my body. Next time I will not make this same mistake. If I am running 15 or more I must eat often and early.



Picture Caption (WVU spanks VT on GRT)

(Thanks for the pics Shawn!)

My total time and notice I emphasize the "my" is shown below.

Calories burned according to my Garmin GPS 4491 ( I don't believe this, I would put it around 2300 I think)

Total time 3:26:10 (not including rest break at mile 10)
Total distance 19.69
Average Pace 10:28

Mile Pace
1 9:24
2 9:23
3 9:25
4 9:50
5 9:21
6 10:40
7 9:03
8 9:12
9 9:05
10 9:05
11 9:33
12 9:31
13 10:00
14 9:40
15 10:55
16 11:00
17 9:41
18 15:17
19 15:23
19.6 10:33