sabby
GUTS Member
Posts: 17
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Post by sabby on Mar 5, 2011 13:56:40 GMT -5
Hi, I would like to do a 20 miler tomorrow and would love company for part or all. I was thinking about either Sweetwater Creek or Kennesaw Mountain. I live in the Candler Park neighborhood of Atlanta and am willing to drive up to an hour out in any direction to get in this long run. I would, however, like to go as early as possible as my son has a piano recital tomorrow afternoon.
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sabby
GUTS Member
Posts: 17
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Post by sabby on Mar 5, 2011 19:14:24 GMT -5
OK, so I think I'm going to go run in the Georgia Horse Park, simply because I never have. There are 8 miles of mountain biking trail and then a shared use trail. I should be able to get in 20 miles. Here's a trail map: www.georgiahorsepark.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=dSy4x_nN8p8%3d&tabid=523 If you'd like to join, I plan to get there a little before 7am. And if you just want to comment on the trail, give tips on parking, etc, I definitely welcome any.
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sabby
GUTS Member
Posts: 17
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Post by sabby on Mar 6, 2011 19:12:24 GMT -5
So, I didn't do 20 miles today. I probably did about 12. I know I did 10, according to my GPS but I also know that I ran around for about 45 minutes after accidentally turning it off.
First, I didn't do 20 because we had a fundraiser at my son's school, a MARDI GRAS BALL fundraiser...which I volunteered for...and which I drank a copious amount of wine at...sheesh. Normally, I am VERY strict about no alcohol the night before a long run because of the expected outcome at my age. Which is I won't be able to wake up when I plan to and I will run like someone with a leg that hates her. Both of which, OF COURSE, happened. I shouldn't have broken my own rule. It's the first time in a looooooooooong time I broke my own rule.
So, instead of hitting the trail at 7am I hit the trail at 10:45am.
My son had a piano recital at 3pm and the Georgia International Horse Park is ~40 minute drive so I had to leave by 1:30 so I could get home and get showered. That left me with a little under 3 hours to run. I can definitely get in 20 on the road.
On the trail? Right.
I am not an experienced trail runner. I'm not even an experienced runner. I started running in May 2008 while in the process of losing 80lbs. I was 40lbs down and looking to boost things along. So I picked up Couch-to-5K and before I knew it, I ran the ING half in 2009. And then I tried to run the Country Music Marathon in 2010 with the 4 hour pace group, only tornadoes hit the area and they shut the race down. So I ran 22 miles.
I only started sporadic trail running last year towards the end of training for Country Music. I love it. Only I don't get to do it a lot because I live in the city, near Little 5 Points, and trails aren't within walking distance. I mean, there are actually a few but it's like 2 miles in Lullwater, 3 miles in the little area off Oxford Rd along Peavine Creek, etc.
So, to do trails I have to drive 40 minutes, meaning it's only going to happen on the weekends and that's only when the rest of my life allows. Which is actually a lot, so I am not complaining.
Anyway, I was training to run the Country Music Marathon for this year. But I just learned that I am going to go to Kazakhstan, leaving the weekend of the race. This is a work trip. I travel internationally, usually about 8-10 weeks a year.
So, that meant no CMM2011. A guy I know, who I know you all know, suggested I try SweetwaterH20 50k since it's the weekend before I leave. I thought, I'd love to but I haven't done more than about 5-6 miles on trails in a long, long while.
That's what this weekend's proposed 20 miler was supposed to be about...a bit of a tester and a bit of getting some trails in.
So, I went out there. Many of you have probably been on the bike trails at the Horse Park. I found them to be fun. I also learned I would probably need AT LEAST 7 hours to finish a 50K. Because between 10:40 and 1:30 I probably covered 12 miles. I did the section that's all wooded and nice first. That's where I learned that I have NO trail legs. I was hungover so I was moving slow and sweating hard. And my heart was going overtime because that's what your body does when you drink too much. But it was really the downhills. I couldn't run the downhills! I felt like I was going to trip and kill myself.
And, really, it was while it was still gray and windy and a little rainy out so there was NO ONE ELSE there. If I'd knocked myself out on a tree root I could be there for a while...until my husband called for a search. In short, i was chickenshit. Some of the downhills were steep and they were sloppy and slippery and I couldn't run them.
So, I covered 5 miles in about an hour. Then I went over to the side by the golf course and holy granite!
At first I couldn't run on the granite because I was afraid it would be slippery because there was a lot of run-off going into the creeks and lake. It LOOKED slippery. After a little bit I realized that it wasn't slippery. The granite was very porous and granity and rough and I could not worry about slipping. But, there was a lot of both uphill and downhill on the granite and I was still afraid I'd trip and then I'd be falling on really hard, solid granite.
Boy, was I a pus.
But, after a bit, I started to develop trail legs. I learned that if I jumped my way down the steep downhills I had way more control then if I let my legs loose and ran. After that, I was good. I still walked some of the really steep climbs but I was moving faster. However, moving fast on the granite downhills...total quad thrasher.
After I did that side of the trails I went back and did another 1.5 miles on a shared use trail before jumping back on the mountain biking trail to total it out. By the time I was done I had to book it home for the piano recital. I definitely had more gas in the tank. I am confident I could have cranked out a whole 20, if I'd only not had alcohol the night before and got on the trails at 7a as planned.
But still, I probably would have taken 5ish hours to do 20 miles on the trails. That tells me I would need at least 7 for a 50K.
(1) No drinking the night before a long run (2) No volunteering for fundraising where there's alcohol the night before a long run. (3) More trails because I need to develop my trail legs. (4) But I still might run the SweetwaterH2O 50K, which would be my first.
Oh, my husband made me my hydration for this run. He's an exercise physiology professor so he just make it with table salt, table sugar, water and sugar free Kool-Aid. It worked great. I forget the percentages he used. I believe, though, that information is pretty easy to find. He made it for me because...he wanted to see how it would go. He made two batches, one a little saltier than the other. I preferred the saltier one while I was running. Meaning, it actually tasted better to me.
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Post by ramrun69 on Mar 6, 2011 21:38:11 GMT -5
Keep up the running, you will be flying on the trails in no time. Glad you enjoyed the horse park, I grew up in Conyers. I Know exactly what you mean on these trails.
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sabby
GUTS Member
Posts: 17
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Post by sabby on Mar 7, 2011 7:56:26 GMT -5
Hi ramrun69 -
Yes, I had fun on those trails and I think they'll be good for developing my trail legs. No nasty climbs but enough technical downhills to teach me a few lessons. Thanks for the encouragement!
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sabby
GUTS Member
Posts: 17
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Post by sabby on Mar 11, 2011 9:19:30 GMT -5
I'm going up to Dahlonega tonight to spend the weekend in a cabin with my family. I'm hoping to peel off this 20-miler tomorrow, really early. I haven't decided exactly where but if you want to join me I'm up for suggestions. I'd like to realistically be done by 10-11am because we're going up there to do some family hiking, etc, and I can't "run" away all day.
Anyone interested?
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