The temperature was perfect, right in the mid-50s. With a nice overcast sky, I couldn’t ask for better conditions. And the opportunity to explore a new trail. It started off so well around noon, stayed good for a while, then went downhill fast.
Truth is, I haven’t trained for distance on concrete in quite a while. I’ve had an occasional 8-mile training run, but that’s been the longest. Even at only 8 miles, my knees and muscles have been quite sore the day after the run. I should have kept that in mind.
Shortly after starting at Valley View Ln just off Hillcrest, the trail crosses under Central Expressway. This was our first taste of a lot more mud to come. Mud actually is putting it lightly. In spots, it was all out boggy and with a wrong step, the suction could take a shoe off. We were conservative because all three of us have the Bandera 50K coming up in only two weeks and did not want to fall or risk injury.
A few miles into the run, we hadn’t really seen many people. Finally we came upon a runner heading north and she told us the mud would get much worse. Worse? We thought it was already pretty nasty. No, worse. Much. She couldn’t have been more right. Some sections of the trail were completely covered over by mud, 3 or 4 inches deep in some spots. The worst areas were where the path was muddy and the sides in the grass were also wet and soft. I opted to tread lightly over the concrete path, paying close attention to the depth of the mud while the other two were smarter and took a detour way around the bad areas. Just before we hit the 7-mile marker and connected onto the White Rock Lake path, we hit the most awakening obstacle: ankle-deep water over the path. It was in an area that is sometimes a creek so there was no way around it. On we went and out we came with sopping wet socks and shoes full of ice-cold water. Not exactly as freezing cold as a mountain stream, but cold enough to open our eyes and inspire a few “ooohs”.
We connected onto the White Rock Lake path and I was still feeling pretty good. I had mostly held my ~ 11:30/m pace until this point and we kept at it. I was looking forward to a pit stop at the gas station on Garland Rd. Chocolate soy milk was on my mind. After working our way steadily south with minimal walking breaks, we reached the gas station. Soy milk was not to be found, so I opted for a bottle of Oak Farms and a square of dark chocolate. Mmm. It was good then, but weighed heavy in my stomach for a few miles since I chugged all the milk within 5 minutes. Probably not the best idea.
After walking the big hill bordering Garland Rd, we began our trip back to the north. We worked our way over to the cove on the east side and stopped for a short restroom break. My legs were yelling and my calves were tight. I left the stop in a slow walk. This was the turning point of today’s run for me. The others asked if I was OK and I suggested they go on ahead and I would catch up. They took off at first, but were too kind and started walking to allow me to catch up. From here on, I would be slowing us down with my dragging pace. Deborah suggested that we had to run all the downhills, which made sense. We would go for a good while, but my knees were encouraging me to slow the jog to a walk. My calves felt much less strained at the slower pace, too. By the time we got to the bridge to lead us across the water towards the dog park, I decided to call for a ride and cut my planned 23-mile training run to only 16 miles.
It would be 2.5 more miles before my ride answered the phone. I was in bad shape and didn’t want to continue. The others were too patient and kind and allowed me to use their phones numerous times in an attempt to find a ride. When I stopped, I’d logged 18.5 miles.
I’ve had bad training runs in the past but have usually cut them off much sooner. This time I wanted to keep going because I had good company and wanted to get the miles in before the upcoming 50K. With little to no training on hard surface, I should have been more conservative, particularly since I had an idea that my body doesn’t hold up well on concrete.
After a hot bath to clean off all the mud, I felt a lot better, but my legs are much tighter and my knees are more sore than after the Palo Duro 50K. In a way, I think I made a good choice to stop and not risk an overuse injury. But I sure wish I could have finished with them and hope that days like these go away for a while.
