Gail's Trail Run 10k
Sunday, December 6, 2009
When the alarm went off this morning I realzed that I'm very much out of practice when it comes to getting up and heading off to a race... it's been over a month since the last one I did! I was briefly tempted to crawl back into bed like I did last year, but fortunately I reminded myself of how much I regretted skipping other races this year - and how many I had to miss over the past month due to either injury or lack of a car - and kept myself on track to getting my gear together so I could head out the door and get on the road to Cross River, NY down in Westchester County.
The first part of the drive down was in the dark, but as the sun came up I was treated to the sight of all the trees along the Taconic Parkway covered in snow... very pretty! Unlike two years ago, the drive down was uneventful (this year the snow hit the day before!) and I pulled into the Ward Pound Ridge Reservation with plenty of time to check in and figure out what I wanted to wear. Went through several combinations of tops, but finally settled on two long-sleeved shirts with a jacket just in case (and the expectation that I'd probably end up wishing I'd skipped the jacket...)
The start was delayed while a few folks came in at the last minute, then we gathered in the corner of the parking lot and the RD talked for a bit about why the run was started (in memory of the wife of the Team Mossman swim coach who died of pancreatic cancer) and also mentioned other folks who'd lost their fight with the disease this past year. Tony Godina, RD emeritus of the Leatherman's Loop, said a few things about the course... and then it was time to go!
As I expected the group disappeared pretty quickly... I'm slow at the best of times and I had already decided not to push it today, given the state of my knee. Stopped a short ways in to tie my jacket around my waist (hate it when I'm right) and generally took it easy, walking when I needed to and stopping to snap photos whenever I wanted. The woods were absolutely gorgeous - a light layer of snow everywhere and blue sunny skies above. Made my way through the woods up and down hills to the first stream crossing. Getting in without jamming my knee wasn't easy; I ended up sitting down on the bank to lower my feet into the water, which was about knee deep and, no surprise, cold (but not stunningly so - maybe I'm finally at the point where I know what to expect.) Getting out on the far side was tricky - the big rock going up to the back was very slippery, and I didn't really want to end up getting dunked. But eventually I made it and headed off down the trail running along the stream.
Lots of varied terrain after that, and lots of mud close to the stream - guess that's one of the disadvantages to all the warm weather we've had, the mud isn't frozen yet. Eventually passed through the picnic area at the end of the open section of the park road, then back along the stream some more. Up hills, down hills, through fields... one of the fun things about the Leatherman's course is that it has a little bit of everything. Eventually the path came out on the closed end of the park road, which offered a short bit of pavement before we headed back into the swamps. This stretch was even trickier than some of the earlier bits, because in many places the path is bounded by bushes and they were all bowed over with the weight of the snow, creating tunnels to run through. Nothing for it but to put my head down and just push on... eventually reached the roughly halfway point - the long, steep climb up the sandy wall of the old quarry. I made my way to the top and took a brief breather, looking forward to somewhat less tricky trails for a while.
The next bit runs through a section of forest sprinkled with lots of cool rock outcrops... and even more hills. Lots of water today too - sections of the trail were more stream than trail. The initial parts were mostly downhill or level, though after a nice stretch of evergreens the trail started climbing again - a fairly long, gradual uphill which took me back over the ridge and down to the stream again. At least I've done this course enough times now that I know there's almost a mile and a half to go at that point... the first few times I ran it I was always disappointed when my memory played false and the path across the field to the second stream crossing wasn't just around the corner.
More climbing, more woods, and another stretch of evergreens, this one in rough shape from a storm that hit there sometime in the past - last of trees down on either side of the trail. Finally I hit the last downhill and came out in the field. Of course, that meant I was almost to the tough stream crossing - the one some folks end up swimming in the spring! I stopped before entering the water to pack my camera in a ziploc bag and secure any gear that might float away, then carefully made my way out into the water. That stream crossing is tricky because the water runs pretty fast and there are a couple of spots where the bottom drops off. Today it wasn't as deep as I'd expected - maybe mid-thigh - but it was running fast enough that every time I lifted a foot the current tried to sweep me off my feet. Took my time crossing and even went back in a little ways so the fellow waiting on the bank (apparently the race time keeper) could take two pictures of me.
From there it was just a limping jog across the field to the remains of the old oak and the finish line. My knee didn't feel too bad, probably because of the dunking in the cold stream. I came in at a little over 1:55, right around where I expected given the state of my knee, and happily under 2 hours, even if only just.
After that it was just a matter of changing clothes - fortunately, just about everyone was gone, so I was able to completely change into dry clothes in the car. Unfortunately, I still haven't put all my gear back in the car, so my towel was sitting at home, but no big deal. Since I don't know when I'll be back to the Res, I decided to explore a bit and drove down the park road to the picnic area I passed through during the run. Clouds were rolling in which unfortunately meant there weren't many nice pictures to be taken, but I did manage to pick up a park brochure and trail map. Then I drove to another picnic area that I'd never been to before, all the while really wishing my knee was in better shape so I could either do some hiking or some more running... the Ward Pound Ridge Reservation is just a very cool place with a lot of trails I still haven't explored, and I definitely missed being able to do so today. But at least I made it to the run and got to spend some time out in the woods on an absolutely beautiful early December day.
JMH
2009 Event Totals
Run 279.1 mi, 69 hr 8 min
Bike 58.6 mi, 4 hr 29 min
Snowshoe 54.6 mi, 13 hr 05 min
XC Ski 3.3 mi, 1 hr 2 min
states visited: CT, MA, ME, NH, NY, PA, RI, VT
