Four Headwaters Runners

Headwaters trail rarely sees runners.  There are steep switchbacks, tons of mud, and lots of climbing via stairs that are just the right length that they don’t match my stride and I have to walk them.  So when a group of four runners take off down the trail, people notice.  I can’t say that I felt energetic at all when we left for the run.  Before this run, I had already covered 40 miles this week, more than I have in a single week since the Little Su training in December and January.  It wasn’t an over-training fatigue with leaden legs and accelerated heart rate.  It was just the fatigue of a heavier week.

  

When I have this type of fatigue, I go one of two ways: decide that I’m going to go easy and make it fun or push hard to get it over with.  Sometimes it is hard to tell which route I take while I’m out there.  We jumped across puddles and made it to the biggest climb, some 1,400 ft. in about a mile.  My heart was beating crazy hard as it usually does and I lead the boys skyward.  Just as I slowed to walk a bit, I heard a voice behind me.  “I think this is the best I’ve seen you take this hill.  Seriously,” Alex mentioned.  Somehow it felt like he was reading my mind.  Until he said something, I thought I was just having a crappy day.  

One step forward, two sliding steps back is how we finally reached the ridge and less incline.  I caught my breath momentarily while I jogged slowly.  Sunshine flooded through the trees.  There is only one other run that it has been this bright.  When we left the parking lot, Alex, Danny, and I all laughed at Matt’s sunglasses.  We thought he’d spend the entire run wearing them in his pocket rather than on his face.   It looks like the joke was on us.  As the sun fell lower in the sky and filtered through the forest horizontally, it lit us like a spotlight.  

 

When we reached the old growth forest, moss crusted Redwoods greeted us.  I’ve been in this grove many times and when I hit one specific place that opens nearly 100 Redwoods in view at once, I tear up a little.  My heart flutters.  I love these Redwoods.  They always look different; no two days are the same.   After a few moments’ pause, my pulse settles.  The frantic gasps for breath are gone.  I reach a state of peace, only footfalls and the sound of my calm breathing punch through the quiet.  Even though there are four of us running today, we are all silent, taking in the majesty.  After a loop through the old grove, we head back down, through the muddy stairs leading to the river.  Running never feels as natural as it does on the swift descent to the river.  I enjoy the switch backs.  I enjoy sliding to a stop in my muddy shoes.  I have no brakes when it is muddy.  One day I’ll fly over the edge to the bushes below, but for now, I stop just short of disaster at each turn.  I love feeling on the edge of control.  My body feels wild; I love it.   

 

As any of my running buddies will tell you, I am chattier on the homeward portion than I am headed up the ridge.  It was the first time Matt and I vocalized our plan.  We’ve decided that 2013 will be the year we explore the French Alps.  It would be awesome to run 10-20 mi a day for a week, stopping at a little village each night for a shower and hot dinner.  Anyone with experience or knows where I could get info on this, please let me know.  Making dreams a reality begins with a single step: admitting it to yourself that it is possible (oh, and planning enough in advance that saving money for it is a reality).

12 miles, 2:03.17, 10:16/mi.

That makes it our second fastest running of Headwaters, and definitely the fastest muddy one.  Our PR is 1:56 and it was the only day that the trail was bone dry.

I haven’t done a run in my trail shoes since the Little Su.  Running in snow returned them to their new color and condition.  I was almost embarrassed to go running in them, they were THAT clean.  Well, no worries, I was sure to put an end to that!