What an amazing and challenging run today.  It was certainly a lot more difficult than I was expecting, but it taught me that I have a lot to learn about trail running.

The first five miles of my run were very typical of other trail runs that I have done recently.  There was plenty of elevation change, but the hills were not so steep, and I was able to either run or power hike up them, quite quickly.  Equally, they were not so steep, that I couldn’t gain some speed, by running down them.  I emerged from this first section of the trail that I was running, onto a nice downhill road, where I could stretch out my legs and run quickly.  Once I rejoined the off road trail however, everything changed.

For the rest of my run, the terrain turned much more technical.  The hills became very steep and much more frequent.  Some climbs were quite short, but there were several significant climbs and also some harrowing descents.  The steepness at times was quite staggering (I later learned that many slopes had gradients in excess of 45%).  Going up the steepest grades was challenging, but descending them was much worse.  There were several, where I was hanging onto trees, in order to stop myself from falling or sliding down.

Now I know why many trail runners carry hiking poles.  Hiking poles would have made a significant difference to my run today.  I would have felt much more secure, coming down the steepest slopes, and I would have been able to climb a little more easily.

All in all though, I had a fantastic time.  I arrived at our pre-arranged meeting point, to find my wife, exiting the gas station with a bottle of Coke for me.  It was a beautiful thing… I earned that Coke and it tasted great.