A Big "Oh Crap" Moment...The First of Many?

The run started with a low grade hill, and Lynn and I ran for about 1 mile without conversation, huffing and puffing.  Then we rounded a bend and as we looked ahead, the grade went from 2 - 3% to maybe 7% (i left my protractor at home, so I couldn't get an accurate measurement.)

Oh Crap!

And there you have it.  We decided to walk up the hill, which just seemed to be going on forever.  The unspoken words between us were quite loud, "Whose great idea was it to run 113 miles in the mountains?"  As I tried to deflect blame, it somehow continued to find me.

The setting for this training run was at Crowders Mountain, in Gastonia, NC.  Top elevation, about 1800 feet, or approximately 1/6th of the elevation we will be running in the Rockies.  Of course, it wasn't the altitude that was the problem this Saturday, it was the realization the we cannot run uphill for extended periods of time without burning an incredible amount of energy, and bending over at the waist.  In the scheme of the big picture, this training run was perfect.  It provide an opportunity for us to realize we are human, and that we are not going to be able to run the entire distance, no matter how much we train for it.

There was a bright side to the run - coming downhill!  Whhhheeeeeeee!!!!  Just keep us away from the edges of any cliffs (should we encounter them).  Another bright side was the views at Crowders Mountain were great, and that will be magnified exponentially in Colorado.  And the final bright side of this run came on Sunday, when legs were not sore from going up, or downhill - a concern we had.

All-in-all, the "Oh crap" moment could have been a blessing in disguise.  Rather than having these revelations on the first day of the race, we had them now, and will be better prepared for the experience.

Now we have to figure out what to do should the moment arise during the run, when we might have the runs.  That would be a different kind of "Oh crap" moment!

KEIYH

33 Days to Go!