Today was a running day. I couldn't run my usual trails because there was a Brad Paisley concert there. (College town. Go figure.) So I went to the botanical garden and decided to try my nemesis, the white trail, again.
I tried the white trail last month. And almost got lost and died. It was excruciating.
I'm in better running shape now, so I figured this would be easy-peasy.
The first two minutes of my run I felt great. I looked at my watch at 6:40 in and thought this was going to be bad. I was breathing hard and ready to use my asthma as an excuse.
The trail is all hills. My iPhone said the run was the equivalent of 40 flights of stairs. 40. It was a hard trail with lots of roots and rocks. There was even a piece of red mud trail grooved into the ground. It was very narrow and steep. They should rename it break-your-ankle trail. It was hills and more hills and more hills. And seemingly all uphill. No downhills. (Should I run it in reverse next time?)
And I had to walk. Ultimate fail. I had to walk a few steps here and there. I was dying. My calves were on fire. I frequently felt like I was going to barf. I haven't had a run this bad in a while. I did, however, show a group of high school runners how to power up a steep incline of stairs. #beastmode. They were staring at it like it was going to bite them. I didn't want to lose momentum so I just ran up it. They seemed to be just staring and not wanting to go.
The white trail is 3.22 miles and the botanical garden's hardest trail. I finished it in 24 minutes.
However, I finished where I started and not where the trail ended. My iPhone also said it was just over 2.5 miles at that point. So I don't know what I did there, but I didn't get officially lost. I didn't double back on purpose, but I must have gotten on another trail and then gone back to the white trail. So I finished the last part of my run with the orange trail, which was flat to down hill and I liked it so much more than miserable trail. I felt good on that trail. I guess the white trail is something to work up to. You're seriously tough if you can run this trail without walking. Forget spartan races—just try this trail.
I am so dead right now. Everything hurts. My calves, my abs. My wrist hurts from gymnastics yesterday. It's 9 p.m. and I want to go to bed already. I haven't been so dead after a workout in a long time. Will I be able to walk tomorrow? Will I ever beat this trail? We'll see.
Other running notes:
Where do all of my headphones go? I keep losing my headphones. I had to use some crappy iPod headphones from 8 or so years ago when I couldn't find my good ones today. I did later find my new iPhone headphones in the pants I ran in on Monday (before I put them in the wash). But there's still another pair of headphones out there somewhere.
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