-My Trail Running Wake Up Call-
My friend Ryan and I were both training for the Smith Rock Ascent 50k and needed a good trail run for training. I had been training at places like Lacamas Lake and on the road (elevation gain 285 ft). Not exactly good elevation training.
So, we met up at the Bonneville Trail head and jumped on the Tamanous trail-that runs into the PCT heading North and leads you right past the gorgeous Gillette Lake. Now....I wasn't really doing much for hill training at the time and I was running this with someone who is much faster and stronger and who HAD been training correctly. So, I was nervous and ill prepared. I knew this about 2 minutes in...he had me set the pace. We went maybe a quarter of a mile and then it extended into this uphill mountain. I had no idea. I had done so little hill training that when he had told me a head of time that the Elevation gain is close to 4000 ft...that meant nothing to me. It didn't even register on my radar as a thing. I knew a half a mile into the run that I was in trouble. I felt the anxiety of having a fellow runner with me who is much faster and stronger...and who was ultimately going to be held back by my excessive heavy breathing and sky rocketing heart rate. At mile 1.5 we stopped to shed layers, hydrate and honestly, to let me catch my breath. And I told him to "leave me .... just go get your workout done and Ill meet you back at the bottom." But, nope. He stayed ...throwing in a "it's an easy day for me anyway." EASY???? kjjdkfajds ! whaaa...pfft.
I had never been on a run like this. It was definitely a humbling experience. If you would've asked me BEFORE I ran that if I was in good shape...I would've told you yes. After, I got done with this run I realized how much work still needed to be done to be ready for my ultra.
"Trail Running" to me was, ya know, like on a trail..a well maintained, spider web free, smooth trail. A trail you could push a stroller on with no obstacles. Well, that's just silly. This trail was NONE of those things. There were down trees and landslides you had to climb over. A couple of creeks just flowing across said trail. Annnnnd it wasn't always super obvious (to me) which way to go. The best part was when we came up to a huge land slide that had trees, rocks and what looked like a moss mountain-we got to climb through that... Oh. Nope. The best part was probably when we hit snow. Not just a dusting. We were running through 6 inches of snow for at least a mile. Mind you, I was in shorts. There were weird moments where I realized I was leaving a trail of blood in the snow...looked down and my legs were tore up. <hmm cant imagine how that could have happened.>
I remember saying on the way up this small mountain that going down would be so much faster. I learned another thing that day. Just because you are running down hill, it doesn't mean that it's going to be a fast descent. This is a very technical trail. You go to fast, you are falling. Period. So, I had to be careful. However, I STILL ended up rolling each foot at least once. We go to about 1 mile from the car and I quite literally had NOTHING left. I was zapped. I had finished off my entire pack of water. I almost felt drunk...but maybe like I had skipped the fun part. The next day I was more sore than I had been in a really really long time. I asked Ryan that day if he was sore and of course, he said "Nope". I think about that day like a "runners culture shock". I had no idea running could be like that. 
I have since done many trail runs very similar to that one and usually I do them alone. I have come so far and evolved into what I would call a very earthy runner. Now, these are my favorite kinds of runs. That specific run is one of the most beautiful ones I have ever done. And honestly, now that I am in so much better shape I would like to do it again...so I can really enjoy it.
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