Posts Tagged: Sharp Top
Back to the top.
After nearly 10 years of running, I’m finally figuring out what really gets me turned around when things aren’t going so well.
It isn’t motivational quotes; it isn’t conversations with friends; it isn’t looking at what friends are doing to try and drum up some friendly competition. The things I see every day does not work for me.
What turns this ship around is actually getting out and forcing myself into a situation that is not exactly comfortable. It’s all about doing something I know can be done, but will take quite a bit an effort to get there.
For me, it’s always a trip to the mountains that makes me feel human again. Specifically, it’s the climb up Sharp Top Mountain in Bedford that humbles me, and motivates me.
Today I headed up there with my friend Josh. As we started up, I knew how very real things were for me with hitting a low with running recently. I wish I hadn’t waited so long to tackle this mountain.
On the trek up, there were times I really just wanted to stop. Let me catch my breath for 5 minutes.
Instead we kept going, really only stopping once for about a minute, and made it to the top.
I can’t really explain what the feeling is like when you get to the top of a mountain. No matter where I’ve been or how bad or good things are, there’s always this renewed sense of hope that I get when I’ve reach the summit.
Now it’s up to me to capitalize on this feeling …
Back on top of the world
One of my favorite places of all time is the summit of Sharp Top mountain in Bedford. To get there, it’s a 1.5-mile hike with about 1,300 feet of elevation gain.
Needless to say, it’s not easy, but it is a lot of fun getting there. It’s a continuous climb over mixed trails — gravel, dirt, boulders, tree roots, rock steps, and a very small amount of pavement. Once you get there, though, the view is just breathtaking …
Yesterday, I headed there with my dog, Duke. It was the first time I’ve been there since May 2010 when I went there with a group for a long run/hike.
Duke took to the trail like a pro. It’s amazing to me the instincts that animals have in an environment they’re not used to. While we’ve been on trails before, we had never been on anything like this.
Whenever we came to a point where we needed to go up rocks, he spotted an easier route. Duke, who has never even jumped in the back of my Ford Escape, had no problems jumping up or down over rocks.
As for me, it felt good to have this extra time on my feet without it being a run. After Saturday’s race I felt pretty good, and this just felt like extra bonus time in a higher elevation to help prepare me for Blue Ridge.
More importantly, though, I was just happy to be back on top of a mountain. I certainly hope that another two years don’t pass before I get back.
The trails are calling me
It’s so easy to get carried away with thoughts after a race or a different experience. After Saturday’s Trail Nut race, my thoughts are all over the place.
About a year ago, I posted this video to Facebook and recently posted it to YouTube from a run on Sharp Top mountain in Bedford County:
I’ve watched this video a few times today because I love my voice so much I need to be reminded of how much I was in love with the trails and mountain running just a year ago. The only problem is I only did a handful of runs like that. (If you happen to be a longtime reader, yes, I did blog about that run last year HERE.)
As I look back at my running over the years, even before this blog, I think it’s no coincidence that my injuries have come after many months of just running on roads. After Saturday, I realized that the mix of the two may be very beneficial to me.
Prior to the start of this blog 4 years ago, I ran trails quite a bit, hitting them at least once a week. I had ZERO injuries until I trained for a 10 miler in mid-2006 after I drifted away from trails. While it wasn’t all that much, the first half of last year I had a trail run at least once a month – my injury in the fall came after 4 months completely on roads.
The learning experiences from this past weekend aren’t limited to my post from Sunday. I realized while running Saturday how different my form was on the trails because it HAD to be. As I continue to work on stopping so much heel striking, I noticed how it was nearly impossible to heel strike even if I tried.
I even analyzed this inset photo from the race, blew up the area of my feet and noticed that the next step I was going to take was not going to be a heel strike.
The great thing about this photo is that it was a fairly flat portion of the race – whatever I’m doing to make these changes in my cadence is working.
The desire to run on trails more is also important to the “having fun” aspect of running. In my video above, I had a blast on that run up Sharp Top mountain. In Saturday’s race, I had the most fun I’ve had in years. I still think about how much fun a mountain adventure was back in January 2010.
At this stage of my running and what I feel like is a continued comeback, I have to keep mixing it up. It’s important, I think, to change things, to challenge myself and to keep having fun. If I’m going to have a stronger half of 2011 than the first half – which was my main 2011 goal – all of these things have to happen.
On top of the world
Growing up, I had the chance to hike nearby Sharp Top mountain in Bedford County several times. However, I never tackled the trail with a purpose other than seeing the view. That all changed today as I went with a group to hike/run the mountain and then nearby Harkening Hill, which is just another smaller mountain.
Here’s a clip from my new Flip cam that I got this week. I need to work on saving the file size bigger, but because I’m hooked up wirelessly to DSL, I can’t save it too much bigger than it this.
(Did you notice that when I say I hope I’m not cutting off my head that I then proceed to cut off my head.)
This was a pretty awesome 8-mile adventure done in about an hour and 45 minutes. If I can ever get used to coming downhill on trails, this experience will be even more rewarding. That being said, conquering mountains is one of the greatest experiences I’ve had with running. It truly feels like I’m on top of the world when I reach a peak.
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