30-30 Training Weekend - Part 2

My plan was to tackle the western section of the Va. Creeper starting at 8 AM Sunday morning. However, I woke up at 5:30, by 6:45 daylight was pushing over the horizon, so I headed for Damascus. 

A little after 7 AM, I double tapped the lock on my car's remote, put it in my CamelBak, and pushed off toward Abington. Oh, my legs felt heavy. 

Luckily, the miles between Damascus and Alvarado were kind to me. Soon the fatigue seem to fade. I enjoyed looking at the river that runs next to the trail. There was the occasional cyclist or walker but otherwise, the trail was quiet. 

I passed through the first set of gates. I guess that the cows are use to seeing people pass through. They looked at me but otherwise ignored me. 

Passing by the Alvarado depot, I knew that I had the first section of the run done but now came the climb in to Abington. 

There is like 10 to 15 bridges in this section. On some I would peek over the side to see if I could see the bottom. Some of these bridges are quite high. I wondered about those who built them. That must have been some really hard work. 

Passing over the Watauga trestle, I knew that I had about the three and half miles to the end of the trial. Traffic on the trail started to pick up. I no longer had things to myself. I made sure to stay to the right.  

Most of the climbs in this section are not readily apparent. The straightaways are so short that my eyes didn't perceive that I was climbing. Then, there a couple of longer straightaways. Now, on these, it is a bit more obvious and depressing. 

 Passing my the mile 1 post feels really good. I cross the final bridge to reach the very end of the trail. I touch the red phone booth, look around at Abington, and start my journey back to Damascus. 

The course is downhill now but my legs are so tired that I don't really feel the benefits of it. I go by Watauga and then Alvarado. The trail really starts to flatten out now or so it seems. My legs seem to feel stronger now which left me wondering if it was because the course was flatter or because my brain was rationalizing that it only had 7ish miles to run. 

The course is also more exposed in this section. The sun was warming the world up and especially me. I was soaking up the last of the water in my CamelBak when the Red Caboose came in to sight. 

When I pulled up next my car, my Garmin had just over 31 miles in just over 5 hours. 

I was pretty happy given I had run 37 on the previous day. 

I rather enjoyed the weekend in Abington and the Va. Creeper Trail. I may wonder back up there for a few more weekends after my 100 miler. 

Cool Down Runner Adventures