The plan was simple: go with a group of running friends from Trail Monster and do 15 1/2 miles on 90% trails from Brunswick to the YMCA in Freeport and back to obtain 31 miles on the last day of the year. The promise of some bush whacking, a stream crossing or two and the ongoing snow storm did not deter a group of 5 of us from hitting the trail head at 8 AM this morning with the hope of finishing the day in 6 hours. My last question asked of our small band of merry men before our first steps onto the snow covered trail, should I grab my snowshoes? An hour later and many high knees later and only 3 miles in it was clear the answer was: yes, yes you should.
My inner Bucky screamed at me as we trudge those first few steps, grab the snow shoes!, but no one else seemed to mind and I didn’t want to be the one guy. Well, after running on a snow shoe trail laid by one of the guy’s moms for a 1/2 mile or so there is no doubt in my mind that had a put on my pair and blazed the trails everyone would have been very grateful and we would have made better progress. We earned every step, as we bounded through the snow finding that in most locations no one else had been on the trails that morning and it was up to use to forge ahead.
The trails through the woods were absolutely beautiful. For the better part of my time the snow never stopped. It started out light and fluffy ranging from 8″-10″, if not deeper in some areas. As the day wore on the snow turned to wet and heavy and certainly made for some very challenging miles. The initial hope was that the snow would be thinner in the forests with thick tree cover, but I could tell very little difference between the fields and the dense forest. It all kind of sucked in its own special way, but I wouldn’t have traded the day for another.
We did keep track of how many times people fell, and I can happily report that I ended the day with zero falls and the other guys each had 2 or 3. One poor guy slipped down a stream crossing area, landed on his ass, and as he was reeling in that initial surge of pain the tree above decided at that very moment to dump its snow on top of his head. We all laughed in the it isn’t really funny, but it sucked so bad that your mind doesn’t know what else to do because you are all helpless to provide assistance, kind of way. He stood up like a champ and we continued on our way.
I want to say the worst sections of the day was the windy fields with the deep ass snow, but I think the road areas may win that prize. We had to connect a few of the trails by running on the road edge that had very little to no shoulder and plenty of trucks who decidedly refused to share the road with a group of morons and did their best to cover us in slush. My favorite was the guy who got closer and really splashed us head to toe. Lucky I was in need of some salt, it tasted great, thanks asshole.
The bonus of the roads was a break on the legs from snow hopping and high knees, but the few sections were short lived and it was never long before one of us was going through the waist deep road embankment to start another slog through snowy trails. It is hard to appreciate the serene beauty you are surrounded when your head is tipped down and you doing your best to either blaze a trail or step in the prints of the guy in front of you. When our heads weren’t down, or when we weren’t zigzagging to avoid the bent over snow covered branches, I don’t think any of us got out of the woods without getting dumped on at least once, we did get the pleasure of seeing many deer tracks, and an owl.
At around 11:30 we hit a impromptu aid station but on by two trail monsters who had decided that today was not the day to join in the fun. After a few chips and words of encouragement they would meet us again, along with 5 others at around one 3-4 miles away at the YMCA. The 5 others were planning on hitting the trail back with us, but we had all but decided at that point that we would not be going back the way we came. At this point I realized how wet and cold my feet really were getting, but I knew I could make the last section of the trail in my current state and would evaluate once we hit the Y.
Those final miles were very long and very slow. I would say we walked a large portion of them, and the snow had gotten heavy. My hamstring that I am still nursing from Millinocket also started to get a little twinge to it. That along with my feet getting colder, I knew my miles were numbered. We got excited at one point on this section as we ran into a large group of walkers coming the direction we were heading who had packed a little trail down and we actually got some speed under our feet, but alas it was short lived because they were on a different trail then what we needed.
After this point, I recall telling one of the guys that I am going to pretend I am walking not because I am tired, but simply because we don’t want to twist an ankle on these snow covered small 4×4 foot bridges. Soon after we we were able to get out of the trails for the last time hit a road run to the YMCA arriving just after 1 pm and 14 1/2 miles into the day. For those keeping track that was over 5 hours for not even half the distance which averages out at 22ish mins/mile. We had cut off a mile of the distance by skipping the last small trail section and heading to the Y directly on the road, after all we had 5 people waiting on us.
It was at this point that I decided I would take up the offer of one of the guys I started the day with for a car ride back to my truck. If I had smartly stored an extra pair of shoes and socks at the 1/2 point like one of the guys, then I may have considered continuing, but probably not. Two of the original five were already dropping and the other two had decided to take the new joiners out on the roads, but would not likely make the total miles we had original set out for, as everyone was in agreement that going back the way we came you would not make it back before dark.
I couldn’t find my head lamp in my packing last night and had no desire to trudge through the snow in the dark. That on top of my nagging hamstring and cold feet, I ultimately came to the conclusion that nothing was going to be gain by my continuing to add miles onto my day. Overall, I felt good and even with the enormous expenditure of effort to get those miles in I felt very positive. Had I continued, particularly with road miles, I would have likely ended my day limping much like I did just a few weeks ago.
I am glad I called it a day, and despite having to adjust my expectations of my original goal of the day, I wouldn’t call the day a failure. I had a wonderful experience in the woods for 5 1/2 hours, and was able to get home in time for family fun in the snow, and for me there was no better way to end the year.
Running with Love 