For some reason I thought that most shorelines were smooth, flat and sandy. Not exactly the venue for a series of challenging runs. How about a place called Mount Desert (pronounced like the ice cream sundae) Island. The place sounds like a pushover.
Acadia National Park was the destination of my running camp, and home base for the family vacation. It is a 7 hour drive, before bathroom breaks, filling up the tank, and walking Izzy. Rather than a sandy beach, we arrived to find a mountainous, rocky running paradise.
We arrived last Saturday and met two of my brothers, their families, and my mother, and set up our campsite. We had 13 of us in all, plus Izzy the running dog. We pitched our tents and set up a large tarp to provide additional shelter against the rain that was forecasted for the week.
As you all know, this trip was at the tail end of the Apple Hill versus South Side Monthly Mileage challenge. Although we entered the home stretch with a large lead over the South Side Scrappers, J-Dog and I realized that we had solo travel days on Sat and Sunday, so we would have to stay in constant contact to monitor the Scrappers. We even thought that the contest might come down to the final days.
I also noted soon after leaving, that my email system was on the blink, with my network mailbox full and my Blackberry unable to clear it out. I called my office and provided my secretary with my password, so she could clear it out. And presto! Nothing happened. It was still all locked up. Upon arrival I found that the local service did not allow me to access my internet Running2win site either. I sent emails through my wife’s Blackberry, and eventually they went through. I thought of the obvious options of Morris code, and snail mail, but also remembered that KLAW was not to be around till Monday anyway, so I figured it would all work out. I also knew that this would undoubtedly result in a huge SS AH lawsuit.
After a very restless and wet sleep, yes it rained, I made a poorly navigated attempt to meet up with the local running club The Crows. They were going to meet at a place called the Brown Mountain Gate House. I knew it was around 5 or 6 miles from our Black Woods campsite. However, I still really had no idea about the layout of the place, except that I thought Peggy said something about making a right. So I headed out and made a right. After about 2 miles I thought about it and decided that this was not right, and turned around. I noticed the markings on the road of the MDI Marathon, and started running and following the course. After running along a nice back road, and musty, mossy hills, I passed a mansion estate called "Ravens Cleft", and was treated to a cliff side view of breaking waves far below on encrusted rocks. I was really beat up for this run and was not running well at all, with my pace fading and all of my body aching. But I passed rocky harbor after rocky harbor, and was just drinking in my new surroundings. I ran out to about mile 11 of the MDI course and then as time was fading, gave up hopes of finding the Crows. So I headed back with a few side trips into park roads. I could not find my GPS that morning but it was a run of nearly 3 hours.
It rained all Sunday, and my Achilles was acting up a bit, but Monday hit and I headed out a different direction and ran along the high cliffs of the park loop road. I did an easy 8-9 miler with the highlight being a beach that contained massive amounts of very rounded and colorful granite stones. Later in the week it was a destination for a family hike.
Tuesday rolled around and I had thoughts of KLAW and Sourdough and J-Dog, out for the morning run, with a possible double two-fur at the Glastonbury Fun Run. So I knew I had to cover at least 11. I found yet another route and happened upon "Ocean Path", a stone dust and rock trail that winds along the coast, and goes past landmarks such as Sand Beach, Thunder Hole, and Great Head. Interesting names… This place is so rocky that when they get a beach that has sand, it all of the sudden becomes notable. I saw the sign for "Thunder Hole" and was instantly reminded of the importance of taking the lead when running with Team Supreme. Actually, this is a place where waves crash into a cave resulting in a "boom". And finally "Great Head" what would one expect to find when running there? I ran there in my lightweight trainers, through an intensely rocky and muddy trail, out to a 600’? high outcropping. Running back I started to feel better and better and really hammered it on the Ocean Path, scattering groups of tourists as I flew through the paths, and past the lobsterman hauling pots, below.
My final major run of the week was a combination hill climb and trail run on Cadillac Mountain. The high point on Mount Desert Island is Cadillac Mountain. Peggy and I woke up early on a foggy Thursday morning nd drove to the base of the access road. Peg rode her mountain bike and I ran up the nearly 4 mile hill to the top. Rather than the fantastic views of the prior day, the mountain was socked in with light rain and fog. Once at the top, peg dropped her bike off and ran the last ¼ mile with me to the summit. She then turned around and biked around town for a few hours, and I set off solo along the South Ridge trail, heading to Eagles Crag and eventually Black Woods. The mist of the clouds made my glasses useless. I ran along the flat rock trail, jumping to avoid cliffs, and over boulders. As I dropped elevation, the visibility improved and I started to get in a groove and pick up speed and confidence.
All was well until I tried to stop on a large, 45 degree sloped rock. My feet kept going and I slid down on my backside, narrowly avoiding a helicopter rescue. Nothing damaged besides a little scrape and a bruised ego. The trail was in parts very runnable with an extremely challenging section of trail at the treeline. The topsoil and vegetation is only around a foot thick, and is worn down on the trail to the underlying bed rock. However, at some point, all of the roots remain, creating a web of slippery muddy tangle foot. I hit this section around 7:00AM and surprised a couple of hikers as I splashed by them with my week old beard, muddy legs, and intensely focused demeanor. I also had one bad step on a bolder where I strained my Achilles. Weird this was, as it did not hurt until 9 hours later at the campsite. I found I could hardly walk. However with the aide of Arcic cream and ice, I was able to walk without issue the next day and run on Saturday.
The last night in camp we had a torrential down pour that created streams through our campsite and was scary enough that I found the car keys, had the leash on the dog, and was nearly ready to dash to the car.
Overall it was a fine, albeit wet, week of family fun and running.
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