near Baines Creek Trailhead
southeast view from bridge
I spent most of the past week in Austin. Me…alone in the condo…no appointments…no obligations… “Aaahhhh,” I sigh, remembering. My time was my own. I was in the city where I got my trail running start. Lots of local trails nearby, friends I could call on. You’d think I’d have no problems getting my training runs in, right? Yeah. You’d think.
You can see from my end of week summary that training runs weren’t happening. In spite of the disappointment I feel with myself over my persistent lack of self-discipline, I did enjoy the multi-days of solitude. I was very grateful to be in town to see it receive some much needed rain on Thursday. That cooled the temperatures all across my area(s) of the state.
Dad and I celebrated our birthdays on Saturday–his 91 and my 61. My youngest brother and his wife hosted a family gathering and steak dinner for us. All four of Dad’s kids were there as well as a grandson, grand-daughter-n-law, and two great-grand-daughters. A good day! And I don’t think any one took a single picture–including me! Criminal. 😉
The last training run of the week called for 5 miles. I hoped to improve my chances of completing it by choosing a different location and time of day to get it done. I’m calling the plan successful, in that I did get out on the trail at 6:30 PM as planned. The plan just ended up with a fairly significant alteration in that 5 miles ended at 2.
My location of choice was a nearby Ft. Parker State Park. The park includes a small trail system as well as the 750-acre Ft. Parker Lake. The longest trail in the park is the Limestone Bluffs paddling trail at 5.4 miles it crosses the lake and proceeds up the Navasota River. The second longest trail, that is actually compatible with my trail running shoes and doesn’t require the addition of a flotation device (although my “max cushion” soles would probably classify as a flotation device), is the Baines Creek Trail extending 2.5 miles from the Ft. Parker Dam along the south shore of the lake. Out and back on that trail would easily get me the 5 miles I needed with the added bonus of it being an actual trail–a change from my usual asphalt or treadmill route options.
I feel I need to incorporate heat training and at least some heat acclimation into my training. That’s why I opted for a late evening run. Well, that, and the whole “not a morning person” thing. It was only 90F–anything under 100 is doable for me in under 6-7 mile increments. I know this additional intensity in the training will help me manage the upcoming half-marathon around Lake Somerville. While I know the course isn’t technical and is relatively flat (hell yeah!) and the temp should be in the 70s at start and no higher than 80s or 90s at finish, I do expect it to be largely in full sun. (GJ said she’s been told it’s a mostly shaded course. I hope her intel is better than mine!)
Ft. Parker State Park, 6:33 PM, 90F.
Trail, evening, heat. Check, check, CHECK!
Well…it started going awry almost immediately. I didn’t know where the trailhead was. I thought I did, but obviously not. After hiking back out to Hwy 14 on the park road from the park headquarters (closed at 4:00) without finding it, I finally resorted to downloading the park map. It was then I discovered a second park “entrance” on the other side of the Navasota River. Pause the Garmin, get in the car, drive to the real trailhead, restart the Garmin activity and viola! — cross-country/cross-map leap/line across the Springfield Lake, the bottom of Ft. Parker Lake, and the dam–I’m back on track.
I was very pleased with the terrain. More challenging than I expected, with exposed rocks as well as roots. I was having to work a little harder at pacing. Too, the trail was recently mowed/landscaped, so nice wide path and clear field of view along it. And yet…
It was almost 7:00 in the evening with sunset at 7:28 PM. My headlamp was in the pocket of my hydration pack as I’d known I’d be running in the dark or very low light before I finished. Nothing new for me. Except, I hadn’t thought to wear my contacts, nor did I want to run in my glasses–even if I’d thought to bring them with me. ;-p I usually can’t leave sunglasses on my face even in direct sun because I get too hot. Needless to say, my eyesight in the low light was not the best. I could see trip hazards and such under my feet just fine, but whether or not that “shadow” 15 yards ahead on the trail was plant, animal, or DANGER…not so much. The tree canopy wasn’t especially heavy and I definitely didn’t was to be in the direct sun. However, this was my first time on this particular trail (obviously, what with the whole Dora the Explorer interlude at the start). It was clear it wasn’t heavily used, despite being neatly maintained. I just didn’t feel comfortable and turned around at about .6 mi out on the 2.5 mi trail.
After I got back to the trailhead, I finished out 2 miles by running back and forth on the bridge over the Navasota River (pictures above). At the end of the 2 miles, the newly modified plan was to drive back home, open up the 3 mile Walk at Home video on YouTube, and finish out my 5 miles like that. <sigh>
“The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” Robert Burns
That’s especially applicable to yours truly. 2 miles for the week it is!
