Part 2: How to Wreck Your Legs in 2 Days

Day Two: Trail Run at Percy Warner Park.

Last Thursday morning, the plan was to get up at the crack of dawn (around 5:30am) and head to a park here in Nashville that has some awesome trails. Vandy-Montana had been running some trails out there and I was eager to try them out, too. The one I really wanted to run was a total of about 12 miles. He was supposed to pick me up at 5:20am.

I got a phone call from him on Wednesday evening around 10:30 pm asking if I wanted to meet him and a friend at a bar in town. Since I was already in bed, I declined, (although, let's be honest... if you follow my twitter feed (or know me, personally) that has rarely stopped me in the past), but asked him how late he intended to be out... He said, not long.

I had my alarm set for 4:30am. At 3:58 am, my phone was ringing... Yup, it was Vandy-Montana. Apparently he had just gotten home. In my sleepy-headed state, I believed him when he said he was just going to take a quick hour nap and still pick me up at 5:20. I proceeded to toss and turn for the next 30 minutes until my alarm went off. (Thanks for the early wake up call!).

I got up, got dressed, prepared my hydration belt and awaited a text from Vandy-Montana letting me know he was on his way. By the time 5:20 rolled around, I texted him... and texted him... and called him... and texted him again... until about 5:45, when I finally gave up and headed out onto the streets solo for a 10 mile run.

So... yeah... apparently I am overly optimistic in evaluating whether or not someone who is drunk is going to be able to sleep for an hour and then get up and run 12 miles.

We rescheduled for Monday morning.

The plan was the same this time, except... I would be picking him up at 5:20am sharp. And since I didn't have my cell phone (long story, but I'll just say... I drunkenly misplaced my cell phone on Saturday around 3:00am. And while thankfully, I do have it back now... the chick who found it, called about half of the people in my contact list between the times of 3:00am and 3:30 am, including my parents, and EXCLUDING the one person in my contact list that I was actually with: Vandy-Montana. Ugh!), there would be no text telling him I was on my way.

I woke up, got dressed, got my shit together and headed down to my car. And lo and behold... my car battery was DEAD. Awesome. Just awesome. With no cell phone, I start sprinting down the street towards Vandy-Montana's place. It's like 5:19am and here I am running down the street with a water bottle, a gatorade bottle, a bag that has a change of shoes, towels, and my hydration belt and my purse. Finally, I get to Vandy-Montana's and luckily, he's not waiting on me. But, obviously, not a fantastic start to the morning.

It was still wet outside (we are currently going through monsoon season here in Nashville), but the rain was supposed to hold off for most of the morning.

It was still pretty dark outside when we got onto the trail and like saturday, there were puddles and mud galore. This trail was awesome and way more technical and difficult than Saturday's trail. Remember how I said I wanted to do a 12 mile trail? Yeah, well... after an hour and 40 minutes and only making it 7 miles, I was done. Or rather my legs were done. We had to stop after 7 miles. I felt like such a pansy. I mean, there are some parts of the trail that you just HAVE to walk... but, aside from those sections, I had to take many walk breaks up some of the hills and just overall gave a shitty effort. I hate being inferior to Vandy-Montana in all running ventures. UGH. He's got speed, leg strength, endurance... and what do I have? Blah. I was disappointed that we didn't get to do the full 12, for more reasons than I just wanted to be as hardcore as possible. But it probably worked out for the best anyway.

Even though my ego did take a hit, it was cool to be out there so early in the morning in the quiet and stillness. And it was fun and very challenging and I'll definitely go back this summer and try my damnedest to do the 12 and some of the other trails out there. I'm chalking my pansy effort up to the trail race on saturday and the long weekend of little sleep and lots of booze. (I always have excuses, right?)

So, there you have it. If you want to wreck your legs in 2 days... run a 9 mile trail race and then follow it up with a 7 mile super technical trail run... after you sit at a desk for a couple hours after that, you'll barely be able to get up and walk.