Equilibrum, Great things only last so long

Interesting run today. Would describe it as the single most exciting solo run of my life that quickly turned into a "death march".

Headed out to the Regan Airport park area and decided to hit up the trail in the opposite direction. Trail was decent, lots of bikers, but then it got interesting when I noticed a little side trail. Naturally, I followed it. At first, it was just a calm and scenic single-track trail. It runs right along the Potomac River. Had the opportunity to test out the trailing capabilities of the Omni-6's as the trail started to develop into a rock path. Only but a brief time later I found myself walking. Why? Because I was climbing over rocks, small boulders, and crossing streams created by water falls. Pretty amazing scenery.

This trail was, by far, the most technically challenging course I have ran on. On more than one occasion one slip of the foot or stumble would have sent me 40 feet over a small cliff onto jagged rocks. Also, more than once I was actually scaling rocks, grabbing roots and all, up very steep inclines that left very little room for error.

There were three larger water falls that had to be crossed. I have decided to name, Baby Bear, Momma Bear, and Poppa Bear. The last of the waterfalls, Poppa Bear, required patience and the sure 'footed-ness' of a Mountain Goat. I literally scaled, hiked/walked up a 1000 foot cliff. The last two miles near Poppa Bear took 30 minutes to cover just over 2 miles. This part was defiantly the highlight of the run.

On the way back, one bad thing happened after another. First off, the left Achilles was extra tender considering its use was maximized in order to get over those rocks. The left knee, felt like exploding from within nearly every time I had to descend rocks, which was quite a bit. Lastly, I would guess it was around mile 8 that I was struck with nausea. I would later find out that this nausea would plaque the rest of the run.

I had run just past Poppa Bear when I came upon Chain Bridge. My predetermined turn around point. The way back was just as exciting. Besides the small list of ailments I was having the best solo run of my life. Just at Momma Bear I decided to stop and try the water. I used my handkerchief to filter whatever bad things it could possibly filter and filled the cap of my bottle. It was nice and cool. Not knowing if the water was good for drinking or not could have been a mistake. What can I say, I just had to. How often does that opportunity come up. For a little bit, I felt like a real Mountain Man.

Leaving the Potomac Trail things started to get ugly. After finding out how far I had gone of the Potomac Trail I calculated that I would have to hit up the Regan Airport Park to get in all 25mi. It was ok. Mentally, it was boring, but physically it things were getting worse. By now, I would do a running dry-heave every 10 min. or so while still dealing with the nausea.

By time I had hit the turn around it was very close to dark, and on the way back I noticed a biker in a slight dilemma. It was an attractive young lady, which subconsciously might have been the main reason for me turning around (I know, it's shallow, but I have stopped for ugly old men too, so I would like to think that I would have helped anyone given the situation). Her chain had fallen off and she was fiddling with it in the dark. Just after I had start to help her another biker, with a light, also stopped and helped. His light turned out to provide a large contribution considering I had no idea what I was doing. I just thumbed around with it until it went back on. Turns out, the young lady was French, or at least, sounded French. She had a sweet accent. With the chain back on, I was back on the path. This little distraction had taken my mind off the nausea, that is, until I started running again.

Just at 3:23 on the watch, I finally gave into the nausea and started a walk, jog, dry-heave cycle. Not fun. Started to think about other options to get home. It was pretty ugly, but I thought of taking it one step at a time and to not wuss out. I found a water fountain at one point and drank a bit. It helped for a minute when I wretched it back up. Several times I had to stop and decorate a tree or part of the sidewalk with my stomach fluid designs.

It took around 4:10 to complete the 25mi, which is a lot slower than I had planned. Although, I did stop my watch every time my stomach wanted to jump out. Even now, as I type, the stomach is mad, but I'm not sure why. I don't think it was the potential hazard waterfall water considering I was nauseous prior to that point.

In the end, I made it home alive!
The run started an a B, peaked at and A++, and ended with a D-.
It must have been a combination of things that all added up. Another night of 4 hour sleep, stress with school, Boogie Fever, an exploding knee, and Kermit the Frog.

I hope this post isn't too depressing. Let's end it on a positive note. The Potomac Trail was a freakin' sweet place to run. I will definitely go back and fine-tune those rock running skills.

Here is a link that has pictures of the trail. It looks just like that, only prettier.
http://www.runningandrambling.com/2008/07/potomac-heritage-trail-chasing.html

Peace, Tranquility, and Buenos Noches.