Tiger Mountain Adventure

There is no doubt that my body is working at a less than optimal level right now, but I'm faced with one of those injuries that makes me unsure if I should run or rest. I'm not one who feels the need to run through injuries. I prefer to rest and heal. Typically, I am healthy and therefore do not feel pressured to try and force things. Especially since my next goal race is about 5 months away.

With that being said, I had planned a 12 Summits (32-34 miles with 10,000+ feet of elevation gain) run with Eric, Steve and Jenny yesterday so I thought I'd give it a shot and bail somewhere along the way if I felt I was doing any further damage to myself. There were rumors of snow, and lots of it about 1/3rd of the way into the out and back. We were uncertain if we would make the entire planned trip right from the start and ready to improvise if necessary.

The initial climb of around 2,000 feet is a brutal one and I could feel the burn and exertion in my shin area right from the start. Part of the way up I could feel myself compensating and putting more pressure on my right leg, which was making the climb a bit more difficult. During the few runs I did this past week my shin did not seem to bother me too much as I was running and felt better after being warmed up. After about 30 minutes, the shin pain subsided enough that I was no longer putting a disproportionate amount of weight on my right leg. The shin discomfort was noticeable, but not debilitating.

We reached the first peak (T3) and there was no view in sight. It was foggy and windy the higher we went and there was more and more snow on the trail. The climbs to T2 and T1 are relatively quick and easy. Jenny was being careful with her ankle that was injured back in January, but trail conditions were pretty good thus far. After taking a respite in the Hikers Hut, and heading out onto the bootleg trail, we could tell that things were about to get more difficult.

Up to this point we were making pretty good time. The snow along this trail was not super deep, but it was icy and our feet were beginning to sink in more than before. The trail was slow going and the snow continued to deepen as we went. Before we knew it we were post holing in 1-2 feet of snow and paying close attention in order to stay on the trail. When we reached the Christmas tree we had a brief conversation about whether we wanted to continue on, or take an alternate route. We agreed we would head towards East Tiger and revise if we needed to.

The story from there was deep snow. As we got closer to East Tiger the depth of the snow was in the neighborhood of 2-3 feet. At one point, my right leg sank past my knee and when I put my left hand down it sank all the way so my head was resting on the snow. I laid there for a minute a bit nostalgic about my younger years and romping around in the snow. I love the snow and it was a humorous, but physically demanding task to trudge through it on this day.

When we hit the road to East Tiger we had a running joke that the road should be clear due to recent rainfall and a few days of warmer temperatures. Of course that was not the case. I think the snow was even deeper. I decided to lay down on the snow as we were heading up and then Jenny joined in on the fun. Eric caught it on video, but the pictures and video do not do the snow justice.

We reached East Tiger and then made our descent toward Middle Tiger searching for a break in the snow. We "ran" on the road for about a mile or two before reaching some exit options that would take us back towards T3 rather than continuing on to Middle and South Tiger. After much post holing and stumbling on the way down our feet were frozen. When we finally hit dirt it felt odd to run. My entire body was stiff and my legs hurt. At that point I was ready to wrap things up and head back to the car. Of course the car was about 7-8 miles away still.

I'm not sure of all the trails we took to get back, but the story on the way back was branches strewn across the trail. We spent a lot of time moving them off the trail, which meant things were slow going, still. There were a few sections of clear trail where we were able to run unobstructed, but they were few and far between. We got to see some new trails and enjoy 6+ hours in the forest with friends. We only covered about 15 miles, but we all agreed it felt closer to 30. My shin held up alright, but I'll probably take a rest day today just to make sure.

One revelation I had while out there was how much I miss the trails. I miss being able to run and feel like I am floating along the dirt with my feet barely touching down. I miss being alone in the woods where it is me against nature and where I have some alone time to talk to God and thank Him for all the beauty that surrounds me. I miss taking the time to be thankful for the trees, rivers, streams, rocks and trails that most of us take for granted while we live out our day to day existence within a concrete jungle not remembering what is truly important to us. For me it's God, family, friends, health and the ability to explore and be one with nature.

He is risen! Happy Easter!