the doughton project

My family took a mountain vacation up near Doughton Park. I wanted to try and get in a long trail run, but was still recovering from posterior tibial tendinopathy from a run a couple weeks prior. I wasn't sure if I'd be up for the entire Doughton Project, but wanted to at least give it a try!

With the parkway closure, I had about a two mile warm-up jog from our airbnb to the Brinegar Cabin where I opted to start just before 6 am on Friday. The morning started off in the low 50's with the forecast calling for sunny and warming temps. I carried a 13 minute pace sheet:

0:00:00—00.0—Brinegar Cabin
0:57:12—04.4—Grassy Gap Rd.
1:57:00—09.0—Caudill Cabin
2:36:00—12.0—Bluff Ridge start
3:12:24—14.8—Bluff Mtn summit
3:39:42—16.9—Grassy Gap Rd.
4:57:42—22.9—Flat Rock Ridge
5:56:12—27.4—Basin Coves overlook
6:36:30—30.5—Bluff Mtn summit
7:02:30—32.5—Fodder Stack overlook
7:54:30—36.5—Brinegar Cabin

Even running conservatively I banked about 10 minutes down Cedar Ridge. I enjoyed watching the sunrise from the ridge and rejoiced in the fact that I didn't yet feel my injury. It kind of felt like I was running on eggshells because I knew that could change around any bend.

Several years had passed since I'd been on any of these trails. Some were entirely new to me, including Basin Creek. I filtered and hydrated all the way up and back from Caudill Cabin. I was blown away by the beauty of this cove and hope to soon return and bring the family!

At the bottom of Bluff Ridge I was still about 10 minutes ahead of pace. I filled both bottles and began the power hike up to the summit of Bluff. I took this opportunity to remove my shirt and wrap it around my homemade "utility belt" and began stuffing my face with calories.

As expected I'd lost a bunch of time on Bluff Ridge and was about 20 minutes behind at the summit. But I was feeling pretty good and hoped to start reclaiming lost ground along a scenic stretch of MST past the summit toward Grassy Gap, which is exactly what happened.

I knew I was traveling about as light as I could for an unsupported mountain run of such length, which would later come back to bite me. For the time being I enjoyed this lightness while releasing the brakes all the way down the fire road. I was back ahead.

With minutes to spare I refilled both bottles and soaked in Basin Creek to cool down my body temperature before the Flat Rock Ridge rollercoaster. A gel here seemed to stave off the threat of bonk, but a quick inventory had me worried: I was running low on calories.

By the time I reached the parkway I was 20 minutes behind pace and entering into full-on bonk mode. With about nine miles to go it was time to move the goal posts: no longer was I shooting for sub-8. I was just hoping to still get under the FKT of 8:17:xx!

 

Around here I got zapped in both calves by some angry yellow jackets. I actually relished the spontaneous boost it gave me. Unfortunately that effect was short-lived and all too soon I was back to struggling forward with low energy.

Given the glorious sunshine and breeze, it surprised me that I hardly saw anyone else along Bluff Mtn. But I'm thankful because I was surely a sad sight running in slow motion, stopping periodically to lie down on the trail only to get back up and try again.

This cycle kept up over the next 1.5+ hours punctuated by fantasies of finding a half-eaten sandwich at a picnic table, or fuzzy mental math sizing up my chances of being able to sneak in under 8:17. As long as it still seemed possible, I kept trying.

Fodderstack almost did me in, but somehow I kept up just enough forward momentum followed by a somewhat desperate "sprint" to finish with less than a minute to spare. I'm still processing this experience at the razor's edge with much yet to learn...