Winter Adventures: A Summary. Part One.

I've always been somewhat outdoorsy (up to a point; I like camping but I kind of don't), and since I moved I feel like I'm becoming even more so.  I thought I'd share with you some of the adventures I've had this past winter while running and hiking. 

JANUARY

Actually, let's back up a few days, to late December.  Chris was home for the holidays, and I took him and Nick to Dragon's Tooth.  Matt opted to stay home, and he missed out on a great view.  (Not surprisingly, this location is an Earthcache. That's Chris on the far left in the top photo; Nick is the one admiring the scenery in the bottom one.)

On my to-do list for 2022 is to hike to the other two sites in Virginia's Triple Crown, McAfee Knob and Tinker Cliffs.

After that we spent a few wonderful days in North Carolina with Ray's family.  On New Year's Eve, we dropped Chris off at the Charlotte airport and took a detour to find North Carolina's oldest geocache, Octopus Garden.

JANUARY (for real)

For the second year in a row, Denny Krahe challenged his Facebook group to run as many 5Ks as we could on January 1.  He called it the "Diz Runs New Years' Fat A$$ Challenge." The most important  rule was that you could only run one 5K per hour. (So running a 10K at 1:00 am only counts as one 5K).  I got up before dawn and ran two 5Ks in my neighborhood in two hours, and then headed to a 4-mile group hike to Chestnut Creek Falls on the New River Trail.  Later I stopped to check out Foster Falls on the New River, and ran my final 5K of the day along another part of the New River Trail.  

We got a quite a bit of snow and cold temperatures in January.  YakTraks and hand warmers are my best friends when I'm out in those conditions!

Wytheville puts on a great half marathon every January, the Sandman Extreme Half, and I ran it. Basically up a mountain and back down.  And it was cold.  There was a snowstorm in the forecast for the following day.  It was a tiny race and I finished second-to-last. In fact, it was my slowest half marathon. But, I was second in my age group. Go figure.  All that said, it was a very well run and beautiful race, and I would definitely do it again!

And to wrap up the month, the boys and I managed to get to Winterplace for a fun day of skiing.

January Stats

Total miles (running, walking, and hiking):  142

Elevation:  11,494 feet

Geocaches found:  14

FEBRUARY

I was signed up to run the Pilot Mountain 20K in North Carolina at the end of the month, and I wanted to familiarize myself with the trails before the event.  I met up with a friend I had met on my January hike on the New River Trail, and together we explored some of the trails and took in the views.

I'd driven past this iconic mountain many times during my childhood and into my twenties, on my way to Winston-Salem to visit relatives.  My parents used to tell me (or maybe I just imagined) that it was so named because of its resemblance to a pilot's head sticking out of a cockpit.  I've since learned that the Saura people that once lived in the area named it Jomeokee, which means Great Guide or Pilot.  I've also learned that it's a state park, and a popular place for hiking, trail running, and rock climbing.

(View of Pilot Mountain and "Big Pinnacle" from the Visitors' Center parking lot.)

You can take a trail around the Big Pinnacle.  There is no rock climbing allowed here, but there is a smaller pinnacle nearby which is a popular rock climbing spot. Big Pinnacle is also the location of both a virtual geocache and an Earthcache.

Meanwhile, my training for the Virginia Creeper Marathon in March was ramping up, I did some more hiking, and took a daylong excursion to find geocaches in some new counties.  

One great thing about living in this area is that I'm never very far from the Appalachian Trail.

(This is the view from Rice Fields Shelter on the AT, on a very blustery day.)

I had great weather for the Pilot Mountain 20K.  There is a trail marathon going on at the same time, and those runners started first.  The 20K was basically a run to the top of the mountain, a run around the Big Pinnacle, and back down to the start/finish.  The views were as spectacular as ever.  I got to say hello to quite a number of rock climbers.  There were lots of friendly volunteers, and PB&J at the aid stations (I can never say no to PB&J).  

(So beautiful and so fun!)

As I was nearing the finish and congratulating myself for staying upright, I suddenly found myself sprawled next to the trail. What just happened?  Lost my focus for a split second, that's what.  A sympathetic runner stopped and helped me up, and I remember telling him, "I think I broke a rib."  I got myself to the finish line, stretched, ate something and drank some water.  Yep, I'm pretty sure I broke a rib. Maybe two.  That didn't stop me from taking a selfie when I stopped for gas before heading home.

No, I didn't go to the doctor. I slept on the couch for two weeks because climbing in and out of bed was excruciating.  I put Orange Theory and strength training on hold and took copious amounts of Tylenol and Ibuprofen. Would I be able to continue my training and run my marathon in March?

Stay tuned... 

February stats

Total Miles Run, Walked, and Hiked:  142. (Same as January. Huh.)

Elevation: 14,779

Geocaches found: 16