Loop the loop

A new personal milestone on a couple of levels yesterday.

First off, I completed 16 miles in a little over 3 hours and 7 minutes. While the time may seem a bit longer than past times, the second milestone was where the run took place. I ran around the 8-mile loop of Cades Cove... twice!

For those of you unfamiliar with the area, Cades Cove is part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. More information and history could be found here. Given the fact that we ran in the mountains, it was much more intense given hills and valleys than past runs.

A map can be found here. Our route took use down to Hyatt Lane and around. Sarah and I were a little late in arrivin and got there around 7:40AM (I misjudged the time it would take to arrive.)

We couldn't have asked for better weather. The temperature was around 45-50 and a clearing sky. (We were told this was the best weather Team in Training had had for this run in the past couple of years). Two things were clear from when we started. First, this would be unlike any previous long runs with the hills and valley. And, two, we would be treated to some wonderful scenery while running.

I have driven around Cades Cove numerous times and have even rode a bike around it 3-4 times. I had never seen as many deer as I saw yesterday. It might have something to do with not being in an automobile, but, at the closest, we had deer within 10 feet of us. I couldn't help but wonder what was going through their minds as we ran by. Probably something akin to trying to figure out what we were doing.

The first loop took about 1 1/2 hours to complete. The thought of running a second loop was daunting, but we took off. The only problem, besides sore legs, was the rising temperature. The long sleeves I was wearing was getting awfully warm. We stopped for water about 4 miles into the second loop (about 12 miles in). I have to say the final 4 miles kick my butt. There was a lot of walking on the hills. By the end, we had arrived a "mini-goals" (reaching the post at the top of the hill, reaching the next tree). But, like I said over 3 hours after we started, and 1 hour and 40 minutes after starting the second loop, we finished. Our group had a very nice potluck picnic afterward to celebrate our victories. Phil, our team trainer, told us that if we could complete the run, with all the hills, we definitely could complete the full marathon in Nashville.

Perhaps someday, I may attempt to run the full 11 miles. In any case, I will never forget this trip to Cades Cove.