This Saturday I will be embarking on what is known to Nashville area runners as a 'rite of passage'. It is called the 'Percy Warner 11.2 Loop' and after reading about people's first experiences with this course, I am quite intimidated - to say the least. This is kind of what i'm picturing in my head right now, for 11 freaking miles...(pictured above). The course is throughout Percy Warner park, which is right by Steeplechase for all you horse race fans. I have heard it is beautiful and has several breathtaking views at its highest points. I hope I will be able to see this gorgeous scenery through my tears...This is a blurb from the e-mail we received from Fleet Feet earlier this week regarding the run.
"Part of this experience is going to be leaving your Garmins and watches at home. The goal is to complete this route. Pace does not matter. Time is no issue. You are experiencing a route like no other route and what I want each of you to focus on is the experience. Slow yourself down to run with others. Stay in a pack to encourage each other up the hills. Share why you are out there training while most of the city is still asleep in warm beds. You will leave the group a changed person, a stronger person, a blessed person."
Now, I realize this was probably meant to be inspiring and encouraging, but to me it sounded more like, "Don't even bother bringing your watch, it will probably run out of battery because it's going to take you so long to finish. Also, remember to bring a rope to pull each other up the hills, otherwise you will prob get lost and die in a cold, wet pile of leaves." Ok, ok, maybe i'm exaggerating just a tad ;)
In a twisted way, I am looking forward to this run and to pushing myself waaaay past my comfort zone, and also learning how to run while blacking out. Unfortunately my two running buddies will be MIA this weekend, Jenn is recovering from a foot injury and Mauri is away visiting her familia in Arkansas. I may or may not be cursing you both at some point during the run :) Love.you.mean.it.
I found this little diddy when I googled "Percy Warner 11.2 Loop" the other day...
"The first of the fabled hills falls just as you begin to climb towards the third mile, and stretches beyond it. This hill winds in and out, from side to side. Its wickedness comes from the combined effects of its grade and from the fact that you cannot see the efforts ahead of you; they are hidden, each, behind the next curve. Every time you approach what you perceive to be the end of the madness, you round a turn and see more beyond. By time you have reached the top, just past three miles into your trek, your will and energies have been sapped."
and this one...
"And at that moment, you face the great hill. As you mount its asphalt, the entirety of the effort ahead visible to you (but somehow unknown) there is no pace that is correct. Run too fast and you will not have the necessary fuel in your depleted legs to make it. Run to slowly and the mount will outlast your will. Best just to put your head down and go on blindly. When you reach the connector road, you are only halfway up. By time you reach the top, weakened and poor, you do not have the focus to look around you at the grand vistas on display."
If you need me, I will be busy overnighting these to myself.
1 comment:
ha - you are such a ra-tard!! You make me laugh. I'm kind of jealous that I don't get to do this too - really. I want to experience it. But in the next breath, I'm grateful. My run, per my doctor, on Saturday is 2 miles. And I do that in run/walk intervals. HA. Love.Ya.Mean.It.
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