7:15 am start, 2:49:11 moving time (11:16 mm avg pace), but nearly 3:30 total time with stops for photos, gabbing with strangers, etc.
Opekiska Dam, south to Prickett's Fort along the Mon River Rail Trail, then onwards on the MC Trail past the tunnel, almost to the end. (About 0.1 miles past the tunnel and 0.15 miles from the end of the trail is where I hit 7.5 miles and turn around.)
Today I did my favorite route for 12 to 15 miles, and I did 15 because: the longer, the better.
I have been intending to take pictures along the route, but I hate stopping when I am running, so I hadn't gotten around to it despite months of thinking about it. Today, I had my new (stupid) smart phone with me, and I was running solo so no one would be irritated by my photograph breaks, and it was a beautiful early morning on my favorite route, so I decided to go ahead and do it!
All the stopping wasn't as bad as I'd have thought. It did slow me up, of course, but that probably helped me stay fresh for the run, as I felt strong, relaxed, and happy for the entire run. It was awesome. What a run!
This first pic was taken about 5 minutes into the run, looking back northwards towards the Opekiska trail head. I love this surface. It is crushed limestone over dirt. Soft enough to be a bit easier on the body, but hard enough and smooth enough to make good time. You have about 5 miles of this surface, and then it is pavement once you get close to Prickett's Fort. So, my 15 miler ends up being 5 miles crushed gravel, then 5 miles pavement, then another five miles crushed gravel.
Sweet Pea is wondering why on earth I keep stopping. This is very unlike you, Mom.
The Mon River is on our right all the way to Prickett's Fort, which is about 5.5 miles from where you park at Opekiska. The route to Prickett's Fort is quite level; it's actually a very gradual uphill since you are heading upriver, which is so counter intuitive since you are heading south, but that's WV for you!
There are a handful of homes along the river here or there. I liked this view of the red boat under the tree, just waiting . . .
The mist rising off the river and the reflections caught my eye.
In the winter, I rarely passed more than one or two other bikers, hikers, or runners on the trail in an entire long morning's run. Today, I passed at least 4 or 5 bikers (or rather, they passed me) and at least two pairs of runners, and several walkers. That was as busy as I've seen it (a cool Saturday morning in the summer, no doubt high season), and it is still nearly deserted. I love this route!
Wow. Pretty. Views like these line most of this route.
That is a fine looking dog! (What the hell are you doing, Mom?)
Damn beautiful river. In the cool early morning, I saw a handful of fishermen in boats all between Prickett's Fort and Opekiska. Must be something biting in there, because there sure are a lot of guys getting up early to get their lines in the water!
Now, that is a view I could live with every day. Sweet. I wouldn't mind having a house along this stretch of the river. Not at all.
A kinda' cool view through a bridge up to a tributary. I love all these old train bridges.
As you run south-ish, the river is to your right, and to your left is mostly heavy forest. I love these woods. In the winter and wet seasons, there are dozens of streams trickling out of the forest towards the river, allowing the dog to have plenty of water stops.
I love this bridge! The trail doesn't cross it, but it sure does look pretty from the trail.
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Prickett's Fort. Looks really cool. I need to bring the kids here to actually tour the historic fort one of these days, instead of just running by and using the restrooms! Once you get really close to Prickett's Fort (on to the paved MC Trail), there is a bit more of a hill for a mile or so, then it levels out a bit. This hill is nothing by WV standards, but for non WV runners, or folks who avoid hills (why would you do that? They are so fun!), I guess it counts as a bit of a hill for this mile or so as you come into the park. Ironically, I usually run that mile faster than normal, as the first half of the hilly mile is as I am coming up to the bathroom break, so I am happy to be getting my break! Then, when I come out of the break and head back up the rest of the hilly mile, I am fresh from having had my break. Thus, my uphill mile is oddly fast.
So, after the restroom break, I refill my water bottles with Gatorade powder from the packet in Sweet Pea's pack and water from the fountain, and then we are back on the trail!
About 1.5 miles past Prickett's Fort is this awesome old train tunnel. It is a quarter mile long, about 60 degrees, and just a little slice of heaven on a hot day. I always run really fast in here even though I don't mean to. I think it's the coolness. I love this!
Just a tiny bit after getting through the tunnel, I hit my 7.5 miles and turn around to head back. I get the tunnel again, yay! There is Sweet Pea, leading me homeward.
Nice view looking north (homeward) at the outlet of the tunnel. There's my dog!
OK, Mom, not this again! Come on already! I love this picture.
After another nice water stop at Prickett's Fort, I get a foot shot of me and Sweet Pea. Note that God makes dogs perfect running machines, but me, not so much. I require $55 socks and $120 shoes and a couple band aids on two toes . . . I really love the whole natural running idea, but I can't face the idea of cutting my mileage so drastically to essentially start all over again minimalist. So, I run in major footwear. But, I run!! That's the important thing.
While I was sitting on a stair refilling my bottles, a lady came up and complimented Sweet Pea. (Of course!) We chatted about packs, dogs, parvo, vets, and whatnot for at least 10 minutes. Taking all those stops to take photos had sort of unleashed my I'm-not-in-a-hurry alter ego. I never do that! It was fun. She was really nice. And, then off we go -- me in my gear, and Sweet Pea just the way God made him (plus the pack I make him carry, lol).
Almost back to Opekiska. Look at that dog go.
Around this time, I saw an older fellow walking his bike heading towards me. Knowing that we're at least a mile and a half from any parking areas, I stopped to make sure all was well, just in case he needed a phone call or even a ride somewhere (as my car was now just about a mile and a half away). He was fine, just taking a break to ease some arthritis pain in his hands, had his own phone and snacks, and was happy to chat for a minute. After that final stop to chat, I trotted onwards to the car.
I was feeling fresh and perky. I was really tempted to add a few more miles on to this run. I was thinking of adding just two more, to make it a 17 miler, since my two previous 17 milers were my two worst runs ever, and I need to break that curse, as, for now, I have a firm rule against planning 17 milers. (16 or 18 are fine, just not 17!) So, I figure the time to break the curse is a day like today.
But, I'd already committed to a 4.5 mile run tomorrow (which has since been cancelled! bummer!), and another short/mid length run Monday, so I would be pushing my limits to do run really long today, too, so I figured the responsible and wise thing to do would be to stop at 15. Besides, my dilly-dallying with the camera and gabbing with strangers had made me run late, and I'd started 15 minutes later than planned, so now it was well after 10:00 and the temperatures were rising to my "hot" zone of 70 degrees, lol. If it had still been in the 60s with the sun still low in the sky, it would have been harder to resist the call of a few more perfect miles. As it was, I called it a day and headed home.
One perfect run.
One amazing dog.
I love to run.
I love my dog.
After a run like this one, I love everyone.
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