To Lead or To Follow

Our kids were with my folks last week, giving Map Guy and I a rare opportunity to hit the trails together. We haven't gotten to do this since we ran in Marin in June. Map Guy was gracious to do the planning this time; Middle and North Sisters was our destination.

Map Guy had wanted to do Sisters for quite some time. He just loves it up there. I love that he loves it. Click here to see our route.

I was subtly warned that our distance would between 12 and 16 miles and I only vaguely recall a whisper of there being "two peaks". The mileage didn't bug me and I tried not to hear the latter comment. You'll recall that I am a bit of a "Do Now, Deal Later Gal". Not sure it makes for a cool nickname (maybe dndlg? I don't think so.), but it's a fact.

It was nice to have the time in the car to catch up and after the 1 1/2 drive up the McKenzie River (one of our favorites), we arrived at the Obsidian Trailhead.

The weather was perfect and with shoes, water and food on board, we headed out. Or I should say, UP. We started at 4800 feet. The first peak was 6589 feet and 6 miles up. We then dipped down to 6195 feet; a welcome reprieve. I thought we were home free at this point. Not so much. This is where Map Guy tells me that he didn't know how to come right out and tell me that we had two peaks. So, we headed up another 1.75 miles to the second peak at 6882 feet.

A couple of comments/observations about the day:

• I led us out of the starting gate for the first two miles. At about 3 miles in, I started having gastro-intestinal issues that plagued me for the rest of the run. Really just a bummer of a stomach ache that got worse rather than better. Map Guy mentioned something about coming out of the gate to fast and I had to wonder (with a grrr) if he was right, but I also wondered if elevation was a factor.
• I normally like hills - the challenge, the victory of a strong finish even when it's hard, etc. My head was not hill-friendly from the start on this day. The GI issue did not help, but today was hard.
  
• Trail running is typically a single track experience; you normally can't run side by side like you do on pavement. This requires that someone lead and and others follow. Trail running requires you to maintain enough space between you and the guy in front of you so you can keep your eyes on the one to two feet of ground in front of you so you don't trip and knock yourself senseless. I prefer to be in front when trail running because I really like to run unencumbered and having someone right in front of you on the trail feels confining and frustrating.
• When my mojo went south and the climb became a struggle, I eventually took a backseat and did more run/walking than I like to admit.
  

Despite the weather and the company, today was a hard run that I was glad to have behind me. Even going into it, I was dreading the hills that I normally embrace. Many factors went into this...not enough sleep, GI issues, elevation. But, it could have been anything. I found myself wondering, "will it be like this next time"? or "what if it's always like this"? Both possibilities were distressing and I decided that you can't focus on what if. You simply have to make a choice to accept that there will be days like this, find the joy even when there is little to be found look forward to the next round. If you don't then you're done before you've started.

Some pictures from the day:

Mark with Sisters in the background. This is somewhere following the first peak. Then he's heading down into the first valley.













This is looking back at some of the second climb. Really fun switchbacks up a lava field.










This is the last climb and pretty much did me in. This is a hill of lava rocks; big and small. It was steep switchbacks (which you can't even see) with lots of loose rock on the trail so that you'd take a step forward and half a step backward with each step.

At two different points I found myself picking up rocks. Needed to throw something I guess. Luckily Map Guy was already at the top. So, I just threw them at the ground with lots of OOMPH!