Long delay...preview of what's to come

Wow ... I really underestimated how much time it took to actually blog!  Well, it's been a very eventful week; I ran 32 miles in roughly 5 1/2 hours (complete with sprained tendon), had a few great bike rides (complete with crash) and conquered a brand new running trail!  I'll slowly be uploading maps, reviews and stories in the following few days!

Chubb Trail (West Tyson County Park / Lone Elk Park)

Chubb Trail may very well be the best trail run I have ever experienced in the St. Louis area.  It may also be the worst.

Thursday was a day... that shall live... in infamy.  My wife, a friend and I embarked  after work to experience this popular mountain biking and trail running destination.  The confusion in driving to the actual trail was par for the course, as it took us roughly 40 minutes to make it from downtown St. Louis to the West Tyson County Park (traffic, road closures, and a quick reminder from local law enforce that even adults have to follow "right turn only" lanes).

After taking I-44 exit 266 (Lewis Road Exit), we turned right at the stop sign.  The sign to the right of the road for West Tyson Park is easily missed, so stay keen!  We agreed in advance that this would be a "BYOP" run, ie "Bring your own pace!" so I embarked on this journey alone.  The Chubb Trail marker is a blue tree and it unfortunately took me several miles to figure this important piece of information out.

Runner beware - the first mile of the Chubb Trail offers many opportunities to get turned around, confused and filled with doubt.  Fear not, you will survive so long as you follow one simple rule:

Keep. Running.

Also, a word of advice: the "switchback" for this trail is easily overlooked!  There is a small sign with a u-turn symbol, stating "Switchback" in blue.  This sign is intended to convey a sense of understanding that one should immediately turn a hard left and ascend up the trail running parallel (but in reverse) to the one you were just on.  This was information hard learned.

The first 3 miles of Chubb Trail (starting at West Tyson) offers a gauntlet of technical climbs and drops, complete with exposed roots and pitted sedimentary rock outcropping.  The trail varied from wide track to single track within this zone.

Leaving behind the technical section, there is a railroad crossing (stop-look-listen!) serving as a gateway to a far mellower, soft, flat section of Chubb.  The trail then comes to a fork; continuing forward leads to a "Low Water Section" following a mostly dry creek bed, while cutting to the right will lead to a nice prairie.  I was still in a state of confusion at this point and ended up taking the "Low Water Section."  DO NOT TAKE THE "LOW WATER SECTION."  Does running next to a creek bed sound scenic?  Why yes, of course it does.  Does battling vicious horseflies for at least 3 miles, then waking up the next morning covered in poison ivy sound romantic?  No, no it does not.  Nor does it feel romantic.  Again, DO NOT TAKE THE LOW WATER SECTION!

A second railroad crossing leads to an open trail that looks like it is was originally intended to be driven on.  From this point on, it is pretty easy going, minus one last climb.  The last climb offers one last hurrah to your heart rate, as it is long and fairly steep.  There are not banners of congratulations at the end, though, just an opening to the large parking area used to access the trail head from Lone Elk Park.  Turn around and enjoy the 7 miles you now get to run back ;)

All in all, an incredibly fulfilling run.  I completed the 14 miles (+ some extra for getting lost at first) in a little over two hours and made it back to the car just in time for sunset.  The memory of the trail will unfortunately be forever marred by the epic battle of the horseflies through the Low Water Section (don't take!), as well as the full body armor of poison ivy rash I am currently battling.

Spottings:
8 deer (7 doe, 1 buck)
1 raccoon
1 fox
LOTS of squirrels and rabbits

 Lessons Learned:
-Always wear bug spray
-Bring a map
-Poison Ivy still exists...perhaps short shorts and a tank wasn't the best choice.


I will be back, Chubb Trail, stronger and with less exposed skin!


GORC Trailmap of Chubb

Well, Chubb Trail has officially been added to the cutting block.  I had intended to run it (as a down and back, total mileage: 14) Monday for my long run but Mother Nature chose, egregiously, to interfere with said plans and I was sentenced to run 10 miles at my local YMCA.  After setting the incline to 1 degree and treating myself to the rarity of headphones+music, I was able to knock the run out in 81 minutes, closing the last mile out in under 7:30... not bad.

So, the Monday call went,"YMCA, Chubb Trail on deck and Lewis & Clark Trail in the hole."  I'll spare you the high intensity dot that would be the GPS of my Y run!

Castlewood 10 miler (2012_05_28)

Castlewood has climbed (pun intended) its way to the top of my running list.  I absolutely love these trails, from the flat, soft sand covered stretches, the arduous climbs and the exhilarating drops over bramble, brush and boulder.  Now that I've at least run a section of every trail, I intend to refine my running route to offer a scale of distances and difficulties (new page maybe?).

Madison County Trail (Illinois)

Great 56 mile bike ride Sunday, May 29th.  The trail was absolutely beautiful, passing mostly under cool trees and occasionally over creeks beds.  A peaceful escape for someone seeking a long ride without the continuous hassle of traffic lights, cars and crowds.

Mississippi River Trail to MCT Confluence Trail (and back!)

Sunday was both Mother's Day and EPIC Bike Ride Day!  Many remembered to honor the former, few observed the latter.  We were that lucky few.

The Mississippi River Trailhead is located just East of Morgan Street on the Landing.  We chose to park for free at the casino, but were almost instantly approached by a guard asking if we were guests at the hotel (I think the bike rack gave us away).  One white lie later, we had unloaded our bikes and were heading to the trailhead.  When we arrived at the trailhead, my wife was having some issues with her seat.  Not to worry - Midwest hospitality runs deep and we were able to borrow an allen key from a great couple unloading their recumbent bikes to hit the trail.  They even let her take one of the recumbents for a spin while I fixed up the bike seat.  Soon we were tuned up and ready to hit the trail.

The first few miles of the trail leave you second-guessing your decision to take this particular trail. Do not worry, the sites will improve and Missouri's (and western Illinois') natural beauty will come shining through in clear detail.  Not to say there weren't curiosities along the opening miles; there was a two story hobo-hut, a now bulldozed homeless village and a very friendly reststop complete with canned water and mostly full portopotties.

Once you've passed the industrial zone, you'll enter into nature.  The trail is incredibly well maintained and offers wonderful views of colorful, wild fields, the gently rolling Mississippi river,  wild turkeys, snakes (!) and other little critters venturing out.  On a sunny day, it is a great way to reconnect with something deeper and experience some recreational exercise at the same time.

After passing over the Chain of Rocks bridge, we followed a country road hoping to connect to the MCT Confluence Trail.  Passing over a metal bridge of questionable integrity, we were relieved to see a trail map indicating we were on the right path.  Hanging a sharp left and following another country road, we were spit out into a construction zone that led up to the trail.  Unfortunately, this section of the trail was gravel, leading to some members of the ride questioning the decision to continue.  Alas, this was EPIC Bike Ride Day and we persevered.  After a couple of "will this tire pop" miles, we were finally able to hop onto a paved section of the trail.  The rest of the MCT was absolutely beautiful, the only sound other than nature being the steady hum of the wheel spinning across the asphalt.

I will absolutely be doing this ride again.  The only negatives from this trail were the two road crossings on the MRT and the 2-3 miles of blockades/roadcrossings on the MCT (I'm definitely not complaining though).  Oh, total mileage: ~55 miles.  Nicknames bestowed:  3 (Lazer, Snake and Chain).

(Apologies for the lack of true GPS and Elevation - forgot to grab the Garmin but did remember granola!)

Whoaa - two weeks and no posts?!?!  I am not taking my new found, late 20's duty of blogging very seriously.  It's been an interesting past two weeks for both personal and training/running/biking reasons.  I'll be sure to update this blog later tonight in more detail, but I'll simply outline a couple of the fun activities I've been up to.

The month of March opened up with my very first obstacle/adventure run: Ruckus Run!  I placed in the top 10% and qualified to run the whole thing a SECOND TIME later that day.  Suffice it to say I felt worse at the end of that second run than I did the last 10K of my first marathon last year.  Rough!

This past Sunday, I had a "big ride" bug biting me all week that was finally actualized in the form of a 55 mile bike ride from St Louis to Alton, starting at the Mississippi River Trail.  It was an absolutely gorgeous ride.  We took our time and made room in the schedule for several breaks, along with a short lunch (of trail mix and granola bars!) in Alton.  The overall time came out around 6 hrs, but accounting for all the break I'd say we were closer to 4.5 hrs.

More to come tonight!