Saturday, August 9, 2008
Palmetto Trail - Blue Wall Passage
Today was a 20 mile run which should have been easy after all the training I have been doing. Of course I am never satisfied with just an easy run so I wanted to go exploring. I kind of had an idea that the trail might be vertical but honestly I had no idea. I think mile number 4 was an 18 min mile. No kidding. The sign at the top said something about 1500 feet of climbing in 2-3 miles. Oops! The run was breath-taking in many ways but the view from the top and the fresh clean air was the best thing for my sole after a busy week. Who cares that it took 1:05 to run the first 5 miles - it was fun and an adventure. There is even more trail to be explored but that would have taken me all the way to Saluda and I was just not up for that today. The rest of the run seemed easy. The jog around Lake Lanier a piece of cake. I even felt good enough to finish up the last 2 miles at 8 min pace.
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6 comments:
quite a run there girl! feeling like you're form is returning in time for the IM?
Hey - I live in Inman and was looking to run this same trail on Saturday. Is the FENCE area a good area to begin at? I am doing a 15 miler. Training for the Chattooga 50K in June. Thanks!
Jason - if you park at FENCE and want to run the Blue Wall you are going to be doing a good bit of road running. I suggest parking at the trail head behind Lake Lanier and running up the trail, then you will hit the fire road for a few miles (go right off the trail) and you can hit another trail to your left that goes towards Saluda - plenty of trail miles to be had up there. Enjoy!
Thanks a lot Katie. I appreciate the information and will take your advice for the run this weekend. I am pretty new to trail running, but have been road running for a while. It has not taken me long to get hooked either!
We have been running the Croft Passage (Palmetto Trail)a lot and wanted a change of scenery. I don't want to take up your time, but if you have any other favorite trail runs I would appreicate the tip. I live in the Inman, SC area. Very nice blog too!
Jason - sorry just getting back to you now. I love running all the trails around Tryon - but most are on private trails for horses and they don't really like me running on them - but of course they have to catch me first! There are some nice trails at Paris Mountain state park in Greenville and then Issaqueena in Clemson. How was your run this weekend - you had great weather!
We had a great run. It was tough too. We started at the trail head where you suggested and ran past the two ponds up the fire road. Once we hit the primitive trail the running slowed quickly. Im guessing that we made it about 1/2 way up the steep part before walking. Even the fast walk was a great workout. Once we hit the top we took off to the right down the fire road. We probably ended up with about 11-12 miles in two hours. We will definately be running this one again - thanks for the tips!
Planning on running with the earth day 1/2 marathon practice group saturday. Back to the roads!
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