Acadia Weekend

Mom and Dad nicely agreed to watch Sam for us this weekend so that we could have a short getaway. Thanks Mom and Dad! We left around 10:30 yesterday and headed north. Some of the swamp maples were starting to turn red along the marshes as we neared Bangor and exited the highway. We arrived at the Acadia Visitor Center a little before 1:00, marveling at the blue sky and wonderful weather. We donned our running clothes and headed up the spur to the carriage roads. Our route took us around Witch Hole Pond. The air was dry, the scenery, as always, was beautiful, and we did a lovely 5-mile loop before heading into town for a late lunch. Lunch was followed up by a bit of walking around town - we even ran into Judson's wife, Autumn, which was fun - before checking into our hotel. We couldn't just sit inside on such a gorgeous afternoons, so we headed back out and walked down along the Ocean Path before dinner.

Playing tourist

Dinner was, of course, followed up by ice cream and Ben & Bill's. Yum!

A whole row of deliciousness!

This morning, after a sad free continental buffet breakfast at the hotel, we set off for this morning's adventure. Ryan had devised a loop that started us at the Eagle Pond trailhead, ran us along the road for a mile or so, then up on the North Ridge Trail to the summit of Cadillac. It was another perfect morning. Cool and crisp with blue skies and warm sun. Awesome. We were chipper and happy at the start, enjoying the climb and the views out over town and ocean.

Up the ledges

Great running

Happy runners

At the top we took the obligatory summit photo, and then headed down the South Ridge Trail, which had gorgeous views out along the ridge and was great running until we hit treeline.

South Ridge vista

Summit photo

Ryan running along the ridge

We did a fair bit of hiking both up and down the mountain, but ran when we could. It really was fun! We hit Rt. 3 having run/hiked almost 8 miles in 1:45. Then it was up the road, a quick scramble up onto the Park Loop road then up onto the carriage roads to Jordan Pond House. We stopped to refill our waters, go to the bathroom and take a quick break at Jordan Pond, and then it was back on our way. Still miles to go! We took the "Around the Mountain" loop back. We've done this loop before, but never having already run almost 10 miles beforehand. The carriage roads, while very well-graded and totally runnable, on this loop, begin fairly benignly but it is a long climb, with the final stretch along the edge of Sargent Mountain being mostly above treeline with great views and steeper grades. I felt pretty good for about 2/3 of the way, but the pace definitely slowed in the last few miles uphill. My legs simply wanted to do something else other than climb. There was no chance to use other muscles. 

No photos after South Ridge, so here's a map of our route instead :-) 

After a brief stop at the top, we headed on out. The way down was, well, mostly downhill, with one other up that was rather mean, and which neither of us remembered. The downhill actually might have been more painful. Again, simply because it was so consistent. At the turn-off to Eagle Lake, it was more downhill. We saw a ranger biking up and Ryan stopped to ask him where junction 8 was. Turns out we went the wrong way. Argh! I was pretty worked at this point and ready to be done. So to hear that we'd just added miles to our trip was not what I wanted to hear. Aie. Then, we both ran out of water. The day had gotten warm and we'd been doing well hydrating. Yes, Aunt Betty Pond was gorgeous - covered in water lilies. But the route seemed to drag on. We hit 20 miles and the end was not in sight. We just going. My Garmin had died before we even started the run so I didn't have that to look at. So what else to do but keep running? Slowly and a bit painfully. I had one small almost-meltdown near the end. I just so wanted to be done! And ta da! There was the carriage road along the lake. We were done. Hurray! 22.25 miles in 4:09 moving time, with about 25 minutes of stops added on. We probably bit off a bit more than we should have with this one, but it was one heck of a run, and although we both struggled in parts, we did it. Epic MDI long run mission accomplished :-)

Overall, I think we averaged around 15:00/mile over Cadillac, but once we got off the technical stuff, most of our miles were in the high 9:00s, with the final 2 miles of the climb in the "Around the Mountain" loop in the 10:00s and the final 2 miles of the whole run in the 10:00s too. I ate well until around 3 hours, at which point, I didn't. Think I managed 3 gels, 2 full bags of honey stinger chews and 3 shot blocks during the whole run, with about 60 oz. of water consumed, and I would have had more if I'd had any left in my pack :-) I definitely had a few low points, but mostly I just kept reminding myself "relentless forward motion" and "keep moving." We went through long stretches without talking, just toiling away side by side or a few steps apart, but it was really great to be able to go on a long adventurous run with Ryan! Overall, I'm calling it a success and definitely a good training day!

We headed to Two Cats for brunch, arriving just before closing. We almost fell asleep at the table, but were revived by the deliciousness placed before us. Yum! 

All worn out

Two Cats - yum!

It was a fun getaway, and even more fun to have Ryan healthy enough to go on a crazy run adventure with! Many thanks to Mom and Dad for allowing us to have a bit of time together. Sam, of course, had a blast while we were away, but I think we were all happy to be home together this evening!

And with that, I'm headed to bed!