As many of the BOR know, a number of us have signed up for the Indian/Celina Challenge half (Michele A, Brandon and myself) and full (Kendra, Michelle L, Jared and Cathy. Four brave souls!) trail race near Tell City next month. Having signed up for the half, it occurred to me that it would be wise to actually run some trails before the race!
Enter Audubon State Park in Henderson: I went over Monday evening prepared to fight mud, ticks, poison ivy, unruly UK fans and deer chased out of the bottoms by floodwaters. Fortunately, only the deer made an appearance.
So what about the run? This is the Band of Runners blog, remember? Short report: it was great! For more details, read on.
After parking at the main building, just up the hill from the entrance, the main trail loop heads off to the east along a paved road for a strong half mile. This gives you a chance to warm up before hitting the dirt. This road is not flat, so your warmup will get off to a hilly start. There will be hills in the middle and hills in the end too, just to be clear. I printed off a park map and was glad I did. I had to consult it a few times to confirm my location. There are a number of smaller trail segments that I did not venture onto, focusing on the longer Back Country and Wilderness Lake trails. By combining the two and doubling back on the Lake trail, I was able to get about 3.5 trail miles in, approaching 5 total by the time I returned to my car.
The trails are essentially all single track and have quite alot of climbing in them. There is one staircase that encourages walking if you value your safety, and another right at the start of the Back County trail that is fairly steep as well. The experience is quite different from road running. At times you almost feel like you are on a human powered amusement park ride as the trail winds around and changes elevation. Goodness, got a little flowery in my praise there! If you can't tell, I had a blast. While my pace was nothing I'm used to, your heart/breathing rate will certainly jump on some of the climbs and know that you will build leg strength on this run.
A couple of notes:
Keep an eye on your footing. While there are some nice views of the small lake and from the hilltops, don't spend too much time looking around or you might find yourself on the ground. There are a small number of limbs down along the trail that require hurdling/climbing over.
There is no water available on the trail. I carried my own, though I think you could safely stash some at a point along the road if you intended to do multiple loops for a longer run.
Trail shoes - I ran in a trail shoes, but don't think I would call them a requirement here. Consult your preferred shoe vendor for official advice. The trail is relatively smooth, thought there are certainly a number of roots to avoid.
I have penciled in 5:30 on Monday nights for trail work the next month leading up to Indian/Celina. Anyone interested in joining can follow up with me for more details.
Happy Running
Craig Luebke
***There is a link to the Indian/Celina Challenge on the left under Upcoming Races.
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