The day I learned trail miles are not road miles

Last spring I planned a 12 mile day on the Appalachian Trail in Virginia. I had done 12 miles on flat pavement before so I figured it would be fine. By mile 6 I was crawling up a rocky section with my legs screaming. My water was almost gone and the sun was beating down hard. I ended up finishing around 9pm in the dark with no headlamp. What made it stand out was how stupid I felt for not checking the elevation profile. Has anyone else underestimated how slow rocky terrain makes you go?

3 comments

3 Comments

abbyp612d ago

Oh man, "trail miles are not road miles" couldn't be more true. My buddy Dave did the same thing up in New Hampshire, thought a 10 mile day on the AT would be a breeze based on his flatland running. He said by mile 4 he was dragging himself up rocks using roots like ropes, and his legs felt like they were full of wet cement. He ended up stumbling into camp around 10pm, no water, and had to borrow a headlamp from some strangers who were already in their tents.

jenny_lane122d ago

Dave probably just had a bad day, is it really that different if you pace yourself right?

kai_chen21d ago

trail miles are not road miles" lmao @jenny_lane12 i read someone say every mountain mile feels like 3 on flat ground