Beyond the Blog Day 19 (May 16) - Exhausted from Life, Revived By Nature

I had to wake up early, around 5 a.m., to make the 2 ½ hour drive to Fayetteville and begin the day at a reasonable hour.   I don’t remember much about the morning, I was so exhausted from driving back the day before and going to the recital.   I’m sure I was thinking about the previous night and how proud I was of the girls, hoping that memory would provide some mental energy to power me forward through a day of rucking through Fayetteville and environs.

 

I got to the county park early and began rucking around the perimeter when Monty returned from his family weekend in Raleigh, getting dropped off by his daughter Caroline.   I think he was glad to be back on the road with me, and we were looking at a solid week of running through the low country to the coast, with lots of adventures ahead of us.

 

The park was small, and just a meeting point, but Fayetteville was busy on that Sunday morning, with lots of traffic and few routes available.   Monty looked at the map and suggested Carvers Creek State Park, which was located in Spring Lake, north of us.   It turned out to be yet another wonderful, impromptu diversion which introduced us to a hiking and fishing area we never would have known about otherwise.   

 

Carver’s Creek covers a huge 4,000 acres, covered with pines, surrounding several great fishing ponds, and includes Long Valley Farm, a  Rockefeller estate that pioneered scientific farming Monty on 1,200 acres here.  Who knew?  Monty was excited about the fishing possibilities, and it worked out great...he found a perfect spot to fish and I rucked around the park on some lovely footpaths winding through groves of lodgepole pine trees.   There were great facilities available and we passed lots of families out enjoying their Sunday, and in short...we found no reason not to spend a good part of our day there.   It was a good spot particularly as I was still struggling with my energy level, so I could easily walk and not worry about traffic.   The smaller hiking loops also let me pass by our car to refuel, without having to bother Monty.   Fishing takes concentration, after all, and he was successful in catching a few trout (?) before sending them back to their home.   I got in another 14 miles or so at the park, leaving me with 8 or 9 miles left.   We took our time leaving, Monty helping me refuel while cooling down a bit, sitting in our lawn chairs in the parking lot.   

 

 

Our plan was to meet Matt at our next rucking venue, the Cape Fear River Greenway in Fayetteville itself.  The parks and greenways were such great alternatives to running through busy towns, and I had heard this was a nice spot with miles of paved trail.  There is a very large park within the Greenway, and when we got there, the parking lot was nearly full.  It was great to see so many families out, enjoying the weather and just being normal, like our pre-pandemic lives.  The trail itself was wonderful, winding through the greenery adjacent to the Cape Fear River, which could only occasionally be seen through the vines and trees.  

 

My back was hurting and I switched to the 5.11 sling, which worked well for shorter distances.  It is not ideal to the extent that it shifted all of Slappy’s weight to my shoulder, but it had to be done in order to give my back some rest.  The callous on my lower back was really starting to become an issue, as I would get pain shooting down my leg when the pack hit me the wrong way.  So the shoulder sling was a necessity.   I took my time, knowing that Matt and Monty were having fun just taking pictures and hanging out in the park.  The trail was closed off for repairs at one point, but I just hopped over the barrier and kept going, not the only person to do so.   At one point I came across a gorge, which was pretty and totally not what I expected here on a coastal greenway.

I turned around after 3.5 miles, when the trail just ended at an industrial complex.   I guess they are still negotiating on access to extend the Greenway, and it was a lonely spot.  I was the only person on the trail, so I was happy to turn around and begin my slog back to the parking lot.  The only problem was that I still didn’t have my 25 miles in by the time I returned, so Matt gamely joined me for another 3 mile run through dense woods that suddenly opened up into a nice neighborhood.  I was feeling a bit more re-energized because it was such a nice spot, and Matt’s enthusiasm was infectious.   When we returned to the car, Monty had a nice spot for me and we chilled out, enjoying the end of today’s efforts.  

 

On a side note, Becky early on insisted we take along the “Feelings Octopus”, which can be flipped from a happy face (white) to a sad/angry face (black).  I immediately hated it and took some pleasure in abusing it whenever possible.   On this occasion, for whatever reason, Matt got a great slo-mo video of me kicking the octopus high in the air, then punching it on its descent.  Look at that form! I’m not an octopus-hater by any stretch, but I’m not big on feelings-based stuffed animals….

 

Our hotel for the next two days was in Fayetteville, not a bad spot but there aren’t a lot of choices, either.  Monty very kindly grabbed some dinner and we sat in the upper lobby, overlooking the activity below.   Matt got into trouble with some guy who wanted to explain child-trafficking to him...in his room!  There were a few other dodgy characters in the parking lot and my room smelled like weed, but nothing we hadn’t already dealt with during the Ruck.   Matt and I did an interview at the end of the day, and I look a little road-weary at this point, after almost three weeks in.   Mostly what I remember is not really caring what I looked like or what anyone else thought of me based on my appearance (more so than usual!).   The next day would be more of the same, as the days were heating up the closer I got to the coast.