5-Mile Johnsonville Charge

Participants gather post-race to enjoy the famous beef stew

 

Yesterday I was in New Johnsonville on a typically chilly January day for my fourth stop on this year's state parks running tour. Because I had done no running since the middle of December, I had no performance-related expectations for this event. Running the length of the course without walking would be enough to make me happy, I told myself.

 

The perfect course for someone like me who hadn't run recently, it is a basically flat out-and-back five-miler on paved, gravel, and compacted dirt terrain. Musket fire from a man dressed as a Civil War-era soldier set the clock in motion, and 134 or more of us commenced to beat a path to the turnaround point 2.5 miles away.

 

I felt good early on, but what runner doesn't? Entering the second mile I focused on breathing technique more than anything else, as I hoped to ward off, as much as I possibly could, the development of a side stitch. Along with the increasing concern for calf pain as the race progressed, I believed the onset of one or both of these hindrances during the race was quite likely, the presence of either having the full potential to quickly transform me from runner to walker.

 

I turned down the water, as I always do, at the turnaround point. The fellow ahead of me stopped for a drink, and I never saw him again. I'm slow enough to begin with and don't need anything slowing me down further, so I shun the refreshments. Early into the return trip, I was still feeling pretty good. Now don't get me wrong, I was indeed tired and secretly wanted to quit running, but I was pain-free and passing about as many people as were eclipsing me.

 

Entering the last mile-and-a-half or so, the much-anticipated calf pain finally came calling. But the flat course of Johnsonville was my saving grace, reducing the pain to mere nuisance-grade. The side stitches never did materialize, and, as I crossed the finish line 42:27 after the opening musket blast, I felt both contentment and regret. Yes, I was satisfied with my performance, considering I hadn't actually been running in the weeks leading up to the race, but I also regretted having not properly trained, wondering what my time could have been had I only been more disciplined.

 

As runners continued to trickle across the finish line, a gathering crowd was enjoying the delicious beef stew and chili prepared by the Friends of Johnsonville State Historic Park. Much to my delight, a park ranger had gotten a fire going, and I eagerly joined those already huddled around the fire after a quick sampling of the Friends' stew. I waited until the presentation of awards was complete before determining my calf and now knee pain was too great to take a post-race hike along some of the park's wooded trails. Instead, I headed to my vehicle and thus concluded another fantastic outing in one of Tennessee's great state parks.                      

Johnsonville Charge, 5-Miler

Saturday marked our sixth race in this year's state running tour. This week's stop took us to Johnsonville State Historic Park in New Johnsonville, Tennessee. After most recently running 6-, 7-, and 8-milers, I was relieved that this was a five-mile course. Described as "flat, fast and easiest of all" the tour courses, I was prepared to take it up a notch and achieve a new PR.

The morning was quite cool, but not as cold as it has been around here. Still, I decided to run with gloves and a stocking cap. A musket shot set the clock in motion, and we dashed off towards a historic road built upon an old railroad bed once used to transport Union supplies between the Tennessee River and Nashville. This was a simple out-and-back course which, thankfully, was indeed flat. Running with no pain for the first time since November, I felt like I was off to a (relatively) fast start, which perhaps explained why I was heating up so quickly. Before the two mile mark, my gloves and hat came off and spent the remainder of the run alternating between my right and left hands.

There was water at the two-and-a-half mile turnaround point, but I declined - as I always do - needing instead to suck in as much oxygen as possible to keep my legs going. I lied to myself the entire race, telling myself I would slow to a walk at the turnaround cone before pushing this carrot-on-a-stick mirage back to the end of mile three and, ultimately, mile four. Once I found myself still running at the beginning of mile five, I ceased with the all the lying and admitted to myself I would fight through the pain now originating in my left knee and finish this thing like somebody who writes a fitness blog would.

I pulled in at the finish line with a time of 43:56, twenty-nine seconds shy of my personal best. Finishing 16th out of 19 runners in the men's 40-49 bracket and 66th out of 116 overall was a disappointment to which lately I've become accustomed. My daughter's performance, however, helped brighten the otherwise cloudy and chilly day. With a time of 51:10, she finished third in the girls' 10-14 year-old category, earning herself yet another tour medal.

Showing off her 3rd place medal

 



The post-race meal, provided by the Friends of Johnsonville State Historic Park, featured stew and chili. There was an abundance of each and both were delicious. Many thanks goes out to the Friends group for all of their efforts. It was nice having a hot meal outside in the cold and the perfect way to close out the 2014 Johnsonville Charge.

Crowd gathers around the food after the race

 

With the race director, Coach Redden

 

Tennessee State Parks' First Hikes of 2014: Johnsonville State Historic Park Edition

We were fortunate enough today to participate in the Tennessee State Parks' First Hikes of 2014 program, a part of America's State Parks First Day Hikes initiative in all 50 states. According to Tennessee State Parks' website, this initiative offers "individuals and families an opportunity to begin the New Year rejuvenating and connecting with the outdoors by taking a healthy hike . . . at a state park close to home." We chose a return visit to Johnsonville State Historic Park, a 1500-acre site once home to an important Union supply depot that suffered severe destruction during a raid led by Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest on November 4, 1864.

Park Ranger Bob Holliday met us at the trailhead and led us along a section of the railroad bed that was once used to transport supplies the 78 miles from the depot on the Tennessee River to Nashville. Mr. Holliday is an authority on the history of Johnsonville and the critical role it played in supplying General Sherman in his march south against the Confederate Army. We walked away with a considerable amount of new knowledge on the subject, as well as some informative pamphlets and 1864 maps. At the conclusion of our hike, Mr. Holliday even opened the Welcome Center for us, which was officially closed for the holiday. This is a new facility where one can learn just about everything there is to learn about the history of Johnsonville.

With the sun shining and a temperature somewhere near the 50 degree mark, this was an outstanding day for a hike and a great way to kickoff to the New Year. A few pictures of the outing:

Old Nashville-Northwestern RR bed. A blockhouse, used to

protect the line, was located up on the left, at top of hill.

 

Site of turntable used to change the direction of

locomotives. Old RR bed is up on the right.

 

Supply depot was located here in the Kentucky Lake

impoundment of the Tennessee River. The remains of

destroyed gunboats still lie under these waters.

 

Lower redoubt was ineffective in defending depot against

an assault from the river's west bank, but the successful

Confederate attack proved to be too little, too late.







Day Hike: Johnsonville State Historic Park

What does one do when having a suppressed immune system and a house filled with sick people? Quickly head outside, of course. For the second consecutive Saturday, the KTF blog headed to the shores of Kentucky Lake. This week I stayed on the east side of the river and explored the trails inside Johnsonville State Historic Park in the town of New Johnsonville.

 

Johnsonville was a major Union supply depot situated on the Tennessee River during the Civil War. A redoubt protected the depot from the east, but in November 1864 Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest attacked from the west bank and destroyed the base and the Union gunboat flotilla. A second redoubt was constructed to better protect against any future attacks, which would never come. After the war, Johnsonville survived for many years as a river-rail transfer point. However, severe flooding took its toll, and the Tennessee Valley Authority purchased the land prior to flooding the area through the creation of Kentucky Lake.

 

The Upper Redoubt, positioned beyond Crockett Cemetery

 

A shallow depression is all that is left of this 1864 rifle pit

 

The redoubts protected the depot, and rifle pits defended the redoubts. Rifle pits were anywhere from four to six feet deep and may have included a firing step, which was a ledge soldiers could step down from to more safely reload their weapon. None of this is visible today, of course, as one hundred fifty years worth of erosion has nearly reclaimed the pits at Johnsonville.

 

There are about six miles of hiking trails inside the park, which I believe to be lightly traveled. The leaves are piled high on the trail in several areas. So high, in fact, that the footing in these locations proved to be a little treacherous, as I never knew upon what my foot was about to land - roots, rocks, fallen limbs, tiny Munchkin villages. Trail markings are few and far between. At one point I discovered I had wandered off the trail, only minutes after studying the land and concluding I had not. Trail intersections are simply marked with arrows pointing in every direction the trail leads. There are no trail names; no distances listed to the park's various features; and no maps to be had. Still, this is great place to hike. I flushed out deer on multiple occasions, saw blue herons and ducks, and didn't encounter even one other hiker during my three-and-a-half hour visit. For outdoor solitude in the mid-state, it's hard to top Johnsonville. Following are a few more pictures from Saturday's hike:

 

View of Kentucky Lake

 

 

Across the river, Pilot Knob is the highest point in West TN

 

Moss-covered trail

 

Old railroad support pier in background, left of cannon

 

Leaf-covered trail