Venus de Milo can have my arms

I stumbled across the 100pushups website the other day and was immediately intrigued.  Keep in mind that I’m the girl who has never been able to do more than maybe 2 push ups at a time in her life, and even then they were probably the girlie on your knees type push up.  Upper body strength has just never been my forte.  Luckily in High School the Presidential Fitness tests didn’t expect girls over the age of 13 to be able to do push ups or pull ups so I never really had a reason to push myself or to try.  I could do the rest of the parts of the test fine and get the award without doing a push up so why bother?  As I looked at this site, though, and pondered its simple premise, to be able to do 100 consecutive push ups at the end of a 6 week period, I was overcome with a desire to try this and to succeed.  I want to prove to myself that having some measure of upper body strength is not outside my means and that just because I’m a girl that doesn’t mean I can’t do a push up.  Granted, I’m not expecting a miracle here.  Coupled with my lack of upper body strength to start with and the weight I really need to drop, completing this program successfully will not be easy.  However, by the beginning of September I’m really curious to see where I stand.

The program has you start off with a test to see how many push ups you can do so that it can gauge which level to place you at.  Doing a traditional plank style push up I could do 1, sort of, so I was obviously starting from the very bottom rung for this task.  I completed the first day today and decided that if I was going to make any progress I was going to have to do the girlie push ups, at least for now.  The plan has you retest yourself after two weeks, I will gauge if I can switch to regular push ups at that point.  Today called for 4 sets of 2 push ups each and then a final, 5th, set of as many push ups as you could do.  I managed 10 before my arms called it quits, though I don’t feel any lasting soreness thus far.  We shall see what Wednesday’s workout holds.

I saw fireworks from the freeway, And behind closed eyes I cannot make them go away

I’m doing a bad job at following a schedule lately, however, I am enjoying running just for the sake of running and mapping out distances after the fact. Gas prices are certainly having an effect on my running, as they are on many people’s leisure activities I am sure. I’ve taken to running around the block (as much of a block as it is) rather than driving to the various trails that I enjoy running on. On the plus side, this leaves me little choice but to run multiple hills on my routes, rather than seeking out a flat section of trail, so hopefully my body will benefit. So far this is the weirdest summer weather I’ve ever experienced, yesterday was the 4th of July and I was cold at night, granted it was perfect for my run as there was almost no humidity and I don’t think temps were much higher than the mid-70’s, but still…my brain just can’t really accept this upstate NY weather that passes for summer. Yesterday’s run was enjoyable, I had a route mapped out but changed it midway through and extended it by about a mile and a half, I was feeling good, so I figured why not. I think I’m going to start incorporating the school’s playground into my route to mix things up a bit, run up the slides, make my way across the monkey bars, climb a cargo net, I’m thinking if I do that at both the school and the park’s playground it could provide for an interesting sort of circuit training workout, which would be especially useful if I’m going to be running these same routes over and over again because I don’t want to drive anywhere else. Considering where I live, it’s really not a bad spot to have to walk out your door and run; once I’m off the main road there are a variety of back roads that all sort of loop together so I can decide how long of a run I want to do. The only downside is that half the time I’m going to be running uphill at the start and finish of my runs, but I suppose what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, right? Speaking of which, I need to get new shoes or I’m going to kill my knees. They’ve still got some life left in them, but I’m starting to feel that knee twinge that I got when I first started running and I was using my old crappy tennis sneakers. Hopefully I’ll make it down to the LRS sometime this week and pick up a pair for a reasonable price. I like my Mizuno’s but I’m thinking I’ll be open to trying something else, I’ve been getting blisters on my arch, though otherwise they’ve been great to my feet. Most of the races I’ve got planned are trail races though and I’m thinking that I would like to get something a little more suited to that terrain.

We’ll see, I’m starting my new job next Thursday and hopefully this schedule is going to be flexible enough to give me time to run and not feel like I’m neglecting the rest of my life, and if I’m really lucky the extra money might allow for two new pairs of running shoes, trail and road, now wouldn’t that be nice! I’m excited and anxious about the position. It’s definitely going to put me outside my comfort zone, hopefully in a good way, as it is nothing like I’ve ever experienced or done before. It’s a step in the right direction though and I really needed to be doing anything other than working in the same place I have been. I’ll have more thoughts after I start next week I suppose. That same first day there’s a women’s 5k race in the town over that I think I’ll run. I had wanted to do it last year but couldn’t because we were going out of town for the weekend.  Looking at last years race, there appears to be a lot of walkers, I think due to the nature of the race as a woman’s festival, so at least I can count on not being DFL!  The course has rolling hills, so the routes I’ve been running around my house should be a good approximation of what to expect.  We’ll see what happens, I’ll have another RR to post next week at the very least.  The week after that is the Forest Frolic trail runs, I’m still up in the air as to whether I should do the 7 or the 15k, I was told it wasn’t a bad course and that I shouldn’t have trouble with the 15k, but judging by my running lately I think I’ll stick to the 7k and concentrate on getting myself on track for my fall HM.  Bonus! I just looked at the race description again and if I preregister it’s FREE this year in honor of their 20th running of the race.  Sweet!  I’ve never preregistered before because I never know what will happen that might distract me, but this is too good to pass up!  This post is sort of all over the place, so I think I’ll call it here, but I should have more to post than usual in the coming couple of weeks here.

To be different but the same

You gotta be strong, you gotta teach your son
How to stand up straight when you want to run,
How to care and love, how to be yourself,
To be different but the same.  ~Ben Kweller

Sometimes nostalgia hits harder than others.  Sometimes it makes you sad, other times, grateful, happy or relieved.  I’m sitting here in my parent’s house in Jersey and everything is comfortable and familiar despite all the changes.  My brother and sister graduate from high school tonight, 6 and 7 years younger than I am respectively and its somewhat mind-blowing.  Has it really been 6 years since I graduated from this same high school.  Same high school, but drastically remodeled and changed, everything here is the same only different at this point as my visits grow fewer and further in between. 

Taking advantage of having a few days off from work and being greeted with a gorgeous day upon waking I decided to go for a run around town this morning.  I was never a runner in High School, not much of a walker either.  If I needed to get around town I rode my bike, it was faster and I enjoyed it.  Seeing the town now as I went a familiar route I used to bike was also the same, only different.  Not only do I notice different things while on foot and moving slower than on the bicycle, but things have changed as well since traversing these streets.  It was a whole new perspective and I felt like I was touring the town, almost as an outsider except for the fact that everywhere brought memories flooding back that I hadn’t thought about in years.  I started off up Boundary and then through the center of my part of town, I thought in my mind as I planned this route that it would include a little bit of an uphill as I reached the end of that street.  I don’t know if I was just smaller then and hills looked bigger or I just didn’t know any better, but none of the “hills” I encountered on this run would have been more than bumps in the road on the routes I usually run.  As I go through the neighborhoods names and faces run through my mind of who lived where, people I don’t ever think about, people who were barely part of my H.S. experience, but yet they are a part of the landscape of my memories.  Across to the other side of town I continue having these thoughts and then move on to people who I went to school with who have know bought their own houses here and are making new lives and memories.  

Sure I’ve had 4 years of college and another graduation since then, but high school still seems like it was just seconds ago.  Spending last night hanging out with Sara and her high school boyfriend did nothing to help that feeling.  It was just like any other countless night that the three of us spent together during those years.  Aside from the fact that Kyle was drinking a beer, I drove a separate car to get there and Sara couldn’t stay out late because she had work in the morning.  The same, only different.  Sara and I talking later in the evening about the fact that the two of us have undeniably changed in the ensuing 6 years, some better, some worse, but definitely different.  So many of our friends here just haven’t though.  Something so simple as the fact that they all still live with their parents.  I certainly can’t fault people for saving money or doing what makes themselves happy, but the idea is just so foreign to us at this point.  In High School its easy enough to pretend the parents aren’t there, at this point, its almost awkward because you’re an adult too, are you allowed in the boys bedroom to hang out though?  Should we be quiet at night?  Weird.

Heading along the Delaware I see this town in another light, I feel like where I live now is such a water-centric place what with the gigantic lake staring you in the face wherever you go in town, but perhaps its a matter of what you notice.  A good 80% of my route today was along one body of water or another, my old stomping grounds of the creek at the end of my street, the Delaware, Big Timber Creek, this town is surrounded on three sides by water and there are boats and boatyards everywhere.  This was always part of the background scenery, but I never gave it much thought because it wasn’t a part of my day-to-day life.  Only living up in Ithaca have I really started boating or fishing or swimming in the lake.  I thought it was just because it was there and that’s what people do, but maybe there was more of a change in me in relation to this than I realized in passing.  

Nearing the end of my run I enter the park that I spent so much time of my youth in and see all of the elementary school kids running about enjoying their last day of school before being set loose for the summer.  I see the 6th graders, newly graduated as of last night, sitting in the same spot we sat on that day in 6th grade (12 years ago!) signing yearbooks and making sense of themselves as kids transitioning into a new phase of life.  Rounding another bump in the road disguising itself as a hill I see the younger grades running around on the playground, all dressed up like people complain that our children are becoming miniature adults, but there was no denying that these were children as they ran around giggling, yelling and playing.  Exiting the park and heading around the last turn towards my parent’s street I smell first and then see the familiar wild berries that grow along this stretch and drop down into the road where they would often spatter the backs of my legs purple with their juice as I sped over them on a bike.  Thankfully at my plodding easy run pace I don’t have to worry about that particular problem and so I turn onto my street and see the familiar sight of my neighbor walking her dog down the street, only upon nearing her I realize its not the neighbor I thought it was, but someone entirely new that I didn’t know.  

This was undoubtedly one of the best runs I’d had in a while, I felt like I could keep going, but decided to call it at 4.5 miles since I had a lot of stuff still planned for the day.  I definitely need to stop running at the H.S. track, it is convenient and close, but the monotony is just not conducive to having a good run that’s longer than a couple miles.  I enjoyed the time to clear my head and see the town in a new light, it wasn’t a bad place to grow up in no matter how much crap I might talk on it.  Suburbia has its ups and downs just as anywhere else does.  I know South Jersey is flat, but it really hit home while running today, I think anytime I need a pick-me-up about my slow pace I can probably just choose to run a race down here and watch my pace drop drastically when facing a totally flat course.  I think my total elevation change today was a grand total of 33 feet which means I maxed out at 33 feet above sea level since much of the route was at sea level.  I’ll probably find a park for a longer run tomorrow, but right now I’m feeling pretty well satisfied and content after today’s memory guided tour of my neighborhood.

But oh, all of this nervous excitement and all these reasons to try to get it right

I found a race.  I haven’t committed yet, like sending in my money and actually registering committed, but its pretty well set in my mind.  The ARC HM looks like a good size, its a dedicated HM, not slapped onto the back of a marathon, I’ve got the perfect amount of time to train for it, it’s a great cause, it’s not too pricey or far away, and it gives me enough time after I run it to recover and still be able to run the Philly HM in November.  BF of course looked at me like I was nuts when I mentioned this to him, the idea of me being out running training for it for hours at a time took him off guard, but there are crazier reasons than that to  be scared.

Obstacles to overcome:

1. Doing my toughest training and longest running to date during the dead heat of summer.  I may just have to become a morning runner yet to combat the heat.  Granted, this isn’t the south, our summer can be fairly mild.  However, it’s June and we’re setting record temps, I feel that that doesn’t bode well for August.
2. Commitment.  I need to absolutely stick to my plan.  Sure, no problem.  I’m best at running when I have a specific training plan I’m following and a goal I want to reach.  The problem lies in the rest of life’s commitments.  There’s 5 days out of town next week (should be low key and offer lots of time for running).  A possible full week and then some in Florida  (running in Florida in July?  Ugh…).  Did I mention I’m maid of honor for my best friends wedding?  Did I mention that the wedding happens to be the weekend after my projected race?  Yeah…On the plus side I should be feeling pretty fit and good about myself by the time that rolls around.  On the other hand I’m going to be out of town and taking care of all sorts of details for the bridal shower and the bachelorette party.  Oh yeah, my brother and sister are graduating High School and have a graduation party scheduled for mid-July.  And then there’s the family get-together at the end of this month which all adds up to more time traveling, and more weekends out of town when  I’m supposed to be doing my long runs.  Can you tell I’m kinda freaking out over all of this, and I’ve only just begun my training plan!?!  Oh wait, and I’ve already forgotten, my uncle’s annual b-day bash (skippable if necessary), BF’s birthday (still need to plan something for that…) and moe.down is the weekend before my HM, thankfully I’m supposed to be tapering then anyway, though I suppose running up the mountain there could be a good hill workout right?  And running down I can practice low-HR training!
3. Self-doubt.  I can do this.  I know it in my heart, my brain just needs to get up to speed.  Right now it’s kinda going…ummmm…you haven’t been running enough to do this.  I have been spotty, but my mileage is still ready to get into this plan.  The first couple weeks are pretty easy, after that I just need to keep pushing myself forward, not get down, not hate myself for a bad run.  I can do this.
4. Staying balanced.  I can’t be all consumed by running and I have a tendency to throw myself into things that way.  It just leads to me being burnt out and the people in my life not being very happy with me.  If BF is already nervous about the time commitments I don’t want to give him just cause to be down on me running this race.  If that means getting up earlier to run, so be it.

Nervous excitement.  That’s me right now with most aspects of my life.  Some of those reasons I’m not going to divulge just yet for fear of jinxing them…

You just gotta move on, because it’s all, lessons learned

Coming out of yesterday’s race I really feel that I learned some valuable lessons for future races and for my training in general.  In the interest of those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it, I figured it would be worth my while to lay out some of these lessons so that I can come back to them in the future.

1) If I’m in a race, I need to race. Yesterday was the first race where I was alone on the course for long periods of time, as a result I got complacent and was definitely moving slower than I was capable of, how much energy I had at the end was a testament to that fact, as well as the story that my times tell.  There were no mile markers on the course but I was wearing my watch and glanced at it periodically as I went along.  The first mile was about 12 minutes, including several starts, stops and slow downs due to congestion.  The next mile, straight uphill took a little over 20 minutes, the next two about another 30 minutes.  The first mile and a half of the backstretch returning down the hill accounted for another 20 minutes, this is where the girl behind me caught up with me and I realized how complacent and slow I had been running.  I did the last mile and a half of the race in about 15 minutes (granted downhill for part of it), my fastest part of the entire race.  Yes, I was going downhill, but really it was the competition of having someone else there that I wanted to beat.  Somehow I need to capture that mentality and keep it with me throughout a race whether or not I can see my competitors.

2) Running, alone, isn’t enough.  What’s sore today is not my legs, though I am of course feeling the race in them a little.  What I needed to rub IcyHot on was my shoulders and upper back.  The trail running makes your body move around a lot more than a flat road course where you just keep chugging straight on ahead.  I need to get back in the habit of doing my core routine regularly and strengthen my body so that the running will become easier as well.  Same goes for hopping back on the weight-loss bandwagon.  I was doing well at both of these and then just kinda stopped.  It’s an ongoing process, I can’t just do it once and assume it will help for the rest of my life.

3) Training is the key. I’ve been really slack as of late in my running, and I need to get myself back on a schedule if I want to not hate myself every time I do a race.  Yeah, I knew I could finish yesterday, and even with training I probably would have still walked that steep uphill at the start, but I think it would have really made a difference on the middle section where it was up and down and my legs started feeling really dead.  I’ve only been doing short runs and my legs knew and I knew it and my time showed it.

Obvious, yes, but sometimes it’s worth the while to write something down just to make sure you remember it and to take that excuse away in the future that you didn’t know any better or didn’t expect what was coming.  Here it’s all laid out in the open and I either learn, or quit bitching.  One thing is for sure, trail races are very different from road races, but also a whole lot more fun, I’m excited for the others I have lined up for the summer and I’m gonna get my ass out there training and hopefully set a couple of PR’s while I’m at it.

Your load is so heavy, and your legs wanna rest; it’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright

Sometimes I really just have to make myself do things or they’ll never get done. I woke up this morning at 7:30 and looked outside to a grey and drizzly looking day and almost went back to bed. Instead I found my running clothes and got myself out the door and downtown to the Tortoise and Hare 10k. Not only was this (finally!) my first 10k after missing the first 2 I had planned, but this was also my very first trail race and I have to say that that aspect was greatly underestimated by myself.

Despite the dreary forecast there was a good turnout for the event and they ran out of official race number bibs as I was standing in line to register, so instead I got 1002 scrawled on my hand in sharpie (it’s just like a triathlon they joked) and a yellow piece of paper to give to them at the end if it didn’t disintegrate in the rain along the way. I made my way back to my car to stow some stuff and then a bathroom stop (no long lines, sweet!) and then headed over to the starting area to stretch out and warm up a little bit. I listened to people talk about the course and knew in the back of my head that the hardest part was going to be right at the beginning. The race description said that it was 400′ over about a half a mile but really the entire 2nd mile was pretty vertical with a couple of short flat stretches thrown in, all in all the climb over the race is closer to 600′ and that really made a difference.

The start of the race was somewhat comical, we all lined up on one side of the ballfields and the R.D. yelled “Ready, set, go!”; and we all raced off across the field only to reach the other side where the trail started and it was room for only one abreast and therefore the mass of us had to stop and walk for a minutes while we formed a single-file line. This first mile was by far the prettiest part of the whole race, we ran through a huge field full of purple and white flowers that were beautiful and fragrant and absolutely magical. Keep in mind that I hike around this park a lot and I saw things on this race that I hadn’t seen before which was really an awesome part of the experience and one of the reasons that I really enjoy running, it truly does open my eyes to things that I might not otherwise see. This part of the course was pretty flat and there was a group of us all moving at about the same pace, a few muddy spots, I quickly wound up with mud on my legs and wet shoes, but I figured at least I got that out of the way and I wouldn’t have to worry about avoiding mud puddles for the whole race. As we reached the exit of the trail we were on the first of the kids one mile fun run entrants raced past us on the way to their finish line, which threw me off a little, but I figured that we had had to slow down and walk or stop a couple times due to congestion, so that would account for some lost time there. Back across our starting line we went, over the bridge, through the parking lot and onto the service road is where the climb began.

I had decided before I was even sure that I was going to do this race that I was going to use a run/walk strategy. Just hiking up the trails from the lower to the upper falls can be tiring depending on the trail, and the race followed pretty much the steepest way up the hill that I knew of. Considering that my running and training has been spotty at best lately, attempting the 10k was going to be challenging enough, attempting to run the uphills I knew would be cause for defeat. There was a brief moment as I went through the parking lot that I thought maybe I should just go to my car and head home, maybe I shouldn’t be trying to run this race, in the back of my mind I was worried about finishing DFL and didn’t want that to happen, the part of my brain that said that DNF’ing was worse than DFL won out though and on I went. As I reached the trail that would take us to the top of the lower falls, I slowed to a walk and kept myself moving, concentrating on my breathing, making sure that I was pushing myself just the right amount. There was a girl about my age in front of me who had been moving at my pace and I pegged her as the one I wanted to finish ahead of, she was slowly jogging up the hill, but slowed to a walk as well when I passed her while I was walking. A woman in a yellow shirt was the next one ahead of me and I soon passed her too, she seemed to be having trouble catching her breath and kept stopping as a result. Ahead of me I could see another woman in a yellow shirt that I was hoping to pass, but I never did, from this point of the race I was pretty much on my own, which had its ups and downs.

I got passed by a couple of men during this stretch of the race and really didn’t know how many people were behind me except for the two women that I had passed. I tried to run the few all too brief flat stretches that were thrown into this climb, and shortened my stride and hiked up the steep parts, but it was definitely tougher than I had imagined and I knew that the time I had in the back of my mind to shoot for was pretty much out the window already. When I reached the first aid station I gladly took a cup of water, my throat was feeling very dry and I slowed down to drink that as well, as I couldn’t see anyone behind me or in front of me. As I crossed the street and headed onto the next trail I was only a minute or two down the trail when I saw the frontrunner coming blazing down the trail breathing hard with a look of determination on his face. To see someone on their way back to the bottom that soon into my race was a little disheartening, but at the same time, as more people started to pass me on their way back down their encouraging words to keep it up and good job really helped keep me going. The second guy to pass me was a few more minutes further into the trail and I knew there was no way that he was going to catch the first guy to pass me, but he still went by with that same blazed look of determination. As I continued to run by these racers (jumping to the side of the narrow trail to clear room for them) I realized that as tough as I was finding the race, I still was not pushing myself as hard as they were, not that I think I could have pushed myself that hard without keeling over, but still the sweat coming off of them, the gasping of their breath as they swooshed by, they were definitely going all out and racing whereas I was kind of just chugging along hoping to finish, a very different mentality and I liked the layout of this course for the opportunity it gave to show the experience of these runners to me.

Although the steepest part of the course was finished with, this next leg continued to roll up and down and had a lot of roots criss-crossing the ground to contend with, I ran most of it, slowing a couple times on some steeper uphills, but wanted to be running whenever anyone passed me so mostly kept my slow pace going. Eventually the trail split off to make a loop before it would rejoin at that spot for the return journey and so I stopped seeing the other racers at that point and was instead again on my own plodding along for better or for worse and I started to wonder where the hell the next aid station was going to be (at the end of mile 4) I could see and hear the people at the aid station long before I got there as I was up on trail along the ridge and had to come down and circle around a couple of roads before re-entering the park and gladly accepting a cup of Gatorade that I again slowed down to drink. At that point it had taken me about an hour to reach that point and I hadn’t seen anyone in a while, in front of or behind me, and I was jogging along rather complacently as if it was any other run really. I finished the loop and rejoined the main trail that we followed up and down and actually passed another runner still on his way up the trail I was happy to offer a smile and some words of encouragement and it was a nice feeling to be on the other side of that experience.

Around that point, I knew that the arches of my feet were developing blisters, my left foot especially was bothering me and I kept considering stopping to adjust my shoes, but not wanting to stop since I was so close to nearing the finish. I had finally decided to just deal with the problem already and was about to stop when I heard something behind me and turning my head back I saw the first girl that I had passed, the one that I had pegged as being my competition to beat to the finish. With her that close on my tail, suddenly I realized how complacent I had gotten in my solitude and how slow my pace had dropped to. I forgot about my feet and instead picked up the pace again staying just ahead of her. I was conscious of her presence, but didn’t want it to foul my game plan either so I still slowed to a walk on what was really the last of the steep climbs during the race, right about the 5 mile point and I was glad that she slowed there as well, finally breaking the silence with “All downhill from here, my butt.” I laughed and agreed with her and on we went, myself a little bit ahead of her so that I couldn’t see her, but I knew she was there. As I grabbed another cup of Gatorade at the last aid station with just under a mile and a half to go she stayed just behind me and asked what time it was that we were running. I told her it was an hour and half on the dot, at this point she picked up her pace a little bit and slowly passed me. I held off the urge to fight her for the lead, as I could hear that even as we were essentially on a downhill for the rest of the race, she was breathing much harder than I was and I was pretty sure that on the flat homestretch of about half a mile at the bottom I would be able to take her as long as I didn’t let her get too far ahead of me. We exchanged a few more words back and forth, this was her first trail race as well, she didn’t think she was going to be doing another one. Despite the fact that my pace was ridiculously slow and the race was much tougher than anticipated, I knew that I would be doing more in the future, I was having fun. I saw her slow down on a slick spot in front of me and I went to slow as well, but it was too late, I went down scraping up my hand a little, but nothing bad. To her credit she stopped and turned around to ask if I was okay instead of speeding off, I said I was fine as I picked myself up and we continued on with her still just a bit ahead of myself.

Going into the race I knew the uphill was going to be tough, but I also knew that the downhill was going to be tough because it was very steep and wet and slippery from the rain as well. Anticipating that I had thought about how to run downhill and had read up on others thoughts and experiences as well on KR the day before. As we headed into the steepest part of the course the girl in front of me slowed a little, not wanting to fall, and that is when I passed her again for the final time. I picked up my pace, quickened my turnover and leaned into the hill and went all out.  She was quickly left far behind me as I charged out of the trail onto the access road, back across the parking lot, the bridge and across the finish line at the playground for a final time of 1 hour 40 minutes.  I certainly hadn’t made my goal time but I wasn’t DFL, I had beat the person I had picked out to beat, and I had completed a 7 mile run and learned a lot along the way.  A successful day to be sure and it wasn’t even 11 in the morning yet.

She is smiling and she’s falling in a slow, descending funk

The weather here has been beautiful here for the past week or so (aside from the possibility of snow over the weekend…) and yet I’ve found myself in some sort of funk that has been hard to shake off and has kept me fairly sedentary as the world grows warmer outside. I think partially I was really disappointed that I didn’t get to race in what I had been preparing for since the start of the year. All at once my race was nonexistant, my training plan was over and the VRAA came to a close the same weekend as well. All my motivators fell out from under me. I’m happy to report though that I did get back on my feet today and it was exactly what I needed. I arrived at work this morning a little angry that I had forgotten my lunch, I’ve really been trying to bring something to eat everyday in an attempt to eat better and help my body and my running at the same time. Soon thereafter though, I realized that I have to work this coming Saturday which of course means that I’m due a comp day this week to make up for the hours. I saw the sun shining outside and knew that I had no excuse to not get out and conquer some miles if my work day was really going to be over at noon. It took some time, I relaxed a little with the boyfriend when I got home, knowing that with our friend coming over to work on his car today, there would be little time for alone time later. After a couple hours I was ready to go, but I knew my fuel tank was running just about on empty and so I decided to make myself a tomato grilled cheese sandwich before heading out and save my packed lunch for tomorrow at work. After letting that settle a minute I was out the door. I decided to do my Salmon Creek run since I hadn’t done that one in a while and it’s easy to adjust the mileage to suit how I’m feeling; I figured my first run out after 2 weeks off shouldn’t be a super long one. Being such a fabulous day outside I decided to start straight from my house rather than driving down to the fishing spot that I usually start at which meant that I got to start my run off with a nice downhill jaunt, followed by a steep uphill climb before leveling out on Salmon Creek Rd. While the clear blue sky and warm temperatures were very inviting and calming I was disappointed to still see so much brown, none of the trees have really burst forth into spring yet, though I think it’s just around the corner. I decided to turn back just past the 2 mile point figuring that 4 miles was a good starting point to get back into the swing of things after my couple week lapse. On my way back I decided that climbing the huge uphill towards my street didn’t sound like a whole bunch of fun at that point of my run, and so at the fishing spot I turned off the road and headed up the stream hoping that there would be space to run along its edge all the way back to my house. Thankfully fishing season recently started and the fishermen had trampled down a nice path for me to follow. Running across the sand and the rocks and the weeds was fun and different for my feet and my mind to grapple with.  I saw a fisherman walking up the same side just a bit ahead of me and watched him cross the stream.  I was hoping to not get too wet as I crossed so I ran up a bit further than he had gone, only to have to backtrack for what looked like the safest and easiest crossing spot in the area.  Unfortunately it was a somewhat wide spot in the river so although I made it halfway across on the rocks, eventually I had to give in and just get my feet wet.  The current was stronger than expected, but the temperature of the water was much warmer than I had feared.  Once on the other side I ran the last little bit to get to where my property comes down to the stream and search for an appropriate place to scale the gorge wall.  If the fisherman saw me (I had passed him by at that point) he must of thought I was nuts as I grabbed for handholds and pulled myself up, but I was surprised to find that the upper part of the climb was much less sandy and therefore easier to climb than it was last summer.  All in all it was a very enjoyable run by the end and I think I might incorporate running up the stream more often so long as the water levels stay down; maybe see if I can run all the way to the lake!  Hopefully  I can get back in my groove now and move on to the half training that I’ve pretty much convinced myself is the next step at this point.  Still searching for the right plan, but I’ve read through a couple that look doable.  Unfortunately there are still no races I can find that fall at the right time.

No matter how you died through winter, in spring you’re born again

So I didn’t run the Skunk Cabbage Classic.  My first race of the year come and gone and I was not there to toe the line.  I’m a little bummed, but familial obligations called.  My brother’s last High School Musical was this past weekend and there was no way I could miss it.  I’m glad I went, the show was great and he was fantastic, especially considering it was a musical and he was playing a mute!  It was a lot of driving and a little stressful to be back and forth between here and Jersey two weekends in a row but it was definitely worth it, even if it meant missing a race.  So instead I need to look forward reassess and figure out what’s coming next.  The next race I had planned was the Rec Way 10k at the end of May, I may fit a 5k in somewhere before then just for fun since a lot of those are coming up, but I think I’m going to start ramping up my mileage again in a couple weeks.  Nicer weather is arriving, the past few days have been beautiful, though I’ve done more hiking than running recently, but at least I’ve been outside.  10 miles is the longest race distance I had set for myself at the start of the year, but at the moment at least, I’m feeling like that’s really not going to be that hard to achieve.  I’m considering starting a half marathon plan (did I really just say that!) and making it twice as long, basically do each week twice before moving on to the next one.  I still have some research to do, I’ve been liking the Hal Higdon plans but Kickrunners has one too and there are others floating around the internet as well.  I think most of them are about 2 months long, so if I double it that’s about 4 months of training and building myself a good base, and I’m looking at being up to the distance by the end of summer which leaves me all fall to maintain and find a suitable HM which I’ve still been carrying around in the back of my mind.  I feel insane.  I’ve been running for 1 year now (as of some time very soon, I’ll have to check Coolrunning and see if I can figure that one out) and when I started I figured you know I’d get to the 5k distance and that would be great and I’d be happy with myself.  The thought of running even a HM seemed a long way off.  I guess though with the backpacking trips and knowing that I can do the distance in one day while lugging a bunch of crap around on my back without any real repercussions makes it that much easier to wrap my mind around being able to run the distance.  Sure its still twice as far as I’ve ever ran before, but as I’ve said many times, give me a little sunshine and my whole outlook on the world changes dramatically.   Anything is possible once spring arrives.

I’ve got to keep traveling on

I thank my parents for kicking me outside as a child and refusing to let me waste perfectly beautiful days sitting in the house staring at the TV. I love being outside. I may not always love what mother nature decides to put on that day, but given the appropriate clothing and footwear I’ll probably make do. Part of why I like running so much is because I’m outside experiencing the world around me, everything looks so different on two feet than it does when driving by on four wheels and I savor those details. Life slows down while I’m running (it’s not all due to the fact that my pace is slow to start with…) and I’m given the opportunity to be alone with myself, my thoughts and the world around me. Long before I started running though I was always interested in hiking. I’ve gone hiking in states and parks all across the country and even if I may not run a race in every state I have no doubt I’ll go for a hike in every one someday before I die. Backpacking is a more recent expansion of my love for hiking and it is working its way into my heart as well.

Over the last weekend in March I backpacked some 20+miles of the Batona Trail through the heart of South Jersey’s Pine Barrens with some of my best friends from high school and had an amazing time. The weather was perfect (during the day at least, though a bit brisk at night), the sky was the most brilliant shade of blue and all around us were the first signs that spring was here and color was on its way back into the drab landscape of winter. We prepped hard by packing our packs and staying up until 2 in the morning despite our goal start time of 6am. Packing the night before was a must though, after picking up my pack I realized that I’d rather be hungry on the trail than carry 8 packages of tuna with me. Out came the tuna a few packages of oatmeal and an extra hat, the fleece pullover was going to have to stay behind as well. The pack was still a little heavy feeling but I figured once I started drinking my water the weight would decrease. 6am came early as it is wont to do and sure enough Ramsay and Spittle were soon knocking on the door. Soon enough we were on our way with a quick stop at DD for some pre-hike fuel. There was a bit of confusion over the exact starting spot as we bumped our way up and down dirt roads in the pine barrens searching for the trail. Spittle assured us he knew what he was doing and eventually we did find the campsite we were searching for and left Sara’s car behind as we all piled into Spittle’s truck and headed for the start which thankfully we had a better idea of where that was. Parked the car unloaded the packs and strapped them on our backs and off we went. Until we realized it was the wrong trail and we had to turn around and look around some more for the correct trail.

Pink blazes would be our friend for this whole journey. We found the trail and spirits were high as we set off, quickly shedding our outer layers and gloves through the first few miles as the sun rose high into the sky and warmed the world up a bit. I realized quickly that I would need a belt if I had any hope of keeping my pants around my waist while hiking and Ramsay, ever the resourceful one, just happened to have a chained rope with him that worked perfectly. We took our first brief rest on one of the bridges that we would be crossing and ate some crackers while I adjusted my new-found belt. We were all independent enough that we were comfortable walking at our own paces and being by ourselves for periods of time, knowing that whoever was ahead (Spittle mostly, he’s a speed demon) would stop for a rest and wait for the rest of us to catch up periodically. Sara and I have similar paces and we were able to walk and talk and catch up a good bit which was something that I had really needed as I sometimes feel a bit isolated from the people who know me best while I’m up here in NY. Sometime after noon we all stopped in a clear sandy area and decided that it was lunch time. Sara and David had brought mac and cheese with them and since no one really wanted to do dishes we all delved into the communal pot with our camping spoons and filled our stomachs. The boys were looking drowsy so Sara and I headed out on our own after lunch and were making pretty good time despite one wrong turn that we realized fairly quickly. We dragged a branch across the path to make the turn that we missed a little more obvious for the boys behind us and continued on our journey deep in conversation until Spittle nearly gave me a heart attack by choosing not to let us know he was behind us until he was about 6 inches from my back and then joining the conversation. Soon after he passed us the Daves caught up as well and we all met together again as we reached the road to Batsto at 3 pm-5 solid hours of hiking and I think 8 miles into the journey or so. The maps we had were all pretty unclear as to the landmarks and the mileage so a lot of it was guess work on our parts. We agreed that we should probably hike until close to 5 and then use the remaining few hours of daylight to set up camps and relax for the day. After we again split up into groups our feet started hurting a bit.

By a little after 4 we were about done for the day and we hadn’t seen Ramsay or Spittle who we knew were in front of us for quite some time. I said to Sara around 4:30 that I really hoped we were going to come across them already with a camp set up and a fire going and sure enough not to long after that we were greeted with that very site and not a moment too soon. My shoes were the first thing to come off as I reached camp and my toes were very happy for that fact. We put the tents up in no time and got right down to cooking up grub. Tuna steaks and Spanish rice were our entrees for the night and we again did the communal thing because our feet hurt and we were lazy. Mostly I was happy to get that weight out of my pack and into our bellies. Afterwards Spittle and Sara scouted some running water in a swamp not to far from our campsite and Ramsay, Spittle and I went down to filter the water and refill all of our packs. We were a little perilously perched around a tree in the swamp and I did get to find out that my boots were in fact really waterproof as advertised as I took a misstep and wound up in the water, thankfully my feet stayed perfectly dry and the boots were dry again in no time as well. Back to the camp site we went where we all enjoyed some tea and sat around the fire talking as the night grew dark and chilly around us. Not long after sunset we all decided to turn in for the night, I’m guessing we were all asleep by 9ish. Unfortunately it got cold that night and Sara and David had decided to forgo the weight of sleeping bags for their fleece liners. I was sharing a tent with them and was a little chilly but more uncomfortable than anything as I had a mummy bag with me that was rated down to 20 degrees. I do wish I had spent the extra 20 bucks and gotten the one that was good down to 0 but oh well, live and learn. Somewhere in the middle of the night all 5 of us wound up awake and cold. Dave started doing pushups to keep himself awake and Sara tried to crawl into him a la Luke Skywalker in the Vth episode when he uses the snow creature guts to warm himself. Unfortunately that didn’t work as well for her and she wound up staying up for most of the night and finally gave up and started a fire around 6 in the morning or so. The rest of us were up soon after and not moving so fast on this cold morning. After some oatmeal and tea we started striking camp and repacking our bags.

Sara and I again struck out first though the rest weren’t far behind this time as we knew we had at least 8 miles to go before we would see the car. Sunday was tough. My feet still hurt from the previous days hiking and I had definitely underestimated how tough the sand would be to hike on. I figured my boots hadn’t given me a blister yet on any of the mountains or such that I had hiked with them, but that was not to be true on the flat NJ ground. I had blisters under each of my 2nd toes (pointer toes?) toenails and Also on the ball of each of my feet. I had put blister bandaids on the bottoms of my feet but I probably should have just popped them before starting out that day because they just kept getting worse. We saw a lot more people this day and there was a motorcross running as well so we had to keep an eye out for bikers as well. Unfortunately most of the pine barrens all looks the same and with the terrain being primarily flat and straight it was very tough mentally to ever judge how far or how long we had hiked. We stopped a few times and had a few landmarks where we knew how far it was to the car. I felt good at the 5 mile mark but that feeling soon faded as my feet were killing me. Taking Ramsays advice Sara and I decided to dip our feet in the stream to cool them off and I switched socks. Sara decided to forgo her shoes and hike the rest of the trail in just her socks, which I suppose if you’re going to do that, this is the trail to do it on. When we all met up again we figured that there was about 3 miles to go thought about having lunch and then just decided we wanted to get it over with. This was the longest 3 miles of my life. I hiked most of it alone, Spittle was with me for a while but figuring that we were near the end he forged ahead of me after a bit. My feet hurt so badly that I kept wanting to stop but I knew that if I did it would turn out that the car was just around the corner and I would kick myself for stopping so on and on I kept pushing myself as I crossed unmarked dirt road after unmarked dirt road that weren’t on my map and just made me feel farther than ever from the end. I should point out that this was actually one of the prettier sections of the hike as it had been the victim of a forest fire last summer and the stark difference of the black charred burnt trees on one side of the trail and the green of the fresh grown on the other side was really quite stunning. However, all I could really think about was I want to be done. As I reached yet another dirt road that wasn’t on my map I was feeling quite frustrated and decided I was done for the time being, Spittle had been ahead of me and just slipped out of my view not long before this and I decided that I would take my shoes off put my pack down and wait for the other three to catch up. During this time I saw my first wildlife of the whole journey, a couple of goldfinches playing and flying in the air together, I was really surprised that I hadn’t seen more during the past two days hiking. After 5 or 10 minutes Ramsay showed up and plunked down beside me in the sand and decided to study his DEQ homework that he had been putting off until the other two showed up. Sara and David were along another 20 minutes or so after that and were really disappointed when I informed them that this still wasn’t the end. They sat down with us as well to eat an orange and relax for a minute while we pulled out our maps and stared at them again will the car to be closer to us. I was feeling pretty dejected right about then because I figured that as close to Spittle as I had been following him, if the car was nearby he would’ve made it there by now and turned around to meet us on the trail and let us know that it wasn’t far, yet it was definitely 40 minutes since the last time I had seen him. As we puzzled over the maps and tried to get ourselves moving again Spittle again answers my wishes and appears out of the path in front of us to let us know that it’s not that far, only another 15 minutes walking or so. That new put a definite spring in our steps and off we went. Finally we were crossing the train tracks that were our last landmark and ahead through the trees I could see the road! Exhausted but thoroughly satisfied we were at last at the car and had completed our journey. Not wanting to prolong going out to get some big plates of food to feast and rejoice we decided to pack all 5 of us and our 5 backpacks into Sara’s VW beetle (which was a feat in its own rite) and soon enough we were on our way and leaving the pine barrens behind us.

and you turn and run farther when the fast bullets fly

(cross posted from KR from a few weeks ago)

I left work yesterday, stowed my things in my car, making sure I grabbed my keys and my cell phone (I had had visions of locking my keys in my car which would’ve locked me out of both my house and my car) and headed out for the run home. One block into it I almost got hit by a car, I’m not used to running on roads with much traffic, the car was making a left onto the street I was crossing, I looked at her and waved her to go ahead but she came to a stop so I figured she was letting me go, as soon as I started in front of her she hit the gas to go herself, from now on I won’t go unless the driver waves me on. After that it was pretty uneventful for the first few miles, there was a soft shoulder to run on most of the way which was nice on my feet and although it was a slight uphill incline I felt that I was making pretty good time, though I had told myself I wouldn’t check my time until I reached what I thought was the halfway point. The exhaust from the cars was a little stinky at times, though the loudness of them driving by was more disconcerting to me. I covered my ears whenever a big truck went by and an ambulance. My race is being run on a street with traffic (although a slower speed limit I think) so I figure I need to get used to running when there are vehicles around. As I reached my halfway point I checked my time and found that I was right on pace for what I wanted and my 5k time just keeps dropping as I do these longer runs, making me itch to find a 5k around here and really test myself. I’m on a mostly flat stretch for the next couple miles and marvel at myself as I make the turn onto my street and how easy my legs are moving now without any thought as to what I was doing. My pace had picked up a little and I felt good, a feeling that I’m not really getting out of my shorter runs lately for whatever reason. I had about a mile and a half to go from that turn and it was mostly downhill from there, so I was cruising along the shoulder, when all of a sudden I was hitting the ground hard. I picked myself up and brushed off, thankful that I hadn’t fallen into the road or traffic and took a few steps. I could feel the palms of my hands stinging a bit and my knee felt funny, pulled up my pant leg and yup my knee was all sorts of bloody, on top of that I had ripped my favorite running pants. With just under a mile to go I figured I could make it home and so I started running again the stinging fading away as I went. Finally I was running on the bridge over the creek and there was my house, I grabbed the empty trash can by the road and headed for the house where I promptly asked DBF to perform gravel extraction surgery on my knee. Stung like a bitch and my knee is sore today as well as the side of my leg and my hand, but when I mapped it out with the car it was a full 6.5 miles and my finish time made the goal I had in my head for my upcoming race seem totally doable. That realization made the whole thing worth it, now as long as I don’t wipe out during the race everything should be good.