Boston Store Night Run

Tonight I planned on running 10 miles from Boston Store to Snowville Rd and back.  By the time I got to the Boston Store parking lot, it was 6:30, dark and spitting rain.  I ran to Blue Hen Falls and by the time I got there, I had enough of sliding around in the mud.  I hadn't even got to the worst part of it yet, closer to Snowville. 

So I turned around, got back to my car and did 4 miles on the Towpath between mile markers 21 and 23.  I forced myself to run an easy pace and was glad I did.  I felt great at the end of the run other than my legs and arms feeling a little sore from swimming laps and lifting the past couple days.

Tennis & Snowshoeing

Today my brother and I went over to Towpath to play some tennis indoors.  Every Friday night and Sunday morning they have open court for non-members for $10 per person per hour.  We played an hour Friday and played another hour today.  We were a little rusty Friday, but it didn't take long to get our ground strokes and serves back to normal.  It felt great playing inside while snow was flying outside.  I always love playing at indoor domes, probably because it brings back memories of playing at Avalon and Liberty Racquet Club when I was younger.

Afterwards, I drove over to Pine Hallow at the CVNP and snowshoed for an hour.  This is a great workout!  There was plenty of snow on the ground and I saw other people out on the trails cross country skiing and snowshoeing as well.

2012 Running Schedule

Usually I don't post schedules for the whole year, but this year I'm pretty excited to try a new distance (100K) and run races I've always wanted to, but never got around to signing up for (Cortland 10 Miler & Potatoe Stomp).  I figure if I write it down, maybe I'll stick to it.  So here is my tentative race/event schedule for 2012:

• Mill Creek Distance Classic Half Marathon - March 4th
• Forget the PR 50K - April 15th
• Pace at MMT 100 - May 12-13th
• No Frills, Just Hills FA - May 26th
• Cortland 10 Miler - June
• Pikes Peak Marathon - August 18th
• Mantua Potatoe Stomp 9 miler - September
• Oil Creek 100K - October
• URINEO - December 15th
• MHM???

"When each day is the same as the next, it's because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day the sun rises."

Chinese Inspiration

I got off work a little bit late today and got home around 5:30.  I didn't feel like cooking anything, so I ordered some General Tso's Chinese food.  After eating half of this, I cracked open my fortune cookie.  It read, "When you exercise the body you cleanse the soul."  I had planned on kicking back and watching TV tonight, but after reading this I felt motivated to go do a workout. 

So I drove over to the Kent Rec center and swam some laps.....64 of them for a mile.  I felt great doing them and it really wasn't too tiring.  Not sure what kind of times are good for a mile in the pool, but I did it in 28 minutes and was pretty happy with that.  I went in the jacuzzi and sauna after and felt way better than I did when I came.

Blanket of Snow

Running Blind

Tonight's run was awesome.  I parked at Pine Lane and ran out-and-back to Boston Store for 8 miles.  I started at 6, so I had to use my headlamp from the start.  From the first few steps on the trail, I knew it would be a slopfest!  There was a steady mist of rain which made it really foggy out.  It would've been good to have a handheld light tonight since it was difficult to see very far ahead of me with the headlamp.  It was like a car when you turn your brights on when it's foggy out.  Plus every time I breathed, my view was blocked even more.  However I needed my light on so I wouldn't trip.  I pointed it down so I could see my next step and any roots ahead of me.  It helped that I have run this route many times and can visualize in my head the entire trail, almost every root and rock.  It was a little nerve-racking not being able to see into the woods and I had this thought in my head that I'd run into a deer or coyote.  That thought came and pass quickly though since I had to concentrate on each step.  It amazes me how few times I trip with all the roots and turns along the way.  I think it's a combination of knowing the trail, calculating where to land before each step, running "light" on my feet and just plain luck.  It's almost like a dance.  At night you get in a trance and forget about the mileage.  It always seems like you're running fast since you have no scenery to judge your speed by.  I think I do run faster at night though because I'm more relaxed, yet more focused. 

Along the way, I encountered a pack of deer that were laying down on the ground until I disturbed them.  They were probably just as surprised as I was and thinking "what the hell is he doing out here?".  A mile and a half further down, I heard a noise ahead of me on the trail.  I shut off my light so I could see better further ahead.  I saw three guys in regular clothes, which really surprised me.  I was just glad it wasn't an animal.  I told them I thought they were deer and they joked that they're just friendly bears.  I meant to ask if they were training for anything on the way back, but never saw them again. 

As I got closer to finishing my run, I was headed down the big hill right before the stream crossing.  I saw a bunch of headlamps coming up the trail towards me.  After saying hi to them, I then realized it was Thursday and it was the Crooked River Trail group run.  Looks like I wasn't the only crazy out tonight.  However, instead of going to Boston Store, they turned down Initiation Hill back to Peninsula.

I finished the run, changed clothes and hopped in my car.  What a great run!  Nothing compares to that feeling of being tired, yet energized from a grueling workout.  I tried to keep the pace up and worked twice as hard to do so due to the mud.  I try not to let the weather conditions affect if I'll run, especially the condition of the trail.  Every time I've decided to go for a run (particularly at Pine Lane) when it's wet, rainy and muddy, I've never regretted it once.