Winter Trail Series Race Goals

Ok, so I lied. This is not a post about race goals. I don't think that I have any expectations going into tomorrow's race. I just want to get out and run some trails with a lot of other people.

It will be my second time running the Winter Trail Series 5k. The first time was last January, and looking back over my recap, it's strange to see how new trail running was for me then. (That is, technical trail running - not the flat, easy rail-trails.) Since then, I've run in another race and trained several times on technical trails in three different parks, and I actually feel just as comfortable lacing up my shoes for a trail run as I do for a run on the road.

The race is put on by the NJ Trail Series, which seems to be gaining a lot of popularity and has begun putting on a lot of events in northern New Jersey that range from 5ks to ultras. I love that they're providing the opportunity to race different distances throughout the winter.

The temperature at the start should be about 32*, and I'm trying to decide what to wear. I've been running almost all of my runs lately in an Under Armour ColdGear Mock shirt that is probably the most amazing article of clothing I've ever worn. I don't know if it will be too warm, though, and I might just go with a technical tee under a cotton long-sleeve. In any case, I've been feeling really good lately, so I expect to go out and have a good race!

Running after work in the dark

The chill in the air makes my nose run a little, but it feels good after the stuffy heat of the library. The sun set about 10 minutes ago, and I can see into all of the lit business and shop windows in town as I run along the sidewalk. Concrete sidewalks make for a hard, unforgiving surface to run on, but I seem to be able to spring off the ground so much easier from it that I feel fast. There really aren't that many people out and about. I am still cautious when crossing streets, though, because even decked out in reflective gear, I can't tell if cars can see me or not.

I turn toward a more residential section of town and focus on a section of brick sidewalk ahead, which dips and rolls in bumpy waves from the tree roots beneath. The street-lamps provide just enough light for me to high-step over the bumps and cracks. I keep going straight for a few blocks and start getting into a groove. I don't feel cold anymore, and I might even be taking it a little fast for an easy run.

I turn at the church on the corner of 4th Street and enter the quietest part of the neighborhood. The houses here never seem to have much going on. Maybe the southwest-style place with the tiki hut and plastic palm trees in the backyard has some activity in the summer, but in the fall and winter, it looks sad and out of place among the old Victorian buildings around it. It is one of the only houses along my route without a sidewalk, so I hop up onto the grass to avoid a car coming my way.

I run down another block before turning again. Here I start to see a lot of houses that are decorated for Christmas. I feel a little tired now. I probably did start out too fast, so I take it down a notch and look around at the lights and glowing reindeer. A dog barks at me from one of the houses, but I don't worry about it. The houses are so close together here that people always keep their pets fenced in or leased.

The road ends, and I turn into a fairly new housing development. Here the houses are modern, and almost every single one is decked with lights and lawn ornaments. The people who live here are coming home from work. I see them as they get out of their cars or string a few extra lights on the porch. The glow from inside the windows looks warm and comfy, but my legs are fully warmed up now, and I feel good running by in the cold.

I follow this road through to the end of the development. It empties out onto one of the main roads through town, right by the high school. I wait for the traffic to clear before dashing across and starting on the last leg of tonight's run. This is a straight shot, and I push a little harder knowing that I'm almost finished. As cars come up behind me, I see my own shadow against the fence growing clearer as the headlights get nearer. It's almost strange to be running alongside this shadow me. I run faster and see the shadow looking straighter and more purposeful. It looks strong and fast. I break the cadence to leap off the curb at a road crossing and back up on the other side, but my legs feel nimble now, and I can maneuver over the curbs and uneven sidewalks without losing speed.

When I lift my eyes up from the ground, I see the library up ahead. This is very familiar territory now. How many times have I had to park my car around here because the parking lot was full? I continue just a little way past the now nearly empty lot and turn at the corner to come around the library from the front. And jogging up to the side entrance, where I will go to collect my things and head home, I end another after-work, after-dark run feeling strong and exhilerated.

Don't shoot me, please!

Have you ever noticed the runners who look so sleek and cool clad in all-black cold-weather running gear? Ninja-like from balaclava to compression tights, they look like they're probably as fast as ninjas, too.

I am not one of them.

Instead, I'll be super stylish this winter in my brand-new "Hotfingers Hunting" orange knit hat. Until I find somewhere else to run besides wooded trails and back roads, I have to stick to wearing the brightest colors possible, and with hunting season upon us, orange is the best color.

I came across the hat when I was looking around at an outdoor recreation store for pepper spray to carry with me on runs. The pepper spray was the jogger model, with a strap to put around your hand to make it easy to carry. With the pepper spray, orange hat, and iFitness belt to carry keys, phone, and extra fuel, I'm well-prepared to run safely this winter.

Things To Be Thankful For

Every time I feel a little sore lately, I remember back to last year when I took time off from running to check to see if I had a stress fracture. Not being able to run drove me crazy. I remember that, because it reminds me of how thankful I am to be able to run. There are plenty of times when I'm lazy and choose not to, but the ability to get out and put one foot in front of the other is more valuable than I can say. So today, on Thanksgiving, I want to say how thankful I am for the ability to run. I'm not especially talented, and, compared to others, I'm not even that dedicated to training, but it's something I love to do, and I am so grateful for it. But that's only one of the things for which I am thankful this year. Here are some of the others:

Family:
There isn't much more to be thankful for in life than family and friends, although I admit that there are many times when I do not appreciate them enough. I had a wonderful time sharing the holiday today with family, and I look forward to many more opportunities to continue traditions and make new memories. Pictured above is one of my favorite family memories: an unexpected rainstorm during my cousin's housewarming party. A little rain couldn't dampen our spirits!

Friends:
I've tried to come out of my little librarian bubble and be a little more social in the past few months, and every time I do, I remember what great people my friends are. There's nothing like a buddy for hanging out watching chic flicks, spending a road trip listening to Harry Potter audio books, or just talking.

(Cue Gollum voice) My precious:
I think that I'm thankful every single day for my darling, precious, fluffy little Yorkshire Terrier. She is annoyingly yappy, very disobedient, and stressful to take care of (with health issues like cataracts and seizures), but this little dog is so sweet and lovable that I am thankful for her even when she's running around the house with a stolen sock.

Biking:
Last week I tried to take my bike for a ride on the trail and was stopped by a flat tire. Luckily I got that fixed on Tuesday, and you wouldn't believe how happy I was to be able to ride again. I was actually surprised how much I had missed using the bike, even though it was such a short time.

Summit Trail:
This is a trail that I explored for the first time on Tuesday. I am thankful not only for having discovered it, but to have so many opportunities to run trails so close to home. This one starts halfway up the mountain, so it does not take too much effort to reach the summit and take in the beautiful views from the ridge. I can't wait to try out some of the other trails in the park!

Sharing old recipes - and discovering new ones:
There's nothing that brings people together quite like sharing and enjoying food together. In the past month, I've been helping my mom type her collection of recipes, and I've often felt like I've been transported back in time to when my great-grandmother was alive and making meatballs with my mom in the kitchen, or when I'd visit my grandmother and she would put the entire bowl of her home-made cole-slaw in front of me because she knew that it was my favorite. I struck out with my standard stuffed mushrooms at Thanksgiving dinner today (they were bland), but I am not discouraged. In fact, I can't wait to try out many new recipes. I might even be bold enough to get fancy and try one of Julia Child's recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Bon Apettite!

Snuggly socks:
I really, really love warm, snuggly socks -- especially if they're made of fluffy material. They cushion your feet and make them so warm, all without making annoying flopping sounds like slippers usually do. This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for snuggly socks.

Warm gloves:
Last spring I bought some biking gloves on clearance, and, since the weather had been too warm, I only just wore them for the first time on Wednesday. I am now in love. If it sounds like I have an unhealthy obsession with fluffy socks, that is nothing compared to my attachment to these gloves. Not only are they blissfully warm, but the padding is supposed to prevent your fingers from going numb from the vibrations of the handlebars! That is seriously good news, because I have Raynaud's Disease, which is constriction of blood vessels in fingers and toes (usually caused by the cold, or vibrations, such as a car steering wheel or bike handlebars) causing them to turn white and go completely numb. I am so thankful to have found a pair of gloves that will help me keep my fingers warm and toasty, that I've taken to putting them on even when I'm inside, just to feel how warm and cushiony they are. They fit me, but they are really big, and the palm side looks really technical with all of the different padded areas, so when I wear them I kind of feel like a combination between Hakeem Nicks and Darth Vader. No problem, though. They're amazing!

The Cowboys losing today's football game:
No explanation needed!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Not exactly the fast track

So I'm not exactly on the fast track to my first marathon or a new race PR. Since my last post (in which I decided to build a base by working my way up to and then maintaining 20 miles per week), I set up and have been following a schedule combining running with arm/leg strength training, core workouts, and cycling. To fit everything in to a week with enough rest in between workouts, I started out at only 10 miles of running. It's a good start, but it will definitely take a bit of time to progress to where I would like to be with my running.

The first week of the schedule was successful, and I finished all of the workouts as planned. The second week was also successful, and I think that I can already sense a change in my fitness. Although one of my workouts was cut short, resulting in another 10-mile-week, I still got in almost all of the workouts as planned, and during my long run of 6 miles on Saturday, I felt stronger than I usually do. At mile 4, where I would usually be slow and shuffle-ly, I was holding pretty good form and a steady pace. Then I kept that pace up through miles 5 and 6, with a nice push for the last 100 m, which I was able to sustain right through to the end. It was a great, confidence-building run that makes me feel like I'm taking the right approach to fitness and running.

Yesterday was a rest day after the 6-miler, but the weather was too perfect for me not to be outside, and I decided to take the Trek out for a little spin on the trail. There have been some long gaps in between rides in the past few months, so I didn't think much of needing to fill the tires with air before every ride. This time I just needed to fill the back tire. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough. By the time I had ridden a mile, the tire was almost completely flat, so I turned around and walked it back to the car. I had stashed the air pump in the trunk, but I think it's too far gone and will need some professional maintenance. Of the two tires on the bike, the back tire was the newer one, so I'm a little bummed that I'll probably have to replace it again. Luckily I can still train on my indoor bike-trainer until the Trek is back in commission.

I don't know if I'll be in shape to run a fast 5k by Thanksgiving or the beginning of December, but I'm pleased with how my schedule is going after 2 weeks, so I'll stick with it.

What would it take?

I have a problem. I've never logged more than 20 miles in one week. I keep getting injured or turned off by bad weather conditions, and so I haven't given myself the opportunity to improve. Just this week I stopped running because I've had some pain in my hip/iliotibial band/knee/lower leg. And today I sat down and wondered to myself "what would it take for me to run a marathon?" At this point, it seems almost impossible.

I'd like to try and do it, though. It might not be for a very long time, but completing a marathon is high on my list of things to do. And to get there, I need to gradually build a base and maintain it. So my long-term goal is to slowly work my way up to 20 miles per week and maintain it. Then I can evaluate whether or not I can handle a marathon.

My first step now is to buy new shoes. The second step is to get out and use them.

Bringing home the hardware

I was just scrolling through my blog roll and saw a giveaway for a medal hanger. The one displayed by the blogger had 14 medals on it, and it was fun to try and guess what kind of race each one came from, given the varied shapes, sizes, and colors of the medals. I have to say, the display was very impressive. Whether they were finisher's medals or age group awards, each one signifies a great deal of training, and probably a fair amount of pain that was endured.

I've heard some people joke about racing just for the hardware, but to tell you the truth, receiving a medal really means a lot. When I was shuffling through my half-marathon in May with my hip aching, one of the things that kept me going was knowing that if I didn't get to the finish line, I wouldn't get a medal, and I wouldn't have that tangible proof that I could do it, even though I had trained so hard for so long. The motivation of knowing that I would be rewarded not just for the miles of agony I was running at that moment, but also the months that led up to it helped keep me going. And after the race, my support staff surprised me with a shadowbox with a copy of the medal, my bib, a photo, and a plaque with my time, which now reminds me daily of what an accomplishment it was to finish.

I have to admit, though, that I feel a little behind my fellow runners. Four years after my first 5k, I had one finisher's medal to my credit, and one medal would look a little pathetic on a medal hanger. I had been hoping that this summer I could improve my speed and come home with a new 5k PR and some age group awards. It didn't quite happen that way, and I've learned a little bit of a lesson.

On September 25th, I ran the Fall Foliage 5K in the town where I work. I thought that it would be an easy PR, since the course is flat, I'm familiar with the area, and being fall, the weather would be cooler. I was wrong. It was warm, and I felt tired and just drained. In the first mile, I thought that I was going out too fast, and it turns out it was 9:30. I would have been behind even if it had been a minute faster. So I tried to speed up and ended in 27:54.

I admit that I was embarrassed. I hung around for the awards ceremony and discovered that I was 3rd in the female 25-29 yr. category. That was it: my first age group medal! But I didn't feel any less embarrassed. In fact, I figured that there probably were only 3 in the category to begin with and was kind of really bummed that my first age group medal was one that I didn't really earn. (Side note: I like how in the picture of me receiving the medal, I'm shaking the woman's hand and taking the medal at the same time, and it looks like we're about to do-se-do in a square dance.) I've received some delicious homemade jam as an age group award for several races in the past, and I almost received a medal last summer, but had to leave before the awards ceremony to get ready for a friend's wedding. So for years I never had the pride of bringing home the hardware, and then there was my first, barely deserved.

Thankfully, when the official results were posted, I saw that I was 3rd out of 4 in the age group, so I feel more deserving, but I've learned that I can't expect to do well without training. I ran this summer, but I didn't train, and that made all the difference when it came time to toe the starting line.

So I have decided not to run the 8-mile Chilli Challenge trail run on Sunday that I had been planning on doing. Last week I did 8 miles easy on the road and felt very out of shape. My right leg hurt from the knee to the hip, and I'll probably injure myself if I go out on the trails for a race while I'm this undertrained. The jury's still out on the trail half-marathon next month, but I'm guessing that I might not have enough time to prepare for it.

For the time being, I'm going to stretch and cross-train more and try and run more consistently. Even if I can't get outside or do a particular prescribed workout, I've told myself that if I'm feeling well and it's not a rest day, I should do at least one mile on the treadmill, no excuses. I hope to improve my fitness, feel generally better from the extra exercise, and maybe run a turkey trot with a little more confidence than I've had this summer/fall. I'll definitely be more motivated now that I have my bronze medal hanging up to remind me of what I can earn with a little more work.