Spring has Sprung?

Today we hopped over to Greensboro to explore the amazing Bur-Mil Park and its trails with a small group. The planned route was a 10k with about 1 mile on the greenway, 4.5 miles on the Owl's Roost trail (very technical - rocks, roots, rolling hills), and then short hop back on the greenway before heading onto a branch of the Big Loop, finishing on a steep uphill before topping out at the field and running down and across the open field. The run was fantastic and the group was great! We did the 10k in about 59 minutes with a few stops to let bikers pass. After about a 10 min break to hit the restrooms and get some water, 3 of us headed back out to run it again! My legs were getting a bit tired and I was getting complacent right about the time I ate the trail. Full superman onto my side, hip smashing into a rock/root of some kind. But, I was able to get right back up and dust off the trail to keep going. Lesson learned (a bruise and few cuts later). The second lap took about 60-62 minutes including my tumble, so the pace was pretty even throughout the morning. It was a great 12 1/2 miles and I really enjoyed getting out on the trails - can't wait for more trail running this spring.

We took full advantage of the park and gorgeous 60-degree weather by packing a picnic early this morning. A few pics of our picnic - pb&j, clif bars, fruit and perrier from a quick stop by whole food this morning:

Enjoying our picnic basket we got for Christmas and some Perrier

Mmmm - healthy food!

Thank goodness the geese were nice to not attack us

My monster blood blister I got from trying to do trail running in my "retired" nikes now.
Yuck! Between this and the tumble, I feel more like a trail runner now...

New Shoes!

Remember how much I loved my shoes? I mean l-o-v-e-d them? Well I found another pair at a great price online and ordered them quickly as the yellow ones were nearing 400 miles by the end of this month. They came on Thursday (a rest day) and Friday I took the day off after donating blood, so what better way to welcome them to the collection than to trot them around town? I took them out of the box, laced up, and went for a 12 mile jaunt through all the best neighborhoods and paths - Ardmore, West End, Buena Vista, Graylyn Estate, Reynolda Estate, Wake Forest campus and back on up the hills to the house. When they arrived Thursday, I did the obligatory things as a runner - took them out of the box, took a big sniff of the new rubber smell, and commenced their arrival with a photo shoot :D. I didn't realize what color the new ones were going to be, but was happy to see they were "Dark Gray and Vaporize (menthol green/blue)" instead of the hot pink or purple.

(notice how clean the new ones look above the old ones :D - not for long though!)

Oh holy! - a snowy weekend

Saturday
This weekend Winston-Salem was slammed by another big snow storm which dumped 8 inches of powdery-white over the city. I went for a 6 mile "pace run" on Saturday which turned more into a 6 mile "hard run" as I wasn't able to hold 9:18 pace while dodging ice, slush, sledders and snow plows. It was difficult, but fun to get out and lace up the kicks for a run in the snow. There weren't many cars on the road, mostly just sledding children with parents watching at the top of the hill with coffee mugs. A very nice man in Buena Vista called out to me as he was shoveling his sidewalk- "Hey there! You are a hardcore runner! Goodness! It is certainly a day for the young ones- I couldn't do it. You be careful now, this stuff is slippery!" I thanked him and continued on smiling - now deemed a "hardcore runner." I dodged the sledders going up the hills and trekked past parents who were also encouraging with "good for you out here running!" and the like. The roads were packed powder so footing wasn't too bad, but going up hills meant short, choppy steps unless I wanted to start sledding myself. Overall, it was an enjoyable hard run that left me winded but satisfied. Chris came back from his 12 mile run (which he turned into a 13.1 mile run) and had iced in his beard (click on picture above)! It was a blustery day - temps in the low 20s and real-feel temp of 7 degrees. The wind whipping sleet into my face furiously was probably the worst, but that lasted only a few minutes thankfully. Getting out there and seeing the tail end of the snow coming down was well worth it.

Sunday
Sunday was, well, whew! I had my long run planned and by golly I was going to do it! I headed out around 2 pm and tried to stay on side roads so that the yahoos in their SUVs wouldn't hit me as I ran on the roadway. The sun was out and the roads had been driven on, making for an interesting mixture of footing. There was packed snow, ice, slush, water and none of it was even which caused my ankles to rock and roll over the terrain. "This is good practice for the trail on Pilot" I thought to myself. Yeah, this was still only 4 miles in - while I was still optimistic. Then I ventured through a neighborhood I hadn't been in before. The roads hadn't been cleared, there were long uphills and downhills on ice and many uphills on 4 inches of slush. One step forward ended up in 8 inches of sliding backwards. I was starting to wear down. Every step took so much effort. I was sliding left and right, landing in deep piles of snow or slush. My feet were soaked. But I was starting to feel better around mile 7. Then I lost my route cue sheet near mile 8 (how I did this evades me). I was in a new part of town and I "kind of" knew the route I wanted to take, but the roads were unfamiliar and I was getting frustrated. A few more huge hills of sliding around in wet feet and I was on the home stretch. Another few miles of flat and then up the last big, but short, hill to the house. We had gotten Fig Newtons to try as energy bars on long runs - fail. They just crumble to nothing in your pocket, frustrating me even more. My clutch bottle ran out of gatorade around mile 9 adding to the list of grievances for the day. I made it to the end of my run, staying mostly on route (did 12.09 for my 12 mile run). There were so many times I just wanted to stop and walk home, but I knew that through all this suckiness and mess, that in three weeks I would be running on Pilot Mountain for the Half thinking "geez, not as bad as that run in the snow..." All in all, I ran for about 130 minutes and enjoyed maybe 30 of that. But these are the days that test you not only physically as you slip-slide around, but also mentally as you push through the pain and grievances. You run past the 4 wheelers doing donuts in the roadway, get sprayed by black slush from the snow plows, dodge cars and sledders with one goal - keep one foot in front of the other and do. not. stop. This is the toughest run I think I've ever had and while I was relieved when it was over, I was so glad that I powered through and finished it. It took me a few hours to become mobile and cognitive again, but I'll be ready to hit the roads again come Tuesday. No slacking this week - Saturday is the Krispy Kreme Challenge and I know I'll be ready for this first race. 12 donuts = 2400 calories. Whew - I definitely can't miss any miles this week!