Snowbirthday

If you can't have snow falling (think blizzard) for your birthday, having snow on the ground from the third significant snowfall in a week the day before is pretty darn good. :) The snow on the ground made for an awesome trail run at Ridley Creek State Park as well.

I had originally planned to meet some friends at 8 am for 54 minutes  ('cause I'm 54 today get it?) on the Blue Trail at RCSP. Last night, however, the forecast showed rain through 8 am. I messaged my friends that as much as I wanted company I really did not want to run in a cold rain. As it turned out, about 8:30 a.m. this morning the sun was shining brightly so off I went.

The park was open but not all of its road were. The road to picnic area #9 where the Blue Trail leaves in a lollipop loop was closed. I headed to the mansion parking lot instead. I grabbed the park map and plotted a route that took me on the yellow-white-blue and back to yellow again instead.

Most of the trails in the lower parts of the park looked like this. The ice was covering pockets of cold water. My feet were numb within 10 minutes. After a while I didn't notice anymore. 

Many of the trails had been visited before me by the park wildlife. It made me smile to see how they followed the path. I saw few hearty birds along the trails but nothing bigger. 

The best parts though were the unbroken trail sections just waiting for me! Here began a longish section of flat and gentle climbs which meant I could run the whole stretch.

My natural slowness was made slower by the snow and the fact that I haven't been running a lot or very long lately. It took me almost an hour and a half to go just over 3.5 miles. The downhills were tough due to the slippery wet snow and the uphills well they are uphills! :) Still I got my heart rate up and gave my legs a good workout and my feet have forgiven me now that they are warm again. 

I have a long way to go to Tyler 10K but I'll get there. 

I saw very few people and none of them on the trails. I came off the trail onto the multi-use trail at one point and a gentleman making his way along that path said "You got your chains on?". "As a matter of fact, I do" I said and lifted my foot so he could see. The look on his face was priceless. We both smiled and went on our way. 

Oh and as for not running in the rain? The sun was melting the ice off the trees at a fantastic rate. I was 'rained' on most of the way. But with the sun shining through the trees and everything so sparkly it was ok. I was drenched when I got home but very happy. 

Tomorrow is a rest day. Tuesday we are going out for my birthday dinner. Hopefully I'll get out again Wednesday either to the trail at Haverford College or to do some hill work in Media. 

Happy Snowbirthday from me to you! 

Numbers vs Narrative

2 kids playing in the creek
1 different kid walking back to the car with his mothers make up bag on his foot because he lost his shoe in the creek
1.5 falls (I saved one)
3.57 miles
1 runner passed me going my way
1 walker pass me coming toward me
1 warm up lap of the parking lot
1 cool down lap of the parking lot
159 average heart rate
58 minutes and 18 seconds total time on my feet

So I read a report that "they" did on whether people read other people's training or fitness reports for the numbers or for the narrative. I read for the narrative and since I write for myself mostly that's what you get here. But I do enjoy that others read my blog so in case you are one of the number seekers there you have tonight's run by the numbers :)

None of that really matters though as much as the fact that I actually did it. I've had a sore throat for three days now and this morning it felt the worst of the three. I almost didn't even put my gym bag in the car. In the end I decided that it was too early in the day to sabotage my efforts so the gym bag came with me to work. After some water and some coffee my throat felt less parched although it still bothers me to swallow.

"They" say the rule of thumb for working out with a cold (or whatever this is) is neck and above the neck go for it, below the neck skip it. I decided I would use the 10 minute rule tonight. 10 minutes on my feet and if I didn't feel right I'd turn around and go back. Since the first 8+ minutes was a long and winding downhill it was either keep going or turn around and go back up the winding uphill. If I kept going I'd have to go up it again on other side eventually but in the meantime I'd have some fun on the trail. Plus by the time 10 minutes was up I was feeling good and was, in fact, really enjoying the trail.

I did a loop of sorts combining parts of the blue and white trails at Ridley Creek State Park tonight. Trail running has been growing on me these past few years and I've pretty much decided that I really love it. It so much more interesting than road running. A little trickier, sure, but I think that's what I love the most - the adventure. :) When I was a kid and we would go on car trips I remember looking out the window of the car and imagining what it would be like to be able to hike up the hills and mountains we passed. I still do it (although not so much while I'm driving). I think trail running/hiking is in my blood somewhere. I'm just now getting to do it. I had a great time tonight.

Upon arriving home, I did the arm challenge. Which hurt a lot more than yesterday since my muscles where suffering from delayed onset soreness by the time I got to tonight's challenge. Still I finished. How are the rest of you doing? I know some readers are doing the arm challenge as well. Are you looking forward to Sundays day off from the arm challenge as much as I am? :)

Earlier this week I had a great bike ride - my first of length since returning. It was mostly flat. However, I'm proud to say I managed the three hills that were there very well. :) On that same night I had a shorter bike ride with the son of one of my running buddies. Austin is 7 and he and I rode for about 3 miles while his mom and a few others completed a virtual race with the "Nerd Herd". They are raising money to fight cancer. At 7, one does not have as much trail awareness as is necessary to be safe but fortunately he was very good at listening and following my directions and I'm pleased to say we both survived and had a nice chat about movies while we rode. Austin loves horror movies and was rather philosophical about the ones he can't see yet because they are above his viewer rating. ;)

Also earlier this week I ran at another nature preserve - Gwynedd - in Ambler with Maggi and Julius. It was great to run with them again. It was another gorgeous running night too!

No photos of anything this week. I wish someone would invent a camera that fits in your hat or visor and the shutter is managed by a button on your wrist or something like that. There were lost of photo opportunities this week but I just didn't feel like carrying the camera.

I ran tonight - Friday's are usually an off day - so that I could take tomorrow off and go to see my sister Meg and a production of Sound of Music. Meg is in the pit orchestra (I hope I got that right). She plays the bass guitar and just about any other instrument she wants but it's bass guitar for tomorrow. :)