The Pinchot Trail...a five hour run.....

 My quote of the week: Socrates

I've enjoyed this journey of endurance training. And, it really has been a journey. Similar to endurance hiking, I've never imagined all that my body can do, and as ya'll know, I REALLY enjoy challenging it. Kind of like climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro...I just never imagined I'd be here at all. Of course, this also means testing your soul as a chunk of endurance activity is mental, right? 

The greatest challenges I've experienced are not the ones I expected. I expected heat through the summer. I expected it to hurt. I expected sore muscles. I expected having challenges with finding time to fit runs in while still having a social life (it sure helped that I don't work much over the summer!)  I expected my injury to flare up and new injuries to happen. What I didn't expect was a hurricane, torrential rains and tropical storms! 

Labor day weekend, I decided to stay in town and get a long run in. (I also agreed to work, but I won't go there because WHO really works Labor Day???).  And, I wanted to spend time in Philly with special peeps. So, no kayaking and no backpacking. Instead, I took off for the Pinchot Trail. I've backpacked this trail, but in winter, so I was excited to explore it on a perfect summery day. Nevermind that it took me triple time to get there because of an accident, but it was also right after the hurricane. So, as you can imagine, the trails were a mess!  

With these long runs I need to defeat boredom and try different parks! I've realized the Zen for me is just being in the woods, not worrying about my time, and just exploring. THAT is the journey for me. So, here's my adventure:

Zero cars in the parking lot. Where is everyone?

Hmmmmm.... What do you think, outdoorsy friends.....Are these black bear tracks? Pretty cool to be running along and see them in the mud. Don't worry, mom, the bears are long gone!  :)

So, since i was running solo and this was a long run, I brought my water filter. Being a backpacker helps out life in so many ways. For example, if the hurricane were to impact my home, I have 2 tents (plus the new hammock!), sleeping bags, stoves, fuel, flashlights, headlamps. I felt PREPARED! So, the above picture was my water stop! This is also near where Julie (yup, the one who left me for Haiti) and I winter camped. 

And, HERE is what parts of the trail looked like. I'd be running happily along and get to this. Trying to keep my shoes dry (clearly, a fruitless idea!), I tried to forge around these. It worked. Briefly. Until got to a bog that looked dry and my shoe came up with 10 ounces of mud in it. Slosh. Thump. Slosh. Thump. Yup, that's what my running sounded like. Really bad for an OCD Professor.  Finally, my other foot 'slipped' off a rock and got wet too. At least they were even now.  :)

By the end of this run, I was not tired of running. I was tired of jumping! (yup, that was a link....go ahead, click on it...). Post-hurricane, the trail was full of debris. So, I was either going around, over, under or through thick detritus. My legs were torn apart. Again! (though this wasn't as bad as running through the stinging nettles recently at Heinz Wildlife Refuge!). So much for attempting nice runner legs! With all the foraging, this loop took me FOREVER. Five hours later (including the water filtering stop, food, potty breaks), I arrived back at the car. 

I also saw THIS on trail. Any guesses as to WHAT this is? 

What's next?

So, this race is QUICKY approaching. I'm not sure I'm ready. I missed my last LONG run since our 28.4 mile superhike/run was cancelled. Yup, due to tropical storms. My goal is really just to finish, keep my Zen view, and not worry about my time. Finishing is an accomplishment, right? Hmmmm...there is a time limit though; Guess I better go check that out!  :)

Gear Girl!

I forgot to mention my shoes on my last post about running in Maine. Well, I had JUST bought new running shoes for that trip. And, only brought one pair. A girl trusts her shoes to be able to do that. ZERO break-in time.  And, HERE they are:

Magic. I definitely recommend them! 

Salomon Women's xA Pro 3d Ultra 2 Trail Running Shoe Swamp/ Dark Titanium/ Light Mint

I'll write again before RACE DAY!!!!

Running in Maine AIN'T so bad.....

So, I haven't blogged in a bit b/c Google is angry at me. See, I have like 4 jobs and 2 of these email accounts are Google-based. With this dang new Google interface, I can only log onto ONE Google email per computer now. Ugh. AND, Google wants me to separate my work google from my personal Google to log on here. Did you follow that? Exactly. Took me a while too.  :)

So, to backtrack, I had another hiking vacation in August to Grand Teton, WY. See how beautiful it is...this is my Ansel Adams attempt:

Because of all the snowfall this year, there were wildflowers EVERYwhere Brian and I went. SO pretty! Facebook friends can see the entire album...it's worth a look. I loved it so much, I think I'm going back next year (and to Yellowstone)! Needless to say, I didn't run while there b/c I was too busy hauling my @ss up the mountain! So, I fell behind in my runs. I was visiting my mom in Maine the following week and had some making up to do (lots!). I decided to get to know Mt. Bradbury State Park. All of it. When you have a 4 hour run to do, you get to know ENTIRE parks. I had biked there with Sue previously, but boy, we missed a lot of it! Here is a picture from the top of Mt. Bradbury.

It was so pretty - and I was SO behind in my running - that I decided to come back and do a hill workout up and down Mt. Bradbury the VERY NEXT DAY. 469 Feet elevation gain (mind you, this is the day AFTER my 4 hour run...did i mention that yet?). Can you guess how many times I went up it before I was basically crawling. Yup, eight! It was 1/4 mile to the top. So, basically 4 miles up and down this mountain. (I really was crawling by the last 2 laps...)  :)

I saw a woman on lap 4 who congratulated me as I was running and told me how proud she was of me (she thought it was my FIRST lap). I thought that was SO nice and supportive. People are just so kind in New England.  Then she saw me on lap 5 and told me I was just showing off! Funny.

So, I had one more LONG run to fit in between spending time with my childhood friend, Kevin, and his parents, Dick and Karen. (We visited the Desert of Maine...did you know Maine had a desert? This was new to me!). I decided to investigate locally for this last run and found the rail trail. It went through the woods where I caught many side trails and all around a marsh with egrets and blue herons. Quite rewarding. See below...how can you not LOVE that?

Part of what I've loved about hiking and I'm loving about long-distance running is the investigation of places I'd never see otherwise. You see so much more on foot than when in a car; racing past. It's great. I've also learned I like to stop and take pics (I ALWAYS carry my camera now since I missed that darn pic of the snake eating the frog!).  So, my Old Orchard Beach, Maine adventures were perfect and I caught up on my runs! Marty is also big on the ice baths post long-run. I'm a whimp. But, I did take this opportunity to jump in the ocean post run and if you've ever been to Maine...it IS like ICE water!

And....GEAR GIRL!

Thanks to the help of Kevin, I found a new i-phone app (I've totally sold out on technology since becoming an Apple'er). Endomondo. I'm sure it's similar to mapmyrun.com, but this is the one I'm using. It shows you your elevation gain, lap time, calories burned (wahoo!), a gps map of your run (super helpful for the directionally challenged), and it gives you a picture of a turtle for your slowest lap (not motivating) and a hare for your fastest (okay, motivating!). Here's an example of my last run: Wissahickon since it automatically transfers it online (I'm always better if I don't have to plug anything IN!). It's a new TOY to motivate me for a while! 

I've become a GEAR DORK. Any suggestions? I'd love to hear 'em!  

Lastly, I went on a short hike with Julie today before she leaves us to work in Haiti. She was my motivator to even get into this, the ultra runner that she is. Thanks, Julz and good luck out there! Show them what a woman can do!  :)

I don't like change. Damn Google-Don't go changing to try to please me....

Now that I'm back on, I have a few other updates...keep posted!