A Trail Run

Finally!

Got out to Hyland Lake yesterday for my first trail run since Surf the Murph last Nov 1. Did 3 laps of an abbreviated version of the Trail Mix course for a total of 18.2 miles.

As far as trail conditions go, I thought they were in very good shape considering it's late March. Almost all of the snow is gone with just a few small stubborn patches that don't really matter. I got there early enough that the air temps were still below freezing, so my first loop went fairly easy. As time went on and the temps got warmer, the mud began to thaw so that the second and third loops were progressively muddier. Still, the trails are very runnable, and in many places are dry and in excellent shape!

Felt good to be out in the woods listening to the woodpeckers, geese, and all the other birds and critters.

Sick of Winter

The title of this post says it all! With all of the cyclic snow melting and refreezing on a daily basis, I figure we'll have pot holes big enough to water ski on in another week.

Since I don't like running on ice or the treadmill, I've really been struggling to get motivated for long training runs. As a result, Chippewa is shaping up to be a power hike/death march rather than a trail race next month. Longest run to date since Surf the Murph last November was only 16 miles a week and a half ago, and similar to a 13 miler the week before, the bottoms of my feet were really sore after about only 12 miles or so - almost felt like they were bruised. I've even been running in new Mizuno Waveriders, my road shoe of choice for the past 7-8 years, so I thought I was going crazy! Then I got the latest issue of Run Minnesota published by MDRA which had this to say about the new Waveriders in their spring shoe review:

"The Waverider alternates between being a performance shoe and a midweight training shoe. Version 12 has slimmed down to a Performance weight (under 340 grams). The midsole is noticeably thinner. The ride is more responsive, which is good for lighter runners and shorter runs, but on longer runs, testers noted that it seemed a bit less cushioned than earlier Waveriders."

I'd say that review is spot on!

Hopefully the trails are starting to thaw out so I can run on nice, soft mud instead of pounding the asphalt. Either that or I'm going to have to head back over to TC Running for road shoes that can handle a few miles.

This weekend I'll be doing my annual stretching gig at the MDRA 7 Mile in Hopkins on Saturday morning, so Sunday is looking more likely for a longer run. We'll see.

First Week of March

...went so-so, but not as good as I would have liked on the running front. I am really behind in my base building and am starting to panic a little about Chippewa. Only got 20+ miles in this week, and that has actually been one of my better weeks this winter :(

Mon: cross training on bike and elliptical, strength training upper body
Tues: 5 miles on the hamster wheel with a couple tempo run miles and a couple hill miles at a brisk walk
Wed: strength training legs
Thurs: man my legs are sore after yesterday's 5 set squat pyramid. Nada.
Fri: legs still sore, strength training upper body
Sat: 13.5 miles around the Lakes. Was kinda wishful thinking for 16, but my last "long" run was only 13 and that was a month ago before I got sick for 2 weeks. Thirteen felt harder than it should have, and my feet were killing me. Reminded me why I run trails instead of pounding the asphalt. On an up note, I finally found the perfect combination for carrying water on a long run!
Sun: strength training upper body and a short 2 mile tempo run on the treadmill. Heel bursitis is holding up pretty well - about 99% healed. I was pleased to be able to run today without any problems after a relatively longish run yesterday that left my heel a little sore.

I'm really looking forward to spring so that I don't have to choose between treadmill vs ice! And I really, really need to get out on trails to start some serious hill training (up AND down) in addition to ramping up the mileage.