Wet Feet

Another good weekend of running! I ventured into the CVNP for a very muddy 24 miles. I felt pretty good during the entire time and just tried to keep moving. It was much easier to just plow down the middle of the trail rather than try to find an easier path around the edges. There was not an easier path...

Sunday I went back to South Chagrin Reservation and ran another 16 miles on the muddy bridle trails. I headed downhill from Harper Ridge towards Richmond road. This section of the trail is pretty grassy, but was very wet and soggy. I was a muddy mess when I arrived back at my car to refill my water bottles.

A Land Rover SUV (redundant, I know) pulled into the parking space next to my car. "Barbie and Ken" along with their little "foo-foo" white dog which was smaller than our cat, climbed out. These two people were immaculately coiffed and stared at me and my mud-covered shoes and legs with an incredulous look... It was priceless as I nodded my head and asked "Hey, How are you doing?"

I grabbed a banana, closed the trunk, and headed back out onto the trail towards Miles Road. This section has three stream crossings and I have in the past used rocks, or fallen trees to avoid getting wet. I admit, I am a bit of a wuss when it comes to wet feet. Today, I decided that since I was already muddy and my feet were already wet, what harm could a little water do? So when the stream crossings arrived, I simply went straight through them. Big fun! I felt like a kid again. AND, it washed some of the mud off of my shoes. Sure, I had some squishy shoes for a couple of minutes, but they drained pretty fast and my feet really were not any wetter than they already were. It was also a lot easier to run through the water rather than trying to pick a path around it.

My new race plan: Flow with the trail, don't fight it. It is much more fun!

A win!

The weather forecast for the weekend said rain/snow mix and mid thirties for the temperature. I needed to get a long run in and decided that 40 and dark was better than mid-30s and wet. So I started running friday night after work and completed the Inaugural Twinsburg Marathon! I won the race outright for my first win ever! Of course, I was the only one running, but that is a minor point...

Getting the run out of the way friday evening allowed me to nearly complete the bathroom remodel project yesterday! Denise and Abby cleaned the excess grout from the tile friday, allowing me to set the granite vanity and reset the toilet. I added all of the necessary caulking around the tub and back-splash, and this afternoon I remounted the mirror and replaced the light fixture. Project is now complete! I will post some before and after pictures later this week.

My training for the Laurel Highlands race is going ok. My mileage is not as high as I would like since I have not been getting all of my mid-week runs completed. This crazy thing called "life" keeps getting in the way. However, I have had some great weekend runs and those are the ones that really matter. Friday night's marathon was a good confidence booster and mental test. The next two months is when the real training starts; the prior work has been 'training to train'.

I will start heading to the CVNP for some hills and start to get my nutrition plan in place. The aid stations are farther apart at Laurel and I will need to carry more stuff with me. Choosing the right food(s) and packing it for easy access will be important.