7 sisters - great, great run!

My sister is engaged. Planning her wedding has risen to the top of my family's priorities. details; details. With this background, my weekend was focused on doing an awesome run and hurrying back to Greenville, SC to assist with the planning (footnote here - originally was going to do Terri's 24 hr birthday run...). With my weekend beginning in Charlotte for another family obligation I opted to run the 7 sisters with some great folks. And, i am glad that I did. This ended up being one of my favorite runs ever. It was challenging & beautiful; the people were friendly, and the weather was amazing. The cumulative effect of all these factors had me smiling post-run through today.

With that background - on saturday, I woke early and met another runner in charlotte. we traveled to Montreat in Black Mountain, NC to meet the group and begin. We began, after announcements, and headed up the rainbow trail to the first summit - amazing. amazing. We climbed stairs and huffed and puffed to the top. My lungs were burning (I always struggle with the first climb until my body wakes up). This first view was the best. It was a difficult summit & we stopped took pictures , did some yoga & enjoyed a brief rest. From there we proceeded on the East Ridge trail towards Greybeard & Walker's knob. The rest of the run resembled the first climb. Up & down & up & down. When there was any flat - I tried running quickly & enjoyed the brief respite & leg turnover. We continued, and I recognized areas from running Greybeard & the Mt. Mitchell marathon previously. We summited Greybeard & Walker's knob. These peaks were covered in clouds, and there was no view. Then, we grabbed the West Ridge trail and ran towards Big Piney. After descending some, we stopped for a brief rest and enjoyed another amazing view before a quick descent into Montreat. We all averaged around +/- 3 hrs & 19 minutes for the run @ 16 miles- I was happy with the time considering the terrain.

Another great run in Western, NC. I am grateful for the good spring running.

Good Bent Creek weekend - Enjoying Western, NC

When I go to the Asheville area to run - I usually end up running some of the time - in the Bent Creek Area. Really amazing place. The area itself has extensive trails, and it connects to the Botanical Gardens; the blue ridge parkway; the Shut-in trail, and many other places.

Saturday, after feeling ill in the morning and missing the Dupont 1/2, I dragged myself out of bed at 12:30!! (fortunately my hostess had a significant amount of work to do), and off we went to Bent Creek! Since spring had come, I had been craving some time in this area, and my friend had prepared quite the adventure. We started near the Hard Times parking lot and headed up the Renegade trail towards the blue ridge parkway & the Shut in. My still recovering lungs failed me on the way up. My legs were moving, but I had to stop and walk 2X because of the lungs... When we reached the Blue Ridge Parkway, I bent over and felt so out of shape. To my dismay, we were only at about 2900 feet in elevation. My lungs were screaming and my heart was pounding. I wondered how many miles I could actually take. But, as is my custom, after I warmed up, I took off. We cruised over to the Shut in and ran there for a couple of miles before continuing our loop in the area. We returned to the car sunburned, tired and full of smiles.the 2 hours had been a good session to break in the aerobic capacity for spring running!

Sunday - I was by myself - the friend had to go into to work. Of course, I forgot my camera, but I was able to take some pretty good phone photos, which I was able to load. I was tired from Saturday, but the blue sky and still cool air were enough to keep me in the Bent Creek area, again, for about 1.5 hours. I started on Road 491, and followed the Ingles Field Gap trail to the 5 corners area. From there, I went a little higher, until, again, the lungs screamed at me to stop... ay yi yi. Here are the pics - ENJOY!! Such a great weekend. I hope everyone, at least, got some sunshine!

stronger and stronger

After 3 weeks at a new job, and leaving every day with my head spinning & recovering from bronchitis (i am still on an inhaler) & the flu, my body is finally starting to respond to requests for sustained speed.

This weekend's weather was lovely. Saturday I convinced myself to really stay close to home; I ran around the town & took a walk with the hubby. Today, I could only convince myself to stay closer to home (going to be out of town for the next several weekends) as I sulked as my thoughts kept drifting to the trails in North Georgia. But, I did go to the trails at chicopee with a good friend and ran about 12 miles (total). The first 4.5 miles were faster, and the rest were a slow enjoyable transition to running in the hot weather (it was about 80 today!!). Today, was also a focus and introspection as to how my body would respond if i decided to sprint up a hill or down. It responded adequately, but I still have my doubts about my performance at the Dupont Half next weekend. Oh well - I guess I cannot expect too much so soon after a bad illness (which I ignored for many weeks before I addressed it). I will call the Dupont half - a training run for the Twisted Ankle marathon.

This week, I am goin to try to incorporate speed work! I really want to add some speed work. I think it will help...

Happy trails to all this spring!!

Enjoying the trails again!

After spending several weeks with weak lungs (from the bronchitis), and having an inhaler for the first time since I was 16, I had some trepidation about today's adventure in the Chattahoochee National Forest.

An old friend met me near Demorest, GA, and we headed out to do all the trails in the Lake Russell Recreation Area. I was excited to see my friend, but nervous about my lungs' performances, and bummed about the rain. However, my concern about everything evaporated when I pulled up to the trail head, and I remembered why I loved trail running, and how much I had missed it in the last several weeks.

We started on a short trail, Sourwood, which starts climbing soon. I was out of breath quickly, but then the trail flattened out, and I recovered, again, quickly. I had that feeling - was I born to do this - haha. More simply, a feeling of joy flooded over me, and I picked up my pace. Generally, this is how the next 3 hours passed for me. Every time we approached a hill my lungs closed up, but once I summitted, and the trail flattened out or we proceeded down hill, I relaxed and enjoyed the feeling of really using my legs again.

The day included the 3 main trails at Lake Russell: Sourwood, Ladyslipper & the Lake Russell trail. Although I have done more difficult terrain in North Georgia, this area is still one of my favorites. It provides diverse terrain & many miles of good climbing. The trail also passes over many streams & is well marked with green markers on the trees & signs. It is well shaded - good for summer. but, in the winter when the trees are bare - you can see Curahee Mountain, and the views are awesome.

This Sunday provided a good reminder and motivator to continue training for the next adventure - Twisted Ankle Marathon (with some shorter races in between).

After a period of rest - transitioning back to training

After performing well at the Mt. Mitchell marathon - my body seemed to fall apart - I knew I was fighting a virus, but what I did not anticipate - was developing bronchitis.

Since last Monday, I have not run - I actually have barely walked. I have been putting effort towards resting and recuperating. I have taught yoga, but the amount of energy I would expend during class was lower.

Today, the weather was beautiful, and I felt rested, so I ran a mile. Tomorrow morning - I may run 2-3.

Many thoughts abound - how to slowly transition back into my heavy mileage before the marathon... For a couple of weeks, my miles were in the 60s for the week. I know for many runners, this is low, but for me - this has been a new high. I enjoyed the high level of miles, and I am looking forward to doing it again - especially before the Twisted Ankle - but, I know it will be more than several weeks before I reach that level again.

And, of course - I want to add some speedwork... - this spring - I hope to be stronger!

when not running as much, time to write

These past 2 weeks have been interesting - as I said, in my previous post, not a time for me to feel ideal for long/strong runs (the marathon an exception- adrenaline must have taken over) - rather - the effort has been to keep some kind of aerobic level during the tiredness. Today, I know good GUTS folks are out on some of my favorite trails in North Georgia. But, today, my joy today will be to have a late coffee in bed and run a slow 8-9 on FLAT surfaces.

This next week my efforts will be toward, again, maintaining some level of aerobic, and then next weekend - a look to jump the miles back up. The craving for another 30 miles has started.

Everyone - run some miles for me today!

Pass sickness, Pass! I have many runs to do

Before the Mt Mitchell Marathon, I had been feeling ill all week. The kind of ill where you are not sick enough to not run, but no matter how early you go to bed, getting up is almost impossible - this was my curse last week before the marathon. Although I knew I was beginning to feel sick, I tried to ignore it. I ran less miles during the week, and the ones that I did run were slower. Fortunately, because this was the week before the marathon, I was able to get away with such low mileage. And, at the marathon, even though I woke up feeling less than ideal, my excitement was high to really challenge myself on this beloved course - and I did.

So, with that good run, I have been feeling the consequences. Again, this week, the inability to get out of bed. The sleep, sleep, sleep & the morning slowness and feeling of flu like symptoms have now magnified. Before, they were slow undulations, and ignorance was a valid tool. This week the flu-like symptoms grab me and pull me down.

My first attempted run was on Tuesday, and, again, feigning ignorance, I could not understand why my legs felt fine, but my aerobic capacity was of a sedentary person. It was perplexing, but then, after talking with a good friend, I remembered my sickness - my silent and slowly draining sickness. So, on Wednesday, I gave in and pouted. But, on Thursday, after somehow getting through a day of work feeling half-dead, I rewarded myself with - a run - what else?! (all you runners support me on this one). It was slow. I made sure it was slow - I just needed to move - with this holding on sickness, I needed to feel alive and strong - the way I was last weekend - to anyone who knows me and the way I run - you would have been horrified. I was slumped over, and I had a hacking cough. I sounded like a smoker who was trying running for the first time in 10 years. I shuffled up hills and look terrified on the down hills. Somehow I made it back to my house and collapsed on the couch - I was so proud. Proud that I had pushed through and been on my feet for almost an hour - no matter that is was not aesthetic to the curious driver as to this supposedly out of shape person - proud that I had made it through another great run

As, I usually end my posts - ode to running. To the sport that allows the freedom to run anywhere and almost anytime.