My kind of running

Not much can beat running with friends.  You cruise, you laugh, you push each other to reach new heights, you commiserate, you build memories and dream up new schemes.  Yep, running with friends invariably brightens the day.

Not much can beat a hard run that squeezes every ounce of energy out of your body, tears at your muscles, covers you with sweat, and leaves you depleted - and with a big ol' sloppy grin on your face because you just conquered the seemingly unconquerable workout.  Yep, busting open a monster workout is magnificent.

Not much can beat a run through the wildest elements that nature can throw at us humans: torrential rain, hurricane force winds, blizzards.  As Calvin & Hobbes (Bill Watterson) said in March 1993:

But I do believe my very most favorite kind of running is along a trail surrounded by wind, birds, critters and long vistas.  Our recent road trip treated me to a plethora of trails, every one enjoyable, every one unique.

• The Flint Hills Nature trail - of which I ran but 15 miles of its 117 mile length through the Flint Hills and tall grass prairie of Kansas, following the general route of the old Santa Fe Trail.  Rolling, breezy, prairie peace.
  

• The Little Traverse Wheelway is now a bicycle path running along Little Traverse Bay/Lake Michigan from the north edge of my home town of Petoskey to the town just south of Petoskey.  In the "olden days" (pre-bike path) I would run this route via a dirt/sand dune path.  It's a bit more modernized now, and I certainly encounter more people now than I used to, but the views of the lake still can't be beat.  It remains one of my all-time favorite running routes.

Trillium spotted along Little Traverse Bay

 

Little Traverse Bay

 



 

• The Upper Yahara River Trail in De Forest, Wisconsin was a most welcome discovery within a few minutes' running from the campground we stayed at on our way back to Boulder.  A lovely little trail through a park, tree, and wildflower corridor along the Yahara River.

  

  Upper Yahara River Trail - photo from Village of De Forest WI web site

• Kearney, Nebraska's Pioneer Path is newly completed and practically right outside the doorstep of our campground in Kearney.  It made for an easy morning run, off roads, alongside an abundance of wildflowers (and the north channel of the Platte River) and right onto the grounds of the Archway Monument.

So, yeah, trail running - an injection of peace and quiet while providing a delightful tour of whatever part of the country one might find oneself!

A hodgepodge of running this past month!

When last I posted, I had just finished a long peaceful run in the snow with Taz pup.  Many miles have been put on the running shoes since that day and the days have warmed up quite nicely!

Connie, me & Anita post-race

After a whole lot of miles and weeks and weeks of solid training with running buddies Connie and Anita, the 2014 Bolder Boulder came and went.  And, just like last year, I ran it in 58-and-change, beating my age, and placing sixth in my age.
What was my goal for this year's running?  Consistency!
Can't get much more consistent than that!




Two days after the Bolder Boulder, Kendall and I set off in Hedwig for an almost-summer trip to Michigan, this time by way of Kansas City.  It was great to have a change of scenery and what a delightful change of scenery it was!  Some highlights:

The Eisenhower Presidential Library - Abilene, Kansas!

The Flint Hills Nature Trail 

- where I ran east for about three hours.  The entire trail stretches 117 miles from Herington at the west end, then Council Grove where I picked it up, to Osawatomie in the east, passing through Flint Hills tall grass prairie lands.  It also happens to be the 7th longest rail-trail in America and the longest trail in Kansas so I certainly have plenty more trail to run the next time we're in the neighborhood! As it was, 'twas a real treat to once again spend a few hours trotting along a quiet rolling rural rail trail... just me, birds, butterflies and the breeze.... 

wildflowers abound

broken down bridge & butterfly

flint face

Flint-stone fence posts

long view

Hedwig - always a welcome sight at the end of a long run

 Kansas City

From the trail it was straight to Kansas City  for a visit with Devon and Corinne (our son and his girlfriend) and the Stanleys (Corinne's parents).  Kansas City is quite the happening town (actually two towns - one each in Kansas and Missouri): parks, art, food, music, and great people.  A wonderful visit!

Loose Park where we ran & walked each morning

In KC, they even think about the dogs

Mom and her first-born son

"League of Extraordinary Librarians" to Kendall from Devon with love

 Up North!

 On the way from KC to Petoskey, we made a quick stop in Fort Wayne to visit my cousin, Kathleen.  No run there - but a lovely luncheon interlude during a long-drive day.

Then it was on to Petoskey and days filled with visiting mom, reuniting with old friends, enjoying Petoskey's summer playfulness, running in one of my most favorite places on earth - and gazing at the aptly-named Million Dollar Sunsets over Little Traverse Bay.

,

Me and mom - together again

Petoskey Yarn Bombers liven up Central Park's cannon

Great Lakes Rail Cars cruising through downtown

View of Little Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan from a favorite run route

...a good trip...

Mother's Day!

Mother's Day 2013: snow in Petoskey!

Mother's Day 2014: snow in Boulder!

Taz and snow-bent flower on Enchanted Mesa trail, Boulder, Mother's Day 2014

Taz is beginning to wonder what this whole "Mother's Day" thing is about.  Methinks the next time he hears those words, he will automatically start looking for snowflakes!  This year's Mother's Day, Taz and I are in Boulder, elder son Devon is at his home in Kansas City, and Kendall and younger son Paul are on the road back from KC with my brother, Dave, whom Kendall treated to a weekend of NASCAR racing.  So Taz and I spent the morning doing one of my most favorite while-away-the-morning activities: running on trails.  Yes it was snowy and wet. But oh yes it was lovely.  In the two hours we were out there, we encountered only two other people - one woman walking, one woman running.  And we also encountered deer, rabbits, a fox, robins, hawks, flowers bending under the snow, and sparkling white pines.  'Twas like running in a cocoon.  So peaceful, so quiet.

Back at home: a big bowl of oatmeal with walnuts and dried cherries, followed by a pasty-making extravaganza.  I'm trying out a vegetarian version, so not quite traditional but they sure look good - pry even better once out of the oven.  Hopefully a yummy treat for the fellas when they arrive back home!

Overlooking Boulder from Chautauqua trails.  Boulder? Where's Boulder? Mother's Day 2014

Turning the Corner

Westerly view from Singletree Trail - May 3, 2014.  Beautiful.

As mentioned in prior posts, I am attempting to rebuild fitness...an effort that has been taking much longer than in any prior instance where I've had to build back up again.  "Frustrating" would be the word that most aptly describes the current experience.  However!  Progress is being made; the plateau is shifting!

Qualitatively, I am noticing an uptick in energy and runs are beginning to flow.  Better yet, there is quantitative evidence to support the theory that a return to fitness is an achievable goal:

• I got up the gumption to race!  A 15k!  More slowly than years past, but much better than I had expected.  I would have been disappointed with anything slower than 99 minutes, elated (astounded, in fact) if faster than 90.  In actuality, I crossed the line at 91:57 and felt great having run a very steady pace throughout (purposely conservative in the very low 10s for the first 5 miles then dropped into the upper 9s for the last 4+).
• I logged over 200 miles for April - my first over-200 month since last April.  More than a number, the 200+ reflects a consistency which has been sorely lacking and much desired.
• As part of the quest for 200+, I logged 57.5 miles last week - my highest mileage week this year and only the third week in the 50s for 2014.  And they weren't just slogging miles, nope nope!  They included two speed workouts (one 2k, 2x1k, 4x500m workout and the other 4 x 8 minutes hard/3 minutes easy) as well as a very long run.  Which brings me to:
• I completed a 3-hour run yesterday!  On a gorgeous day (as illustrated by this post's pictures), the last hour with two good friends, and finished tired but strong.  My last 3+-hour run: April 28, 2013.  It is good to be back.

Easterly view from the same spot/same time on Singletree Trail.  Peaceful.

I've always considered the true test of fitness to not just be the workout, but the day-after-workout.  How does one feel the next day? How well does the next run go?  So how did today's post-57.5-mile-week/ post-3-hour-run test go?  Splendidly!  Mondays I run to my volunteer job - a run that often takes over 40 minutes (depending on fatigue and weather) but has been done as quickly as 37 minutes.  Today: 39 minutes and feelin' smooth!

Weehaw!  The comeback is for real!

Something new and different!

 

Taz and I had a new experience today:  the Canine Classic 5k for people and dogs.  The starting corral was quite interesting.  For one thing, it was, without a doubt, the noisiest race start I have ever been involved with - dogs do not quiet down when start time approaches!  And little Taz was a bit unsure of himself, being hemmed in with humans and dogs - most bigger than he - with no room to do his jump-up-and-spin-around move when other dogs started getting up close and personal. 

Once the run started we got the full effect of this morning's driving snow pellets.  Yow!  My cheeks are still burning, five hours later.  To add to the entertainment, there was the whole weaving around moving dogs, people, and leashes challenge coupled with a running surface that was primarily two-track mud.  Most folks chose to run off to the side - which gave me and Taz clear sailing right through the mud.  It was, indeed, muddy, but not too slippery so seemed a good choice until my left shoe was sucked halfway off my foot.  Oops!  But mostly it was fun.  Driving ice bits, shoe-sucking mud, dogs everywhere.  Who could ask for more?

At the turnaround point, it really, truly, became enjoyable.  The wind (and ice pellets) were primarily at our back, the crowd had thinned out, and Taz decided that this was mighty good fun. Rather than the flush at my side or slightly behind me position he had held during the into-the-wind portion of the course, he strutted out in front and got his big ol' cattle dog grin on his face.  Both of us picked up speed - and picked off dogs (and humans) - as we cruised to the finish.  A classic 5k indeed!

More fun was in store for Taz after the race.  Ya' know that mud we charged through? Well a whole lot of it ended up on Taz's legs and belly.  Into the bath the pup went (poor li'l fella, he really does not like water - even with Kendall feeding him ham bits continuously while I was scrubbing him down).  He did, however, like the post-bath towel rub and nap.  And we sure think this sparkly clean beee-a-U-tiful cattle dog is just about the finest pup - and running buddy - on the planet!

Spring Cleaning

Spring cleaning: not just my house, the yard, and my desk and the pile of tax stuff, but the air, the town, the hills, the prairie.  All is sprucing up and coming alive!

We had a spring snowstorm to start off the week.  It also added a bit of character to the land as well as a jolt to start greening things up.



  
As the week and training progressed, I realized that my body also seemed to be taking part in the reawakening going on around us. Hills were successfully tackled on Wednesday, tempo was enthusiastically thrown into the midst of a 12 mile run Saturday (yesterday), and today....ahhhhh....today.... 

Looking toward the flatirons from Enchanted Mesa Trail

The plan was for a long run, easy pace, and to be back in time to go to Captain America with Kendall and Paul.  Two out of three ain't bad!  I meandered and found myself up on the trails....soul cleansing, mind freeing and oh-so-peaceful.  When I realized how long I had been out, and that I'd have to find the shortest, fastest way down to get to the house in time for the movie, I pulled out my phone and called Kendall to tell him I was having a wonderful morning on the trails, was thoroughly enjoying the peace and quiet - something that Captain American was just not going to offer - and to go on ahead without me.  I then tucked the phone away, and headed higher up on the trails.  Fabulous!

Spring flowers peeking out along the trail

Athletics!

Son, Devon, sent me a truly delightful surprise for my birthday: a book! And not just any book:
a mystery (my most favorite genre), about women's basketball (my most favorite sport next to running), copyright 1914!!!
The title: The Girls of Central High at Basketball - or The Great Gymnasium Mystery
by Gertrude W. Morrison.

I just finished reading it today - what a treat to get a peek into the language, culture, morals, and behaviors of 1914.  Reading about girl's basketball as played in 1914 was quite the eye-opener!  The game was played with nine girls from each team at a time, with positions of: goal-keeper, right forward, left forward, forward center, jumping center, back center, right guard, left guard and goal guard.  I'm guessing it was half-court play - but was played outdoors so I'm wondering if there was any dribbling at all; there was certainly a heckuva passing game in play.

Some of the quotes that stuck with me, as a lover of basketball and reflecting the sensibilities of 1914:

• "Mrs. Case [the physical instructor] believed most thoroughly in the efficiency of basketball for the development and training of girls. ... Basketball is the first, or one of the first vigorous team games to become popular among women and girls in this country, and under proper supervision will long remain a favorite pastime."
• In a father-to-daughter chat: "Do you know what seems to me to be the kernel in the nut of these school athletics, Nell?" ... "Loyalty.  That's the kernel - loyalty."
• "Basketball is perhaps the most transparent medium for revealing certain angles of character in young girls. At first the players seldom have anything more than a vague idea of the proper manner of throwing a ball, or the direction in which it is to be thrown. The old joke about a woman throwing a stone at a hen and breaking the pane of glass behind her, will soon become a tasteless morsel under the tongue of the hunorist. Girls in our great public schools are learning how to throw. And basketball is one of the greatest helps to this end. The woman of the coming generation is going to have developed the same arm and shoulder muscles that man displays, and will be able to throw a stone and hit the hen, if necessary."
• "But once a girl has learned to observe and understand the position and function of team mates and opponents, to consider the chances of the game in relation to the score, and, bearing these things in mind, can form a judgment as to her most advantageous play, and act quickly on it - when she has learned to repress her hysterical excitement and play quietly instead of boisterously, what is it she has gained? It is self-evident that she has won something beside the mere ability to play basketball. She has learned to control her emotions - to a degree, at least - through the dictates of her mind. Blind impulse has been supplanted by intelligence. Indeed, she has gained, without doubt, a balance of mind and character that will work for good not only to herself, but to others. Indeed, it is the following out of the old fact - the uncontrovertible fact of education - that what one learns at school is not so valuable as is the fact that he learns how to learn. Playing basketball seriously will help the girl player to control her emotions and her mind in far higher and more important matters than athletics."
• And, in the final snippet of banter from the book: 
  " 'It's all right to say that school takes up all our time; but it's the fun we get out of school that makes Latin, and French, and mathematics, ... bearable! My! suppose we didn't have athletics at all?'
  'That would certainly be a state of existence perfectly unbearable for you...you'd burst, wouldn't you?'
  'Into flinders! Athletics is the 'scape-valve for me - and I guess it is for some of the rest of you. Now, tell the truth!'
  And her friends had to admit the truth of her declaration."

 Which leads to my declaration: thank heavens for the women of 1914 who recognized the value of athletics!

A surprise found within the book - in there long enough to dye the page...

The Trail Is Back!

September's flood damage has finally been repaired along the entire 3-kilometer stretch of the eastern portion of the South Boulder Creek Trail!  Not only does this stretch of trail offer a peaceful respite from city life right at the city's edge, but it is also a favorite for timed speed work among the gangs of runners that populate Boulder.  And who wouldn't want to do their speed work here?  Soft surface, very little incline, quiet but for birds and the breeze, and a heckuva view.

And speed work along the South Boulder Creek trail is just what I did today:  about 35 minutes' worth, back and forth, appreciating every step of the repaired surface.  Passed only by two other runners, two walkers, and two women on horseback.  An excellent outing, even though it was a solo session due to having to juggle my training schedule.  The workout should have been tomorrow, preceding long-run Sunday - but tomorrow day Kendall and I will be at the Democratic County Assembly as alternate delegates, and tomorrow evening we'll be cheering on the CU Women's Basketball team in round 2 of the WNIT.  Go Buffs!  Yay trail runs!  Hooray for Spring!  I guess it's an all around day of good cheer, eh?!

Bolder Boulder season has begun!

Chalked-in start line for our 3-mile time trial

 
Spring may not arrive until tomorrow, but our 10-week training plan for the Bolder Boulder kicked off today with a 3-mile time trial.  The neighborhood next to mine has proven to be a perfect area for measured speed work and I've got courses measured out for a plethora of interval distance combinations - including today's 3-mile loop.

My expectations for today's time trial were not lofty.  After a winter filled with 12-minute-per-mile slogs, I very much hoped I could somehow manage pull out a 3-mile run at something quicker than 11 minute pace.  Imagine my surprise when each of my miles were in the 9's with the total for the 3 miles coming in at 28:12, which even included a lap (the 2nd mile) with Taz when Kendall and Taz surprised us on the course.

'Tis definitely time to step up the training!

Taz - definitely up for some speed work!

 

Feeling Spring-ish!

Spring, 1990 with wee Paul and young Devon

Spring may not happen for a few more days, but there most certainly was spring in the air to accompany a spring in my step this morning!  Today's run felt better than any run has for months.

Could it be that I am finally turning the corner after sooo many frustrating months of inconsistent training due to disruptions of every hue?  I sure hope so!  I am more than ready to be a happy runner again.  And happy I was today!  I ran the entire 2 hours and 27 minutes with a huge silly grin on my face, admiring the blue sky, the first meadowlarks of the season, watchful llamas and sheep, honking geese, soaring hawks, grazing bulls, snow-covered peaks ...not to mention the extra bonus of the delightful company of running buddies Connie and Anita for the last hour of the run.  What a morning!

Icing on the cake: today's run followed an almost 2-hour run yesterday - yet my stride today was smooth, my push-off was strong, the tempo steady, and my muscles and joints were cranky-free. What a day! What a run!

There was a quote in the paper this week:
"The most rewarding things you do in life are often the ones that look like they cannot be done." (~Arnold Palmer)
It wasn't all that long ago that I was doing things that I, myself, never considered couldn't be done, but many around me thought I was nuts for even trying.  Today's run has me thinking that could be my reality once again.  Whoohoo!