Day 57 - Snow pelting

By the time I went out for my walk the first batch of snow was mostly melted on the road. My legs felt a little slow at the start but felt better after a couple minutes. The walk felt rushed today because the little ones had a half day of school. As soon as I was finished with my walk I was off to pick them up at school and back to work with me to finish my day.

I was out the door tonight around 5 and drove over to the mountain. I ran straight up the road hill to the top tonight. Hitting my first mile in 14:28. That sounds funny after running my first mile last night in 6:34 but the snow covered Pulpit Rock road hill will do that to your time. Running up the road I was hoping to get there for a couple pics at Pulpit Rock before it was to dark and I just made it. It was very windy with snow falling. I snapped a couple of shots and I was on my way. Down the AT I ran back to the car. It is so cool running in the middle of the woods in the dark and snowing. The route was only 4 miles so after I drove home I decided to go run through town. Tonight was also a night you had to run with your eyes almost closed do to the snow pelting you in the eyes the whole time. The snow made it so bright everywhere. There were very few people out driving which made it like I had the whole town to myself. I could really feel my energy level was low and my legs were really sore from my run last night. Keep moving forward is what I kept telling myself.

1-26-2011 - 3 miles - 37:50 - walk

1-26-2011 - 11 miles - 1:58 - run (4 mile trail/7 mile road)

The snowy view from Pulpit Rock

The snowy view from Pulpit Rock

The snowy view from Pulpit Rock

The snowy view from Pulpit Rock

Day 56 - Ready to run

I did my three mile loop again on my walk today. I wish I had more time because I am not ready to stop after three miles. The temps were up and it felt real comfortable outside. No face cover needed today. The legs felt great after a night off of running. The count down is on to spring for most but there looks like some more fun with the snow is on the way again.

Usually when I take a day off from running I am ready go the next day. Well tonight I was ready. I went out knowing I wanted to run ten miles. 6 p.m. I was off running hitting 6:34 on my first mile and thought this could be a fun night. It was a little fast but sometimes it is hard to hold back even when you know your going to pay for it. At that point of the run I was thinking maybe I will try to keep moving at this pace for five miles and then take it easy. Well after moving along and not feeling like the energy was leaving after five miles I was in for the whole ten. I could feel my legs getting tired but I know now when these times come around you have to relax and try to keep moving. The beep from my watch went off and I looked down and it read nine miles - 1:03 something. I closed my eyes for a couple of seconds and dug down deep. I hit 6:41 on my last mile and finished at 1:10:35 with a big smile on my face. Some people say your legs only have so many races in them don't waste it on training run. I say you only live once and if your feeling good go for it you could die tomorrow. And one more thing I will pay for this tomorrow but it was worth it! Bring on the snow!

1-25-2011 - 3 miles - 38:06 - walk
1-25-2011 - 10 miles - 1:10:35 - run
                    1 mile - 9:19 - run(cool down)

Day 55 - No running today

Today was very cold and sunny out. At least everyone keeps telling me how cold it is out. I didn't think it was that cold but then again I am bundle up when I go out. The more time I spend in the cold this year the more I want to be out in it. I really love the winter this year. My walk at work was warmer than I thought it was going to be. It was around 17 ° and that was a lot warmer then the low single digits in the morning around here or the -39 ° up in Canada I read about.

No running tonight for me. I got very busy with everything else at home and I thought it was a good night to rest after 9 days of running in a row which is a lot for me. With another snow storm on the way I am ready to play and the rest will be good.

1-24-2011 - 3 miles - 38:45 - walk

Day 54 - Cold but sunny

Today was a great day out on the trails. With all the hikers that were out in the last couple of days the snow is packed down and most of the rocks are hidden. You could fly down most trails and not worry about tripping on a rock. Its slower running up the hills but so much fun on the downs. I ran one of my favorite runs which includes Pulpit Rock, Blue Rocks Campground and the Pinnacle. I started from home and made my way over to the road up to Pulpit Rock which I run a lot and is a great way to get warm. There was good traction to the top with some truck tracks all the way to the top. Heading down to the campground I had first tracks. Heading up the yellow trail from the campground there were four wheeler tracks that made running a lot easier. The views from the Pinnacle were very clear and you could see forever. There was a guy xc skiing with his two dogs. The stayed right aside of him and didn't leave his side. I thought that was pretty cool.

The view from the Pinnacle

The view from the Pinnacle

View off of the Appalachian Trail

On my way back I looked over at some trees that I always run by and the sign below was nailed to one of them. Its funny you can run by things so many times and never see it and one day it pops out and you finally see it. On my way back down from Pulpit Rock I ran into a great runner friend Beth. She was out enjoying a hike with a friend. After I ran down to the bottom I looked to my right and there was another hiker. I said hi and we started taking about hiking and running. He said he has been hiking up in this area for many years and stopped running when he was 40 because of neck problems. He was out hiking today for about 12 miles. I told him I got a pic of a cool sign on a tree that read something about 1936. He said to me before I even showed him the pic "Was it made out of copper?"  and I said yes. I showed him the pic and he said his son and him found that sign around 25 years ago and never could find it again. You just never know what you are going to find or who you will meet on the trail. It happened so many times to me out on the trail with just the word "Hi!" Life on the trail is good!

April 15 1936
Please Protect These
Evergreen Trees
E.D.K & J.R.

1-23-2011 - 15 miles - 3:20 - run

Day 53 - 2 pair of socks

I left the house with the temp at 9°. It was a 2 pair of sock kind of day. Wait I also had 2 pair of gloves on. The plan was to do a 12 1/2 mile loop on the road to the AT over to Port Clinton and back the road. I did this loop a couple of years ago when the temp was around 4° with some friends. Again I had first tracks on the AT to Port Clinton. That is around a 6 mile section. Everything was going well until the last mile down. I forgot there could be drifts on the mountain and they were there the rest of the way down to the bottom. The drifts were deep about 1 to 2 feet deep. My feet were very cold by this point of the run. The drifts made it hard to see where the rocks were. You can usually see bumps in the snow and that usually means theres a rock or stick there. After a good fall from kicking some rocks and almost eating some snow I slowed down and just wanted to get down. I made it down with no more falls. From there I ran through the town of Port Clinton an up to the Bartram Trail. I passed one guy on the Bartram Trail that I meet over the summer. He was doing an 8 mile round trip hike to the library and back. I hit the road section of my run and decided to add a loop at Kaercher Creek and some more road. I finished up with 16 miles. A good day of survival out on the trail. Not a good day for pics since my battery died.

The Appalachian Trail heading up

Pocahontas Spring on the Appalachian Trail

Kaercher Creek

1-22-2011 - 16 miles - 3:13 - run

Day 52 - Yes! Snow!

My wife woke me up around 5 a.m. and said do you want to shovel? I really don’t have a choice but it was nice of her to ask. After an hour of shoveling the the driveway was clear. I walked inside to the smell of coffee – gotta love that. Now hopefully it doesn’t drift shut by the time I get home. After getting to work I spent another hour or more playing in the snow (shoveling/salting). Today I definitely got a good core workout.

Today on my walk it was windy and sunny. There was also plenty of soft snow to slip on every step.  Some of the roads are starting to drift which made it fun when a car would drive by. 



View from my walk

I made it out on the mountain by 4. A little colder today and the weekend is suppose to be real cold. The weather is saying down to 0 - wow that is cold. The road was drove on by a truck so it was a little easier to run until I got on the AT. From there I had first tracks to the top. The snow was real lite and fluffy. It would be great skiing snow. I only had about an hour to run so I ran down the road hill which was a lot of fun. There is probably 6 inches of snow on it and you could run down it real fast without worry about slipping on ice. When I made it to the parking lot I could see that there was going to be and awesome sunset. I ran down to take a pic and my battery was dead. There is always next time.

  

The road up from the parking lot



Appalachian Trail near Pulpit Rock

 

The view from Pulpit Rock

 

Appalachian Trail near Pulpit Rock

Appalachian Trail near Pulpit Rock

1-21-2011 - 3.4 miles - 45:51 - walk
1-21-2011 - 5 miles - 1:05 - run

Day 51 - Maybe another storm

Looks like some more snow on the way. Hopefully we get a good amount of it this time. Some people are really ready for warmer weather and I can understand why – they don’t run in it and they don’t know what they are missing:) Right now I am all for the snow because it will make me stronger for when the spring comes around. This weekend I will try to drain my tank of energy with plenty of running and sledding in the snow.

On my walk today I was trying to focus on every step. There are so many things to distract you outside. But today I was really zoned in. Yeah it’s only a walk but the more practice the better off I will be when race time comes around. It is so easy to slow down and get in a different pace whether it is running, hiking or walking. Every step counts and I really have to stay focused on what the end result will be. The race will be here in no time!

I decided to have a shorter night of running. I went straight up the road hill to Pulpit Rock breaking through the thin layer of ice. More footprints going to the top tonight which made for a lot of icy prints. Now you have to be careful with the ice footprints. Some are deep and you can twist your ankle on them real quick. I thought maybe there would be a quick appearance of the moon tonight before the snow started but no such luck. I made it to the top right before dark. I got a couple of pics and then headed back down. The tread on my sneakers worked perfect for the run down on the ice covered road. I headed right home and with only a little of over 3 miles in I thought I would run on the treadmill for something different. I'm not a fan of dreadmill but I thought it would be good mental training. My first mile I ran at a 10% grade at 5mph for 1 mile and the last .8 at a 10% grade at 6mph. That was all I could handle. I really have a hard time running with the same surface. I need some rocks, dirt or snow under my feet. It also felt really soft when I would land and I wasn't real crazy about that. Maybe I will shoot for 2 miles next time.

1-20-2011 - 3 miles - 37:31 - walk
1-20-2011 - 3.2 miles - 37:00 - run
                   1.8 miles - 20.00 - treadmill run:(

Day 50 - Keep moving forward

Today for a walk I did my 3 mile loop. My energy level feels really good this week. The days I had my cold I was going out but the energy was not there. Today I was just trying to keep focused and moving along as fast as I could. It felt like a heat wave at 37°. I finished the loop in 37:39. That is a12:36 pace for the 3 mile loop and the legs felt good.

Tonight I left the house a little after 6 for a road run. With the chance of some more snow on Friday I thought I better get a faster run in tonight. How fast I will be running I never know until I get out on the road for a mile or two to see how I feel. I have a hard time following a schedule because some days I feel like running fast and others I don’t have much energy. I found out going by feel in my training works the best for me. So on the days I have the energy I take advantage of it. I changed from my normal loop and was trying to run a lot of different streets around town I never run on in a while. Half way through the run I had a big dog jump at me. It’s been a while since that happened but I was ready for it. I even made eye contact with the owner and the dog, slowed down and thought it was cool to keep moving. I didn’t say a word and kept moving forward after he jumped at me. Then the owner starts to yell and yank the dog around. I think if the dog would have been on a leash this could have been avoided. Finishing my run with an average pace of 7:38 for the 10 miles. I feel I am getting stronger little by little. Can't wait for the weekend and it's only Wednesday. The temps look cold but with some new snow on top of the slush the conditions should be great!

Since I didn't get any photo's today I thought I would post two of my favorite pictures I snapped a couple of years ago. The one I call it "Nature's Highway" because it looks like a crazy road in nature. The other one is just a cool colored insect but i'm not sure what it is. Just remember keep moving forward and enjoy the views around you!

1-19-2011 - 3 miles - 37:49 - walk
1-19-2011 - 10 miles - 1:16:21 - run

Day 49 - Ice run

I woke up around 2:30 a.m. to the sound of sleet against my windows. Looking out the windows I could see through, most of them were coated in ice, I was hoping for more snow by that time but only an inch or two that I could see. No shoveling before I left for work today. I thought it would be better to leave the ice on top of the snow so I wouldn't have to deal with a sheet of ice after the freezing rain started when I got home. I left about 25 minutes early thinking the roads were going to be a sheet of ice and it was going to take me a lot longer to get there. It turned out that the roads were not that bad at the time I left.

I hit the mountain around 3:30 after shoveling some of my driveway this afternoon. It was great to be running during the week in the light. Not a one person was on the trail today. I'm not sure if that ever happened before this late in the day. A lot of people take their dogs up to walk them I guess not today. There was a little coating of ice on top of the snow at the start but nothing to slippery. By this time the temps were above freezing and all you heard was the ice falling off of the trees. I ran right up to the red trail to work on my running and video making. I really enjoy making/sharing the videos because not everyone can make it out to see what it looks like after a storm. After running down that trail I knew my feet were going to be soaked and cold the rest of the run. The closer I got to the top the temps started to drop and the ice on top was getting thinker. There was a lot more ice that was still on the trees at the top and some fog. If you were never at the top of the mountain after an ice storm you don’t know what you are missing. It is a total different world up there. After getting some pics at Pulpit I ran the AT to the red trail and down the blue snapping some pics on the way . That is where my feet were really starting to feel the cold. I sat down to wring the water out of one of my socks on the foot that was very cold. It does help if you know your not going to be stepping in any more water for awhile. Finally I see two more sets of footprints as I was finishing the last half mile. I was glad someone else got to check what was left of the little ice storm. The sky started to break and the sun and moon were peeking through. What a cool ending to a run.

1-18-2011 - 8 miles - 1:45 - run