Trail Running is Best this Time of Year

Saturday was a gorgeous day.  Shelby and I managed to message each other with the same thought in mind: How about a run?  We both did our errands and met at 1:00 at Sand Run Metropark for some hills.  The original plan was to do Sand Run twice for twelve miles, but after the first six miles, we said HELL no to that and made up our own route for a total of 9.5 miles.

Because we ran semi-long yesterday, Shelby punked out on our planned trail run today, so I decided to run Wetmore Trail by myself for about four miles and then possibly fit in Hampton Hills on the way home.

Wetmore was really. . .well, wet.  I managed to get my shoes and socks soaked AND fall in the first mile.  I said to myself, "You got that out of the way.  Now you can't fall anymore."

Midway through the run, the wind started blowing and the skies darkened considerably.  At that point, I realized that I hadn't told anyone where I would be, and there could be a good chance I'd get struck by lightning and die there on the trail.  It looked like this:

This is EXACTLY how it looked, except there was no weird moon orb hanging in front of me waiting to eat me.  Also, no rain and no lightning.  Other than that, EXACTLY the same.

Luckily for me, the storm didn't hit while I was out there.  The trail was absolutely gorgeous; I run trails in the fall to remind myself how lucky I am to live in Northeast Ohio where I can find a bazillion trails to hike or run within ten miles.

This is ACTUALLY how it looked.  Wetmore Trail.

I finished before the storm.  Whew!

Next week is the Second Sole Made in American Half Marathon.  I haven't decided on a strategy.  Will I race it or run it?  Stay tuned to find out.  Until then, run happy, Peeps!

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Mud Helps You Recover

I dropped the ball on two awesome photo-ops today.  I'll regret both of them forever.

First, today was the day I went back to running.  I was a bit nervous about it.  Would it hurt?  Would my legs give out?  Would I hate it?  Shelby and I decided to do a trail run together so we could rehash the marathon (so we don't drive everyone else crazy). I distinctly remember Shelby messaging me, saying, "Do you think we'll be ok on the trails with all this rain?"

My reply, "Pssshh.  We'll be fine."  Remember that.

On the way to Pine Hollow, I saw a gigantic, beautiful bald eagle light on a tree branch right next to the road.  I pulled over and got out of the car to take the picture, and a car came speeding by in the opposite direction and scared him away.  He was gorgeous.

This is EXACTLY how it looked, except there were no mountains, and no snow.

Shelby and I ran the Wetmore Trail; we had only run it once when it was very hot.  Today felt just right, in the high 50s, but it was definitely muddy and wet.  We found out just how wet it was when it came time to ford the first stream.  There was a flat rock in the middle with water swirling over it, and we figured we'd just get the bottoms of our shoes wet, so we sucked it up and stepped in.  No biggie.

At another crossing, we used some rocks and logs; my right foot slipped and I went in up to my knee.  Funny; no biggie.

At the next crossing, there was really not much help.  We saw two potential places to wade; one looked relatively shallow and had a log crossing.  I told Shelby, "Just cross on that log or walk through.  It's not deep; you can see the bottom. You go first."  She carefully put her foot on the log, slipped, and fell right in the stream.  I managed to ask her if she was ok before I started laughing, and the two of us were laughing so much I forgot to take a picture, dammit.

This is EXACTLY how Shelby looked falling into the stream.  We always run trails while wearing string bikinis.

After that crossing, we ran through a large puddle, and I lost a shoe.  I had to walk back through the puddle and pull the shoe out of the sucking mud, and it wasn't easy.

All in all, we both had our share of mud today. Mud heals, right?

We did four miles on the Wetmore Loop and called it a day, but I wasn't ready to call it a day just yet. I think part of the reason why the run felt good to me was that I was running in my Bondi Band compression socks.  I've worn compression calf sleeves on the trail before, but today I decided to go for the whole shebang, and I really liked it.  I should have taken a picture (so I guess that's THREE shots I missed) because they were the pink argyle socks, and I looked super-cute, if I do say so myself.  Remember, Peeps, that I am a Bondi Band Ambassador, so if you want to order some compression wear (or headbands) of your own, you can use my code (TroubleRun) for a 10% discount.  Click here to check out the possibilities. Anyway, I felt really good, so on the way home I stopped at Hampton Hills and added another mile and a half. THIS time I remembered to take a picture:

You know what else heals (besides mud, compression socks, and trail running)?  Massages.  Today I'm going for a massage so I can recover from the marathon.  I've been foam rolling and doing yoga and strength training all week, and now I'm ready for a little muscle love.  Based on previous experience, as I am a very tightly-wound person, I suspect that the massage itself will NOT be relaxing, but I will be very glad in a few days that I got it done.

How did you recover from your fall race, Peeps?  Are you back at the running thing?  Have you taken any mud baths?

Speaking of mud baths, next week I'll be posting from a guest blogger on how to treat your running clothes.  Until then, run happy, Peeps!

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