Runcationing

It's true, the best and fastest way to explore a new place is by running. Unfortunately, I can't stand running with my phone so usually the cool places I visit go undocumented. Earlier this summer I was in Newport, RI for the first time and enjoyed a run/hop/skip along the cliff walk. Unfortunately, no T Swift sightings. Ran to something called Purgatory Chasm, wicked cool spot on the ocean, wish I'd brought a camera for that one. I was there for a scientific conference, so I also went for a walk on the cliff walk (what a crazy notion) with some colleagues and took pictures then. The views were incredible...

Newport Cliff Walk

This past weekend I was in beautiful Bar Harbor for a quick vacation with Ben's extended family. We ran around Eagle Lake on Saturday which brought back all sorts of memories for me;  huffing up the hills in my one-speed Huffy back in the day with my family, the final "long run" (it's 6 miles) we took the campers on for Colby XC camp, doing LTP with friends after said long run, dangerously hurdling the gates with terrible form, and chatting with the sub-4 miler crew of guys filming a documentary up there. I've been battling a hamstring/IT band issue for about 6wks now (although pretended it was fine the first 4 of 6), so I and Ben's brother opted for rental bikes Sunday and accompanied Ben on his long run. After biking to the trailhead, we set off. All was rainbows and butterflies and fun downhills until we started going up. And up. And up. Turns out we picked a loop that included going up Sargent mountain and we ended up on continuous incline for 2 miles. Woof. Jumping on a bike for the first time in a year should not have involved climbing a mountain. We didn't manage to get sunshine for either of the days we were there but it was serene and wonderful as always. Glad to get this healthy dose of trails and nature.

Bubble Pond

View from our room at the Bar Harbor Inn

Eagle Lake

Until next time,
Robyn "running wild" Runner

Race Recap: Goodwin Forest Trail Race

Fun facts: It's been a month and half since I've posted on here (sorry) and alsooooo I'm racing a half marathon in 3 weeks.

My training has been going well so far but hasn't taken off like I was hoping it would. I've been enjoying my long runs, cross training, and doing strength work but I'm missing the crucial speed work that will allow me to run a good race. I would like to PR, and my goal is 1:35, but honestly I don't think that I'm in shape to run 7:15 per mile for 13 miles. In an effort to engage my fast twitch muscles, I signed up for a local 10k trail race.

Let me preface this by saying that I have never run a trail race before. I assumed it was like running cross country, and since I'm knee-deep into my team's cross country season, I was fired up. In fact, I borrowed back my college cross country spikes from my top runner so that I could fly through the trails. But fly I did not. The first mile was pretty flat but a little rocky and I was completely disheartened to see my watch beep at 7:57 for the first split. From there, the race just got worse. I had a blister on my heel that was rubbing annoyingly, the footing was hard and the trails were narrow. I wanted to go faster but I was afraid of falling. Those cross country spikes were actually not a good idea because although I could grip the humid ground well, my feet and ankles weren't supported. During the rougher patches, ankles were slightly rolled, paces slowed and many choice words were uttered. The race also was advertised as a 10k but even the website admitted it was only 5.8 miles. Once I hit 4 miles, I knew it was time to go. My hopes of finishing in any sort of respectable time had long flown the coop but I wanted to at least make up some ground. I saw that there was a woman behind me and if there's one thing I can't stand in races it's losing to people I shouldn't. I wanted some sort of female award (top female? 1st age group?) so instead of letting her overtake me, I focused on the hairy dude* in front of me and reeled him in.

*Sidenote: I think I'll need to do some more research, but I think trail runners are a different breed of human. Lots of crazy hair and too many hydration belts for my comfort level. I felt very out of place.

As I turned the corner and headed up the last quarter mile stretch of the path, one man who had already finished yelled at me that there was someone hot on my tail. I was still frustrated with the whole race and feeling tired from the trail, the humidity, and life, but I gave it one last push. I was not  about to let that girl beat me so as to at least have something good to say about the race, and I opened up the gap and finished strong. Turns out, it was hairy dude who was behind me and then the woman, so I shouldn't have been too worried, but feeling that pressure definitely propelled me to run faster than I wanted to.

I look too happy on this cool down

Once I crossed the finish line, I learned two things. 1: I was the 2nd female, yay! 2: Only 1st female got a prize, bummer. I chatted with the race director about the trails and training for my upcoming half marathon. He pointed out that while I didn't work my speed as much as I had hoped, I definitely worked on my running strength, and I liked this perspective. Perhaps all was not lost with this race. Another runner (tall skinny guy) started talking to me, but he was a little creepy, so I peaced out with the excuse of a long cool down to hit my 10 miles for the day. After standing around for a while, the cool down started out rough, and especially my butt felt heavy. I understood what the race director meant by running strength as I took my first couple steps. I headed onto the local Airline Trails that bisect this state forest, knowing the the trails are flat and smooth. I slogged 3 miles, took a selfie to show my incredibly sweaty Oiselle #flystyle, and finished at the pavilion to get one more drink of water and steal a banana. As I arrived, I heard the race director call out my name; I won a loaf of zucchini bread after all. Turns out all was not lost, and actually, I'm pretty glad I did this race.

Hitting the Trails

Recently I've been getting off the roads and hitting the trails. I'm really digging the scenery, the shade, and the post-run tick checks. Embarrassingly, I'm not the best at remembering to apply sunscreen before I head out on my runs, so if I'm running in the woods I can at least feel a little better about all the sun exposure I'm getting. One of my favorite parts of trail running is that you work hard for your run. You need to stay focused and maneuver the trails and because of this, it never gets boring. My Garmin watch doesn't love the trails so I often just run a timer and forget about my pace. These are the days that remind me why I love to run. It's not everyday I wake up and instantly want to hit the trails, but when they're beautiful and not sweltering hot, I just can't resist.

Since I'm into this whole being a responsible runner thing, I always bring my cellphone with me now, for safety and for music. The bonus is that I get to document all of my noteworthy and particularly verdant runs. This June, I have run on trails in Lincoln, MA (bike trails and Mt. Misery), Dover, MA for Father's Day:

Noanet Woodlands

Squinty family (minus Mom), Oiselle, and Boston in the background

Newly blazed and beautiful trails in Pomfret, CT:

A muggy morning run in Portland, ME, while visiting fellow CCTF teammates: 

Back Cove Panorama

My old stomping grounds in Concord, MA: 

Old Rifle Range

Obligatory selfie. Go Mules!

And attended a wedding on a beautiful estate in Virginia, where I got completely lost and loved exploring the winding paths:

Goodstone Inn trails

Post run, what a handsome date.

Up next, I'm headed to Vermont for 6 weeks of grad school and hopefully many more trails!

Furlough day one: trail run

Yesterday I had a much needed break from the city. I drove about 45 minutes north to do my long run on rail trails that stretch some 120 miles up into Pennsylvania. It was a great break for many reasons. For one, my shins were dying to get off of the concrete. It was the first holiday I'd had off for months (thanks shutdown). And of course, it was nice to breathe in some clean air and see some trees. I wasn’t the only one who was excited about nature yesterday. I saw a couple taking pictures of something off the side of the trail. With blatant disregard for social etiquette I  obnoxiously stared at them trying to figure out what they were taking pictures of. It seemed like just a regular tree. Was there something cool in the branches? I thought to myself…is it an eagle, an owl, a dragon? What are they so excited about? And then I realized…it was “foliage”. If I could insert a gif of Deb quotes here, I would. It was basically a tree whose leaves were turning brown and were ever so slightly red-tinged.  I forgot how awesome New England fall is comparatively.

I continued on a half mile past my planned turn-around point. Since it was an out-and-back I managed to convince myself to drop 5 sec per mile for the second 5.5mi of my run. It felt good to keep picking up the pace, and my form felt surprisingly conserved so I was able to work all the way down to 7:45 for my last mile. When I do long runs these days, which is certainly not as often as I should be…I make a point to make them quality miles.  This is probably the biggest change I’ve made (and stuck with) in my post-collegiate career. It’s probably a chicken-egg argument, but it seems that I have my best racing seasons when I’m able to do my long runs averaging 8min miles or faster.

In other news – my parents are still tearing up the racing scene in New England. I can’t even begin to understand how my mom runs so fast these days. She was 2^nd overall female in a 5K, winning $125, and running a 20:20. That’s 6:32 per mile and she’s a 54 year old lady who doesn’t even do speedwork anymore. No that green tinge on my face isn’t jealousy. OK fine it’s jealousy. Seriously, she would be top 10 on the Colby women’s team. Now I really need to make sure I keep up my training or else she will beat me at the Turkey Trot 5k this year!