Coastal Adventures

Here is some recent trail porn from the eastern-most point in the US, Lubec, Maine. Aggie was grandma sitting, while the doggie parents trudged north childless. Insert sad face. But all was well.

This was my first trip to the coast this year. It was an eight-ish hour drive to visit extended family. I hadn’t even considered the potential for good trail running on the ocean. But here it was. And it was amazing. Quaddy State Park has some of the most beautiful trails I’ve seen yet. I made hubs wait while I snapped pictures every few feet. I think I said wow about 500 times. So worth the pokey pace.

Before last weekend, i had little desire to run outside of my favorite home trails. Maybe there’s a bit of traveling for more ‘exotic’ runs in my future. Time and money allowing, of course.
Only four weeks left til my frickin’ first ultra! Wooooohooooo! Pineland, here we come.
Does anyone know when to taper before a 50K? Is it necessary?

Thanks for running with me,
Astrid

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Phoenix

Such a full, sad and beautiful week. Like so many, my thoughts have been with the Boston community all week. Running has truly allowed me to feel my feelings. Heartache, frustration, redemption mingled with trepidation. All a direct result of the past week’s events.
I’ll keep this brief. I simply needed to say something about the week before moving on. I ran a lot this week, and I’m looking forward to sharing the highlights with you, including my first six hour run.
I’m so blessed to be a part of our running community. I hope you all feel this way, too.

50K Training: Seven Weeks To Go

I’d thought I’d be ready for a six hour run this past weekend. I wasn’t. ‘Long Run Friday’ turned into ‘snowboarding in summer Friday’. It was a glorious, steamy day on the hill. Corn snow and mash potatoes abounded. I love working on my goggle tan. No pictures, please. I imagine I may only have one or two days left to the season. I worked at wringing out every last ounce of joy from the day.

I was about as far as I’ve ever been from wanting to run this week. My five hour run last week kind of ebbed my interest in another long run so soon. I know, I’m in training, i need to learn to push through low spots. But, my running rebirth has been nothing but joyous, and I’m not ready to compromise on this feeling. I’m sure the time will come when I’ll have to expand and use more of the tools in my kit. Right now, I’m committed to keeping running fun. Period.
So, I supplemented. In addition to riding, some hiking was in order. Last week, we had some fifty+ degree days (I know, crazy, huh?). We checked out the largest earthen dam in the US, Ball Mountain Dam in Townsend, VT. There’s a big kayak festival here in mid April when forest service does a dam release. Hmm….maybe there’s a return to kayaking in my future. I was really only there to do some reckying for a new long run route. I’ll keep you posted on that. For those who want to check it out, google West River Trail in VT. It’s a 36 mile combination of mountain and rail trails, with the potential for an awesome ultra…

This is Aggie leaping with glee after being cooped up in the car for hours of Saturday/Sunday driving.

Hubby and I impulsively committed to a three-ish hour loop run together. I usually run solo, with just my Aggie girl. The last time J and I ran together was in November. I love the solitude of my runs, but I’m learning to be more of a team player. Hahaha. It was good to have company, but I relish my solo efforts.
So much of the snow pack has melted away. Some of the 12 miler was ice, some not. There will probably be snow til May on the shader sections. Some of the trails were torrential rivers. Shoulda taken pictures. Twice, my Hokas almost got sucked off by ankle deep mud. Aggie loved it. She was covered with mud, head-to-tale. I bit the bullet and went straight through both kinds of Spartan fun. I wish I had TWO pairs of Hokas for the 50k, just in case. Running in dripping wet, cold shoes is a recipe for DNFing. Despite the muck and ice, I’m really grateful for a change from the usual heavy, slow, snow-covered trails. They were new and different and fun. AND I was able to go a touch faster. You know, I may have actually resembled someone RUNNING!
Actually, it felt good to push. And to be touching REAL terra firma.
As I said before, I’ve been listening to running podcasts, like Trail Runner Nation. One in particular highlighted author Tim Noakes’ book Waterlogged. In it he talks about hyponatremia. In short, we are drinking way more water than we need. So, I tried to stay away from the sloshy water stomach I usually have. On this particular run, I just drank to thirst. I think I normally drink way more than I need. We’ll see, I’ll keep messing around with what works for me, especially as the temperature rises.

This is Aggie after a long day of snowboarding. She was spent.
Hope everyone had a family filled Easter.

Thanks for running with me,
Astrid