I would say it started a short while back when I was experiencing unfortunate nagging injuries in my calves that kept me from training as much as I would have liked to. Once those finally healed I experienced a renewed strength that I don't remember ever feeling in my legs. That combined with the weekly Decathlon races with the Steeplechasers has be legs feeling fantastic. It is the type of feeling where at just about any point during the day I feel as if I could just go out and run 8 mile and it would be a breeze. And when I am running, I feel like I can go on forever and ever, alone with my thoughts pounding the pavement for mile after mile.
Interestingly enough within the past few weeks I have found a new love interest: trail running. I was once told that the day you start running trails you will never go back to the roads. Unfortunately I don't live close enough to trails to have this as a possibility but I can certainly empathize with anyone who would say that. When I run on the roads I often find myself staring off into the distance in a type of meditative thought salad. Unless I have a song stuck in my head I could never tell you exactly what I was thinking about for the hours of road running, but I know it was something. On top of that you get to see and witness a lot of the world around you. This is certainly a benefit of road running. You have no worries except the possible oncoming traffic and you are free to look around. The rolling farmlands, grain silos, cow pastures, and beautiful sunsets, running on the roads gives a great opportunity to witness lots that this wide and beautiful world has to offer, but it can also be pretty boring.
Running on the trails is an entirely different experience. I recall very well my first real trail run about a month and a half ago. It was on the Appalachian trail from Gathland State Park outside of Burkitsville to Weverton Cliffs, probably my favorite overlook in the area. It only took me a few miles and a nosedive to the ground how trail running works: the observant will not fare well. You have to constantly be aware of your surroundings, the root here, the sharp arrangement of rocks over there, the big puddle up ahead, and a dead stump right infront of me, woah! It is very true that trail running requires much more concentration and work then any other type of running. Your focus has to be sharp as the edge of a razor blade or you will fall. Your footfalls must be as light as a gazelle, or you will fall.
Despite all of this I have found a serene reality to trail running I have not previously known to be true. Why you do not have a change to observe everything around you, you are still highly in tune with nature is an way I could have never thought possible. As you let your self become completely focused on the trail you also become free, entertained with nature as you have to be to avoid falling ten million times per run. It is this sensation that I have come to love, and it is this sensations that has set me free more than I ever thought possible. Yet still I return to the roads on a mainly daily basis. There are not enough easily accesible trails around Mount Saint Mary's for me to run on. At the same time I have to stay focuses on the goal I have set for myself: qualify for Boston on October 9th in Scranton, PA.
Onto that subject, training finally seems to be picking up. As of today I have 14 weeks (I think) until Steamtown, so it is time to get to work. The past week weeks have been littered with minor yet nagging enough injuries to keep me from training at 100%. For a while I had achilles problems. I would initially think that this was due to my VFFs, but after considering it a bit I think the more likely cause is my old pair of shoes which easily had over 1000 miles on them. Once I finally did get new shoes, I mistakenly thought I could go down a size and paid for it with some nasty blisters. Those are now about 95% healed and today I managed to get my first long run in leading up to the Steamtown marathon.
I ran around 20 miles on the blue trail which the CAT 50K will be on later this month and the blisters proved to be no problem. My nutrition was also not a problem. I stuck to gatorade and water, plus a few pretzels/fig newtons at the halfway point. I feel like the knowledge I am gaining from these 4 hour+ runs will be important for me learning to manage my electrolyte and fluid levels during my marathon, which was my downfall this past spring. Following the trail portion I did another 2 miles at a bit of a pickup pace with a local ultrarunner and a nice guy on a business trip from France named Vincent.
Looking back I think this was one of my best runs to date and my 52 miles this week (in 5 days) is the most since the winter. The plan at this rate is to keep up the 22 milers on the weekends, and start picking and choosing some key workouts from Jack Daniels' elite marathon plan to incorporate into my schedule. My confidence is good and my legs are finally feeling great so I can't wait to see how the next few weeks go.
Quote of the day:
"Running is life. Everything else is just waiting" - Myself, although I think I may have seen this elsewhere.
