10 miles!
I tried out my new trail shoes Saturday and Today. Let me say that they do indeed love the dirt. Those big fat treads dig in like steel spikes. Not so very good on ice but fortunately there wasn’t as much this time. Ofcourse, now there was alot of mud. My shoes are seriously muddy. There was this little instruction sheet that came with the shoes that talked about washing them. And I thought, why would I want to wash my shoes? Can you tell I hadn’t really run on trails yet?
Saturday I ran my 5 mile pace run, which turned out to actually be a 4.1 mile pace run. The map said this loop trail around Crooked Lake was 5.1 miles, but I think it was measured wrong, or I am suddenly an amazing trail running and able to run faster than my road pace on trails while stopping to take pictures. Oh well, I was glad to stop early because I was beat. 38:53. Not bad actually considering how much time was spent walking and taking a few pictures.
The trails still had alot of snow and ice on them, and it was a chilly 32F or so. The mud had been soft earlier in the week, judging by the footprints, but it was all still frozen on Saturday, which made for a bumpy run when going down hills.
I ran part of the Potowanami Trail today for my 10 mile run, nice and slow. Most of the trails faced south, so I would say 70% was free of ice. Most of the ice that was there, was mushy. The slippery hard stuff stayed in the deep pine areas where little sun could get in. The was alot of mud over this trail and I spend alot of time ducking around it And ofcourse I hit it dead on alot of the time! A few times it felt like my shoe was going to pull off my foot.
Today’s run was 1:52, 10.1 miles, which puts me in at a 11:05 pace. Much slower than if i had been on the road. I think I need to reevaluate my expectations for this race. I think I am looking at about 2:20 - 2:30 finishing time. Not exactly a PR, but then again this course is not like anything I have run before.
Let me say that, once again, I am in awe of the runners who do these trails. The hills are a nightmare. There’s a spot on the map that says “Serious Hills”, and they aren’t kidding. I made a good effort but about 1/3 of the way up I had to walk. Just too much. I ended up walking several of the hills.
Before I ran on a trail, I used to be really confused about how this could be very different. I just thought it would be like the road, but with soft dirt. What is so hard about that? Uh huh. Trails have hills, and no construction crew came through to make them smooth and level for your father’s Oldsmobile. It was a shock to me. I used to do ALOT of hiking in High School, and somehow I forgot all about the hills involved. For some stupid reason, I thought the running trails were special trails for running. No, they are hiking trails and you just have to run them.
You know, when I went from the road to trails, and it was like I was starting from square 1, learning how to run all over again. All that stamina I thought I had, turned out to be junk. And my “hill” training? More junk. I’m thinking if I can get good on the trails, I am going to seriously kick butt on the roads. I think I want to keep a regular long trail run in my training plan somewhere from now on.
And a confession? When Chris Brogan posted about getting lost on the trail once, I laughed to myself and thought, how could you get lost on the trail? You follow it one way until you are half as far as you want to go, then turn around and go back. Why is that hard to do? You know, its hard to do. This trail was simple, and even with the posted markers, I still needed to stop at every intersection and look at my map, which I had to bring with me so I wouldn’t get lost. I even stopped coming by the same marker on the way back.
About 2 miles from the end today I heard this big crashing in the woods and turned to see an enormous deer bounding across the path. She was just HUGE compared to the little ones we get in the back yard occassionally.
My right calf started to really bug my about halfway through this run. Not sharp pain but it felt tight and sore like I had been lifting weights or something the day before. Probably from the pace run. I tried to stop occassionally and stretch it gently, though it didn’t help much. I could feel it all the way down to my achilles which worries me. That’s one thing about these shoes is that I think they have a lower heal than my other shoes so tend to stretchmy achilles a little. No such a bad thing, but mix that with hills and I have to be careful about how hard I am running.
Ok that’s it. How was your running this weekend?
March 27th, 2005 23:41
Great Post! I love hearing about trail runs because they always seem to be full of adventure. I am glad you are enjoying your new sneaks.
March 28th, 2005 01:13
wow, you have been busy!!! Glad your new shoes are working out.. Your doing so awesome, improving all the time!!! good job and keep enjoying it!
Heather
March 28th, 2005 02:05
Great Post, Jon. I have to laugh though, as you describe the trail run cause I can relate all to well. This is what Karen and I do all winter long. And yes I too have gotten lost on a trail run/race. The snow drifted and fast guys had trampled down the course flags so when I got to a fork I did not know which way to go. I ended up in waist deep snow and laughing. Laughing is the only way to do a trail run. Hills…tehehehee. Yup them thar are hills :-)
March 28th, 2005 05:21
I have to admire you trail runners. I was confused, too, until I did the cross country run at our school. My gosh, it was hard. Sounds like you mastered it though. The new shoes sound cool.
March 28th, 2005 09:22
Oh yes, trails are not just a road of dirt. Roots, rocks, mud, ice and variable surfaces make the run challenging in a very fun way. I get so busy planning my foot placement for the next 5-10 feet I forget how many miles I have yet to go. And hills! They really help you see more scenery :) Very cool that you saw a big deer.
As a rule when it comes to timing, I add about one minute per mile to my road time over the same distance, and I’m usually pretty close.
March 28th, 2005 11:12
Glad you are enjoying the new trail shoes. Getting them muddy is the object of the game - similar to 4-wheeling. You don’t know it yet but you’re having fun. :)
March 28th, 2005 14:50
my tight calves when running were related to (or caused?) plantar faschitis (pain on bottom of foot). Stretching worked really well and I might be cancelling my dr. appt if it continues to feel ok. But if you get pain on the bottom of your foot from the trail running, look into the shoes and some good calf stretching.
March 28th, 2005 15:09
Getting lost is half the fun of it. It keeps you on your toes so to speak.
I didn’t see much in the way of wildlife on my trail run but I did end up in a hunting zone. Now that’s something to make you pay attention to your surroundings.
You’ll be ready for that race in no time.
March 28th, 2005 17:50
glad you had such an awesome experience on the trails, jon! and yup, you’re right, getting good on the trails will SERIOUSLY increase your road speed. good job!
March 28th, 2005 19:29
*Sigh* no more running for me for awhile - but I’m still doing the cross trainer thing. I hope you don’t mind me living vicariously through you!
March 28th, 2005 21:24
Word Count: Ice 4, Mud 4, Hill 7, Oldsmobile 1.
Hills Win!
March 28th, 2005 23:47
Trail running sounds like a great workout. I’m sure I would be seriously humbled if I were to run on a real trail, not the paved run/bike trails I run on.
March 29th, 2005 00:16
Jon, I’m glad to hear you and your new shoes are getting to know each other and YES cleaning them is important to maintain their usefullness. LOL mud-packed treads don’t work as well for running as say: skating? LOL I really haven’t much choice but to do trails half the time otherwise the view is VERY boring and very few hills in conjunction with paved roads around here. One thing I’ve had to do is use harder orthotic supports than in my road shoes to help with foot and calf pain. I really enjoyed your trail adventure…it sounds really exciting and challenging.
March 29th, 2005 09:24
Oooh, now I want trail shoes! Great post. Makes me wanna go out and do it right now! And, you got to see wildlife–damn!
March 29th, 2005 14:58
That was a terrific post about trail running. Thanks.
March 30th, 2005 17:59
Looks like hard work to me. Those trails still have so much snow.
March 31st, 2005 15:03
Hey Jon did’t know you are reading this too :0. Greets
Note from Jon: You look like a spammer, Bruce.