Spring is Around the Corner

My medial tibial stress syndrome is trying to rear is ugly old head. I'm determined to stay injury-free and am doing lots of proactive heel, toe walking, alphabet writing with my foot, icing, elevating and trail running. After reading Kara Goucher's story in this month's RW, I'm wondering whether this injury stuff is in my head.

I had the perfect three day weekend full of my favorite Rs, running, reading and relaxing with kids and honey. Saturday, after my speeding ticket mishap. I picked up my running partner Laura and drove out a half hour from home to Lowell. The North Shore trail, a relatively flat scenic trail has become my favorite trail run. The trail travels at least 12 miles alongside Lookout Point Reservoir. It has gentle rolling hills that travel in and out of the forest canopy and through several creeks. I have noticed that I tend to start out too fast on trail runs. I'll have to keep this in mind at next week's race. Hagg Lake 25K, my first trail race is a mere five days away. I can't wait! It was a terrific run. It's interesting how Laura and I chatter away when we're running on the road. Out on the trail, we tend to quiet down and disappear into the gorgeous setting and our own thoughts.

On Sunday Steve disappeared for hours on end (seven but who's counting?) leaving me to hold down the fort solo. I was so antsy. I just didn't know what to do with myself and my girls on that rainy, sleepy Sunday morning and afternoon. My annoyance with Steve taking the liberty of disappearing for seven hours changed into fear. He was out there alone and didn't bother to leave a note telling me where he was going or what his plan was. To make matters worse it didn't appear that he had taken his cell phone. He finally made it home from what he called a hellish run/experience. Once he showered, ate and started looking human again, I had a whole hour and a half to take my run before heading off to watch Steve's basketball game. I was not a pleasant human being. I didn't even want to be around myself. I headed out my front door with my iPod and forgot all my worries. The River Path it was warm and dry. The run felt fine and cured me of my grumpies.

Today I was supposed to do a mere three mile run since I'm tapering. It hardly seemed worth getting dressed for! I didn't even have a three mile route in mind and had to make it up as I went. It was fun checking out funky houses and gardens in my neighborhood and observing some of nature's first signs of our quickly approaching spring. Yay! 9:30 felt like the perfect easy run pace for me. On my way back home I noticed a fellow runner going in the opposite direction as me. We nearly ran past each other but recognized each other at the last minute. It was my friend Tanya. We ran together in the unexpectedly warm and sunny day and chatted for a mile and half. I was having such a good time that I didn't realize that my three mile run had stretched into a four and a half mile run. OOPS! It felt great and I enjoyed the company and the sunshine. I hope to do more running with Tanya and will try not to drive her nuts with my enthusiasm in her return to the sport.

The day was so spectacular we decided to let the girls decide on how to spend the rest of the afternoon. They voted for gardening and going for a hike. The four of us joined the Bunson trio for a terrific two mile hike at Pisgah. On the climb we were warned by two separate solo hikers about how muddy it was. This was not a deterrent considering all the mud that Steve and I run in. We're used to being ankle deep in some parts of the trail. The mud was no more that 1/2 inch deep in a few parts. The kids loved it. "You call this mud?!" I wanted to shout to the hikers who had long ago made their descent. While Steve and I enjoyed the hike immensely we couldn't help but drool at the trail runners with their muddy calves zipping around the gorgeous trails. The girls surprised us with their strength and endurance. Much to our delight, they actually ran UP sections of the hills. What a beautiful spring day full of gorgeous views and great company. It was the perfect cap to a fabulous long weekend.