New York, New York

I had a feeling that after two years of mild temps and minimal snow, we were in for a wicked one this year...I guess I just hadn't predicted how wicked.

I can't say "wicked" without remembering this show

It has been brutal - and we haven't even had the worst of it.  I sure hope no one in Chicago or Minnesota is trying to train for Umstead!  I frontloaded my workouts last week to get in as much mileage as possible before the weekend since I knew I would be in New York Friday through Monday.  Of course my plan was to also run there, but I was skeptical I could drag myself out on the streets of Brooklyn when it was 3 degrees.  There was a gym with a treadmill, but, well, whatever, it just didn't happen.  Instead, I kept running up to the roof to take pictures like this:

 and this...

Plus, there was a lot of subway hopping and walking involved that maybe made up for the Junior's Cheesecake and other goodies.

 
 Anyway, it was a fun weekend and a great break from training.  I was slightly uncomfortable with our show choice, but I am sure glad I saw it before we took our 16 year old daughter!  Now that would have been awkward - and as a side note, I won't be watching South Park with her either.

I know I was suppose to get in yet another long run, but I am saving that for Thursday, when it might even get to 30 outside.  Honestly, I have no problem running when it is cold, but it sure seems that is all I ever do anymore.  I don't think I had tights on but maybe two or three times in the last two years, and this year, my shorts are so far down in my workout drawer that I couldn't even tell you what they look like.   I certainly should be prepared for any crazy weather that Umstead throws at me, that is for sure.  So long as it doesn't end up being the hottest April in history, I think I am okay.  Next up, Mid Maryland 50K.  I am stocking up on Hot Hands now.

Running Up Mountains and Shoveling Snow

Its true.  The sun makes everything better. Actually, being outside makes everything better, and the sun makes it spectacular!  It seems my new MO for long runs of 26 miles or more is to follow them with marathon snow shoveling sessions.   I cleared the drive of ~6 inches the day following Rehoboth, and here again yesterday, made several trips outside to keep up with the 10+ inches we were gifted with on Tuesday.  Too bad "Daily Mile" doesn't have a category for that - although I guess cross/or aerobic training would fit.

Anyway, I was particularly proud of my strategy yesterday, going out 3 times to shovel so I wouldn't have to tackle it all at once.  Yeah, good plan.  Thanks to the drifting and blowing last night, one half of my driveway had about a foot and a half of snow on it this morning, while the other half had less than an inch. The college where I work was opening late, so that gave me time to bundle up and hit it.  An hour and a half later, I stood leaning on my shoveling admiring my work when the plow decided it would be a good time to get to my little street of three houses.  It must have been the stink eye I gave him that made him jerk the plow blade away from the end of the drive so as not to create "the wall" that plows leave when they try and get in as close to the curb as they can.

Just what you want to see after finishing your hot chocolate!

As it was, I had to reshovel a little, but not like other times when I would haul the wheel barrow down and just throw the ice chunks in by hand.  Its okay through, I like shoveling, and even though neighbors come out and use their snowblowers in a quarter of the time it takes me to shovel, it is a task I enjoy.  Today was particularly pretty with a clear blue sky and everything sparkling and fresh.  And I guess the airport was back in business to boot!

When did E'burg become a flight path?

And this wasn't even my only experience with pure beauty this week!  That long run before the shoveling came in the Massanutten Mountains on Sunday where I tackled the "GaptoGap" run with the VHTRC.   When Coach suggested the run, I figured I would go, and could bail whenever it started to feel like too much - these are mountains after all.  A lot of folks were going to run just part of it, including Pam, so I planned on hanging with her.  But Coach went to all the trouble to print out a "turn sheet for dummies" that was so intricate and detailed, I couldn't possibly get lost.  So I hung with him and surprisingly, was able to keep up.  Man, it was fun to charge down the rocky hills -mostly because with the 3 inches of snow, most of the rocks were covered and that made the course so much friendlier to my not so coordinated legs and feet.  I only tripped once and was able to catch myself before I landed face first in the snow.  There were three huge climbs, and I kept up just fine.  The view from the top was indescribable (so here is a picture!)

Seriously, that is what I get to see when I run on these trails.  So. Very. Lucky.  And that wasn't the only one - there was still another climb that took us to another breathtaking view:

It just kept getting better and better, all day long.  There were icicles as tall as we were just inches from where we ran.

Photo credit: Pam Gowen

Before we knew it, we were running running down, breathless and fast, missing all the rocks due to the great footing from the snow.  I kept thinking I would have to stop, but we just kept running and before we knew it, we were once again in the woods, leaves covering the forest floor, with hardly a trace of snow to be found.  And then we were done.  26 miles of exquisite beauty.  If all long runs were like this, I might be training for a 100 miler every year! 

Elementary School Challenge, Catoctin and Roasted Red Beets

I know, a pretty long title. But all important milestones this week.  Or last week - I still haven't figured out when one week begins and the next ends.  There should really be a rule about that.
Anyway, I completed the 8th elementary school run this week.  Way back in the summer, ERR (Eldersburg Rogue Runners) started a challenge where runners would run to every elementary school in the county.  The first run was just one week after my disaster at Highland Sky, but I had committed to the challenge and was determined to make it.  Figures that the temperature was over 100 that day.  But that wasn't even the best part.   Even though this was the first run, it was also one of the longest, and after about 5 miles or so running in the brutal heat, the wind started whipping and the sky got dark...you guessed it - a late day thunderstorm.  But after another 4 miles in a deluge, we all made it safely from Mt. Airy ES to Winfield ES, and that was the beginning.  I have made it to almost every group run since, and have made up the one I had to miss because of another race.

Great sign for a school!

This week, we ran 8.5 miles from Westminster ES to Elmer Wolfe.  It was a great run.
One thing about these runs is that "when nature calls" you are pretty much screwed.  And a lot of road runners just don't pee in the woods like trail runners do.  I am always having to covertly sneak away so I am not an outcast among the roadies.  I was able to do just that after I finished this week, since I dashed off from this run to meet Pam and Alan for another 17-18 miles on the Catoctin Trail.  You remember Catoctin don't you?  And if not, does rattlesnake  ring a bell?  Yup, same trail where I had my first encounter with not one but two huge rattlers.  Luckily it was too cold for them to be sunning this time, so I was safe.  What a beautiful trail.  The huge chunks of quartz were unbelievable.  I even picked one up and had Pam zip it into my pack to take home (because the climbs weren't enough - I had to haul rocks with me too!)  Even though we got off trail a few times, we were treated to views of gorgeous waterfalls, fast and furious from the previous day's rain. So pretty, and such a delight to be out there again.

So that brings me to the last part of the title: Red Beets.  WHO KNEW that they could actually taste good??  I have read about so many runners doing the Whole 30, and eating Paleo and all those good things, but I am just too OCD to change my eating habits that much.  However, I do like veggies, and eating REAL food, so when I saw a recipe for roasted red beet salad, I decided to try it.

 I feel like I have been duped my whole life about this roasting stuff - truth is, ROASTING MAKES EVERYTHING TASTE BETTER!!  Its true- all the soft, squishy, stinky, slimy veggies I HATED as a kid (and adult) taste so good when they are roasted and tossed with sea salt.  It works for the beets, for brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes, all kinds of squash and probably a bunch more I haven't tried yet.  I am pretty much in veggie heaven since I discovered that veggies don't have to come out of a can.  So as you can see, this has been a pretty big week for me.  Following through with the ERR challenge, returning to Catoctin despite my intense fear of big rattlesnakes inches from my feet, and eating long hated veggies.  This will be a tough act to follow for sure.

No Regrets!

Everything appears so easy during the day, but something creeps into my room in the dead of night, usually around 2:30, and wakes me with a start, and then all hell breaks loose.

Even though I had obsessively prepared for Phunt - bags packed, multiple layers of clothing, hot hands out the gazoo, yak traks for my shoes - I still woke in the middle of the night with the kind of anxiety that usually requires medication (or a brief stay in the psych ward).  I told myself it would be fine, it was just a 50K, there would be lots of folks around, all the obvious stuff to pump myself up for this.  But in the end, fear won out and I turned off my alarm. 
Once the sun came up, I regretted my decision...for exactly 90 minutes, until I was on the trail by my house trying to run in the 5 inches of new, powder-fine snow that had fallen a few days before.  After 11 miles, I felt as if I had run 30. 

Too bad my feet aren't smaller!

 Other than tracks from one lone biker who had cut a narrow wheel path and a few deer, the trail was undisturbed.  There was no compacted snow to follow, no footprints to make the trek a little easier.  Up and down I went, kicking through the fluffy snow as it collected into ever growing balls of ice on the back of my shoes and ankles.  That was fun.
A run that normally takes me a little over two hours took me close to three.  I was winded, cold, and very tired coming off the trail.  NO, doing this for 31 miles would have taken me way too close to race cut-offs, if I even made them at all.  From what I have heard, there was more than a little confusion on trail markings, and for me, that is the kiss of death!
So Phunt 50K was a no go for me this year, and while I would have liked to have knocked off that long run, I was able to get a good workout on Saturday followed by another 15 mile run on Sunday, so that was something. It wasn't like there was a Polar Vortex or something holding me back(;

A hard run but very pretty!

Decisions, Decisions

More snow.  Great. 
One of the biggest unknowns in ultra running is the weather.  No matter how much you train, how prepared you are, there are some things that are just out of your control.  My first big race of 2014 is suppose to happen on Saturday: Phunt 50K.  When I signed up, I knew the weather was a wild card, but hey, I have had pretty good luck so far with getting the runs in, and (full disclosure here) I am a much better cold weather runner than a heat runner.  I can peel layers off and put them on as I go, and am not really bothered by temps below freezing.  BUT, I have yet to run longer than 10-12 miles in real snow, especially on trails.  Add to that the single digit temps that are predicted and I am beginning to rethink taking myself 2+ hours away for this race. 

Somehow this just doesn't seem fun.

Unfortunately, the alternatives are  1) to run some 30 miles around the local neighborhoods and trails, or 2) to run 30 miles on my treadmill.  I have actually run 22+ miles on the treadmill, but I think the extra 8 might just put me over the edge.

britney crazy is not a good look

Still not sure what to do...haven't made a final decision. But as I look out the window and watch the snow come down (and down, and down, and down), I can't help but think about getting lost on the trail somewhere in Elkton and having to finally put all those hours of watching "Duel Survivor" to good use.

Don't worry, I'll keep you posted!