Fantastic Run

Over the past 8 months or so, I've been invited a number of times to mountain bike, road ride and now run with a crew that goes out at 6:30AM on Sunday mornings. I came close to mountain biking with them once in June, but then whimped out because of intimidation and fear of re-injuring my then fragile calf during the 3 hour, hilly ramble. Other than that, I've never really come close to joining this group until today.

I joined three of the regular guys for a run in and around Trapps Family Lodge. We ran up hills, down hills, through tons and tons of mud (took a wrong turn), along dear paths (to avoid the muddy trail), across old farm land -- all at a very respectable pace. At the end, we kicked it into high gear, which felt great.

There were two things, though, that I really enjoyed about the run. First, I was running with a new crew of guys. My connection to the group is through a hockey friend who lives nearby (and coincidentally who went to junior high school with Mrs. VTR), but I had never met the other two. Something about meeting them at dawn on a Sunday for a random trail run was very cool. It helped that we talked a lot on the run, and they were all good guys. The other thing that made my day was that I was able to hang with them from a fitness standpoint. They're fit, to say the least. I guess I should be able to hang since I just did the CCM, but I was still pleasantly surprised that my fitness didn't go away, that I have that level of fitness at all, and that this crazy hour and forty minute long run was not a problem for me.

I'm still getting used to the idea of being a runner, still surprised by it.

Later boys.

WIndy Sunday

Well, at least on thing that I said I wanted to do, I did: 10 K on Sunday. IT was windy and cool and a gorgeous fall day in that unsettled, variable weather way that only come in the fall. The sky was overcast, and sometimes hazy with an interesting, cold light and at times the sky was blue. The foliage is beautiful. I covered the distance in 48:06 and I felt good. I started reeling a guy in about four miles out and caught him around mile five out -- he'd been about a quarter to half mile ahead of me and just as I pulled up to him he started his homestretch kick. I was avoiding passing him outright because I wasn't sure how much I had in the tank and still had three hills to go. He out-kicked me but stopped at his house right at the base of my penultimate and largest hill. I told him "good run" and he said "Thanks buddy" and I think he said something else about next time we'll go together . . . I wasn't sure but it was a good running moment. Thia was one of those runs where I am so happy that I went and I feel great. I'm psyched, I feel fairly ready and I'm looking forward to next weekend, it should be a blast.

Viral training

Nope, this isn't a post about picking up one of the many illnesses that run through pre-school on a weekly basis. You've been there, so there's no need to waste space on that here.

This post is about the way that enthusiasm for running (or any exercise) can spread virally once you take the leap and call yourself a runner. Just tonight, I was talking to a friend of Mrs. VTR who knows I'm running the Vermont City Marathon in May. She will also be running the race (her first marathon), so we tend to trade training stories whenever we cross paths. Tonight, she called because she just signed up for the Run Vermont 13.1 Half Marathon Unplugged race in April. The funny thing is that I saw this race last week, but totally whimped out and didn't sign up. I had forgotten about it until she called. I just got off the site, and I'm now in and officially registered. The race is on April 5. Here's the link if anyone's interested:
http://www.runvermont.org/events/halfmarathon.html

As much time as we spend alone on the roads, we are part of a community of runners. The more I run, the more I learn about running, the more apt I am to identify myself as part of the club and feel connected to it. So, keep on running LDT-ers. Join the club.

Run

Ok, I did it. Yesterday, I went out for a 5K run. It wasn't in any plan, but it was such a beautiful day, and I had my gear in the car, so I finally got a first run of the year in. The run was uneventful. Mainly, I just observed my body, felt the rust, and realized it will take a little doing to get the wheels rolling again.

I will say this. LDT helped get me on the road, provided an incentive. Writing and reading along here does motivate. The thing's working. Kudo's to Agricola for starting the dialogue.