2013: A year of runs in photos

2013 was a great year for running! Here in no particular order are the highlights from my running in town and on trails, at races, with friends and on my long runs alone. I hope you enjoy seeing these photos as much as I enjoyed taking them! Here is your chance to see things from my eyes.

 I got to go trail running and blueberry picking with my friends! You have never had blueberries until you have had them picked fresh off the bushes. YUM!

 These are some shots of Griffy during a 21 mile run.

Here is a very cool old church that is out on Bethel Lane by Griffy. I have run past it many times on my Griffy long runs. And here are some pretty daisies. You have to stop and smell the flowers!

 Some photos around town of the various parks: Rail Trail and Cascades.

 

 More trail

Here is a  bit of the Clear Creek trail. It was a lovely summer day!

First marathon of the year--Eagle Creek Trail Marathon

Lake Monroe and cool geode I found

 Jackson creek trail beginning my long run

Wapahani

Interesting little thing I found on the rail trail fence one day.

These little rock sculptures just kind of showed up for awhile in the Jordan river on campus. Pretty cool. They reminded me of a Japanese serenity garden. Very zen.

 Here is my adventure through Deam Wilderness. I got lost but did get in quite a few miles anyway.

 Just a lovely rose..my favorite flower.

 The time the Jordan river overflowed it's banks.

 Sunrise during my 24 mile run before Flatrock 50K

 A VERY dark run. I tried to take a photo of the moon and it ended up looking like a streetlight. Anyway, believe me this was a beautiful moon!

 More trail...not sure where this one is..perhaps Paynetown.

50K trail ultra marathon

 My gear pile for Flatrock. So many shoes!

New stickers for my bike

8 hours of Payne un-race

First road marathon--Indianapolis Marathon

Hill workouts at the cross-country course

A photo taken after my epic 20 mile run with my friend Christy at Paynetown trail.

Here is Christy running on ahead. My turn at playing amateur action photographer.

This was taken at Schooner Trace, a very technical trail out at Brown County State Park. It was part of our Flatrock training but we had NO idea what we were really in for!

 A very cool art sculpture outside of the art museum on campus.

 Here is a lily pond on a rainy day. I like running in the rain as long as it is not very cold.

 Trails out at Paynetown

 Beginning a long run at the Jackson Creek trail.

 Wapahani in the morning

 Here is a photo of Deam Wilderness

 Sunrise beginning  a long run. I had to start early as it would take me several hours to run it.

 Some lovely pictures of our campus here at Indiana University taken in the fall and winter.

Tecumseh: here we go again!

   

 

 Tecumseh. My A-race for the winter. I did it last year and it was awesome! Now here it is 4 days before the race this year and I am nervous. What if it doesn't live up to the amazement of last year? What if it ends up being a bad run for me for some reason? What if I have built it up in my mind to be this all-supreme thing that if it isn't the be-all, end-all I will be disappointed in myself or feel I have had a set-back in my training and fitness.
  One: have to remember I have been doing a lot of big races in the last few months and have kept up good, consistent mileage all year. I have not had an injury this year, even through the difficulty of Flatrock YEAH it hurt and I was sore but no injury. So I have to keep that in mind. I have been cross-training a lot more too this fall. I started working out at 9round gym and have changed up my weights routine at my gym and increased some more core work. I think my balance is better than it used to be and I can dodge roots and such with some more speed and agility.
  Two: Every race is not going to be the same. I have not had this problem much before but now that I am on round 3 of my race calendar I will have to realize that what happened last year was LAST YEAR and that it is impossible for it to happen that way again. That was then. This is now. I found that out running the Eagle Creek Trail Marathon the second time around. It was different, but awesome. I know that this year's Tecumseh will be different.........but I am looking forward to seeing what will come.
  Three: I have the woods. I have the cathedral of boughs above me. I have the carpet of leaves below. I have the birds to guide me, the rustle of leaves in the wind, the shouts and scurries of the small and simple creatures all around me. I have the quiet of my mind, the stillness of my heart and the joy of new things. And in the end, I have the arms of my friends. Those are the most important things.

   

  

Tecumseh here we come ready or not!