Griffy: Bushwacking, spider sticks and walnut bombs

    I went for a long run this morning and decided to take in some of Griffy trails during the run. It was a nice, cool morning. I have been finding lots of new trails at Griffy and it is starting to become a habit. Today I decided to try to find a trail I was told would exist somewhere around Meadowwood retirement community so ran over there and tried to find it. I didn't succeed there so I ran out and found another trail back down Headley road. It was an unmarked one. I liked that. I like just discovering things on my own without signs all the time. So I ran down and first saw this lovely little path that I started down. The sunshine was so pretty all over it. The only thing a little disturbing were the walnut bombs---the trees had started to rain their big, heavy walnuts down all over the forest so I would be running and off to the left or right would hear a big THUD and think "Oh I hope I don't go under a tree that is getting ready to do that. Those sound like they would hurt if they hit!" So...walnut bombs...a little more excitement for the run.

     I ran down this little path and decided after awhile that there were lots of little trees really close together which is perfect spider-web-in-the-face situation. So I decided to grab a spider stick.To the right is a spider stick--a highly advanced piece of weaponry in which I wave it around in front of my face like Hermione waving her wand. It might look silly but I have been saved more than once from a spider in my face. I might get a patent. 

Here are some lovely pine trees. I think my favorite part of any trail is always the pine forests. I stood there and looked up at the tops and with the blue sky it was such a pretty sight I almost sighed.

 Here is some uphill. This was right before I lost the trail entirely and started bushwacking my way through the forest. My spider stick came in handy. I was just having the best time just trucking through the woods finding things and seeing new ways to go. I came across a big (well they call it a "depression") ravine and decided "Hey I wonder if i could go down there? And what I would find? Maybe some cool rocks or a treasure or...possibilities are endless in my mind....so I decided to clamber down the hill. Yes. Clamber. Stumble. Grab hold of stuff to make it as smoothly as possible and then kind of slide down the mud at the bottom to get to the rocky floor of the ravine.

 It was really pretty cool down there. There were rocks and downed trees and little skittery things I didn't look too closely at. Lots of gnats. No treasure though. I think someone must have found it first. That's it.
So I hung out there for a bit and then looked around and realized I had to go UP now. Nowhere to go in any direction but back UP.

I looked UP and saw it was pretty high, not much to hold onto and thought "This will be fun!". So I used my spider stick to stick in the mud to help me climb, held my feet at angles to get more traction and clambered my way up. I grabbed hold of rocks to pull myself up, edged over to tree trunks to climb up on and a few times the ground beneath me skittered back down the ravine almost taking me with it. Digging up through mud and finally I reached the top--or enough of the top I was now in no danger of falling again--and had to take a picture of the hill I had just climbed. That big log in the photo was the last way I got up--hand over hand pulling myself up that log to get to the top. It was quite a workout!

Last but not least I got down to Lake Griffy and took a photo of the lovely lake. This had been quite an adventure! I finally followed the ridgeline to a trail and then finished my trail run and out back onto the roads. I am so happy I am starting to learn more ways to get around Lake Griffy so I can have fun trail time too anytime I want!!

The Wall: A parable

          Sometimes in life we have a wall in front of us. Sometimes that wall says to climb it and even though we are not really equipped to climb it we do it anyway and then on the other side of that wall may be a thorn bush or a deep hole or another, higher, wall. This may be a good thing at some times of our lives.....a challenge is great. But at times the greater challenge is to look at the wall and ask yourself the harder question: Is this worth it?
    Is it better sometimes to sit still and say NO to the challenge ahead of us? It may make us feel we are weak but I think that true strength comes from knowing when things are safe, and unsafe, for us and being strong is being able to sit with the truth that NOW is not the time for that wall. There will be time.
   I think part of the reason I want to break ALL The walls is that I fear I may not have time.But time comes and goes like wind. There might be all the time in the world or there may only be tomorrow left to us but I believe in acting as though my future is a definite and I need to preserve all that I have that is sacred to carry into that future.
   So then there are most definitely times I must look up to that wall and realize "It is not worth it." And remind myself there IS time....time for more challenges, more hills to climb, more leaps to make. It's not over until it's over. Whether I die tomorrow or 30 years from now time is relative. I can make the most of today and not worry about tomorrow and whether this or that will happen OR I can fret and push and shove my way through the wall willfully like a kid up past their bedtime who, even though they have school tomorrow and the pizza they are eating is going to make them sick all night, just pushes past it and decides "I don't care!" Then that night they do care. And the next day falling asleep in class and feeling awful then they do care.
   The grownup thing to do is sometimes the hardest. Walking away from that big wall and into a less challenging place for awhile can make a person feel they are being weak or scared or unwilling to make a sacrifice. But why sacrifice? Why make things worse by pushing and shoving towards a thing that is really, truly, un-doable for me right now.
   That doesn't make me weak. It makes me smart. I have nothing to prove. I never really did. I only fooled myself into being so hard on myself when all that it was was having fun in the woods with my friends not a life or death struggle to the finish. (though sometimes it may have felt that way here and there)  I have done many hard things and climbed plenty of tall, scary, walls and come out the victor. Whether middle of the pack or last place I have proven I can finish things. Therefore I am not a quitter. I am smart.

On the Road Again

 
     So finally after a month off of physical therapy, resting, cross-training and counting the days I get to run again. I have to hold myself back a little as my excitement is bubbling over a bit but I am doing the right things. I have been continuing my physio exercises, dynamic and static stretches, keeping the runs pretty short for now and am back to Maffetone Method. One of the things I know now I was doing wrong was starting to run hard again.
      Every time I start to ramp up speed I end up getting hurt somehow. When I take it slow and steady and keep to my heart rate training I seem to be just fine. Even though that means taking longer to run, which just gives me more thinking and picture-taking time anyway, and probably running most times alone, which I got used to over the last year or so training for my ultras so I know the drill on long, solo runs....podcasts, music, deep thoughts and a bit of zen PLUS the occasional cool picture.
    It is nice to be back among my running group again. I had missed them all. Even though it wasn't forever or anything when you get used to seeing your friends at least once a week and then nothing for awhile it can make you miss them terribly some days.
    I learned many good things from physical therapy too! I learned my glute medius is as weak as a newborn kitten but it is getting stronger every day. I learned some great hip, glute strengthening exercises. I learned how to do a proper pistol squat after much practice and I learned how to listen to my body even better than before. I can scan it now and make adjustments as to what I am doing, how I am moving, when I have to slow down or stop. I have learned my limits and how to make myself stronger.
    I also learned that there are an awful lot of nice people out there who care about me and want me to do and be my best. That is always the best lesson of all. 
  

Ways to keep positive during injury recuperation

       I have now not run since the Monday after Eagle Creek Marathon unless you count the too-soon test run of my hip I did a couple of weeks ago with high hopes which were then dashed and I was sent three steps back into having trouble just walking, doing my PT exercises and getting on and off the bus. I felt so frustrated and angry at my body.
      I felt like yelling at it "Why won't you just stop hurting, calm down and let me do what I want to do???" My body's response was a continued ache and fatigue that lasted for three days. I ached to run. I watched the cool mornings pass by without me, lovely nights where I could have dashed a bit by headlamp or some bright enough without, hazy trail running......it just started to get me down.
      I was down on my body, down on my age, down on my training and how if I had done something differently maybe this wouldn't have happened and I could be well on my way to getting my training in the bag for Flatrock.
     I have decided I am definitely going to Flatrock. I am not getting any younger and opportunities like this don't come around for me very often. I will go either as a cheering squad for my friends, perhaps help crew a little, offer support or I will see how well I am by then to do the 25K. If I feel like trying for the 50K I will make sure my hip is in total agreement that this is a decent deal and no harm will be done if I take it slowly, I will bring a headlamp so I can run through the dark if I need to and if I am not going well enough to continue can always drop down mid-race.
     I know there are going to be loving, concerned friends out there who will say this is stupid. But if I am okay with all three options then there is no reason to skip the party entirely. I can still go to Kansas, be part of a cool event, maybe even pick up a volunteer job if I truly can't run at all and maybe see if I am up to trying for it. So this may be a very weird kind of training----mostly depending on Eagle Creek  to bolster up my self-esteem since I finished that recently and it went well even through all the problems I had. I may do more cross-training, run as I can and if I feel well enough try to fit in maybe one pretty long run before it's time to chill before the race.
   I promise all who love and care for me I will listen to my body. My physical therapist told me that today. She said most important was to "listen to your body". It will tell me what path to take if I just turn off that nagging voice that says "go..go...go....go...go..." and just repeat "rest...be still.....do as I can...listen to what  I most need to hear....take the path of least resistance."
  Also in the meantime I have classes to teach, clients to train, things to do to keep me busy. I do miss my running friends and having fun at group runs but I know if I am patient I will be back there soon. We can run through the streets and I can hear their funny stories. 



              Just a little longer....................

The life of a runner who has to take time off

    I have been having some hip problems lately. It started about two months ago on a simple 14 mile long run. About mile 10 I started feeling this niggling little ache in my right hip. I pushed on through as it didn't seem horrible and finished the run. The next day I ran and it hurt again and then my left hip got in on the fun.
   I decided to go see my awesome bone and joint doc and see what he said. He diagnosed me with bursitis of the hip. When I went to physical therapy I discovered my glute medius muscle (the one that is on the outside of your hip) was very weak. The first day my PT told me to do 2 sets of 20 side lying leg lifts and I could only do 10 and it was fatigued. You don't realize the places you are weak until you actually start isolating them. They had me do some exercises that were surprisingly hard for me like these things called Monster Walks in which I would have my feet in a circle tubing and then walk forward with legs going out and in. They also had me doing sideways squats where I again had the circle tubing around my feet and had to walk sideways with the resistance. Oh my god were they hard! It took me 2 weeks to get up the point where I could do one way down and one way back twice.
   They gave me small resistance bands to use to do clamshells and side lying leg lifts at home. We foam rolled and stretched out my calves and they did some deep tissue massage by scraping my hip over and over again with a hard plastic thing that resembled an ice scraper.
   I was getting better and then I ran a marathon. The marathon was fine with the hip...some pain but not bad enough to stop or anything just a little nagging thing I had to baby with a bit of pigeon stretches and things along the way. Then Monday night I got greedy. I went to run group and decided to HIT IT with a fast, hard run. Fast for me anyway....8:30 miles and such. And then I felt a wrenching pain my hip. Uh Oh!!
   I went back to my doc and he said he would give me an MRI and make sure it was not a stress fracture. I was sweating it out for 3 days waiting on the results because he said if it was a fracture my 50K at the end of September was OUT...completely. He got back to me and said no fracture but it was a little tendonitis so keep up with PT for another couple of weeks and no running.
   NO running????  Wow. What does a runner do when they are not running? I had been training pretty consistently now for over 2 years for marathons and ultras. Though I had given myself a "training break" for a month or so in the summer I was till hitting 25-30 mile weeks. Long runs on the weekends.
   Now? Nothing. Last weekend for the first time in a VERY long time I did NOT run a long run. The weekend seemed to go on forever. I cleaned my house, read the sunday paper, went out for coffee, did my laundry, watched Netflix and still seemed to have way too much time on my hands. I got all my prep work done for my classes and clients which was good and used up some more of the time. But I was jealous of my friends out running the trails and such and wanted so badly to lace up and go.
   But I am nothing if not obedient so I will wait it out. I am going to go aqua jogging tomorrow and maybe a couple of times next week, I rode my bike a lot yesterday and today got up and did my PT exercises and foam rolled. I believe Flatrock will go alright. I did just run a marathon and it is not my first Ultra plus maybe a couple more weeks of rest and cross training will be good for me. Work and strengthen other muscle groups. And when I start to run I will still have a good month left to train.


In the meantime.......I guess I will keep busy with work, books, art, alternative workouts and having some fun on the side.

Race fever: picking and choosing when I want to run them all

   I have finished crunch time at work, the weather is awesome and races are starting to crop up like leaves on the trees. It is prime racing season and I want to race them ALL! I find myself googling races, going over finances, calender, picking and choosing and it is hard to choose. If I had the money I would probably be going all over every weekend doing trail races.
   Something about being in the middle of a race is so exciting and then when I finish I am so high on life. It is a very addictive feeling and one I want to repeat...and repeat..and repeat. I have already signed up for one race and am probably going to sign up for one more in May. That will be three races in May already; one so far signed up for in June and considering another; a couple in July; a couple in August and another big one in September. Then more in October, November and December....and it goes on and on.
  It is hard to handle that compulsion to run ALL THE RACES EVER and keep those awesome feelings coming weekend after weekend...piling up bling, swag and the high of race endorphins like charms on a bracelet. However real life must at some point intervene. There are other things to do this summer although to tell the truth right now I can't think of any but I am sure there are some...other things......

    .............i am sure it will come to me after this google search....................where did i put my day planner???

Indiana Trail 50: Awesome race!

      The Indiana Trail 50 mile trail race was amazing! It was awesome weather. In fact I got a slight sunburn from the sunshine. The course was beautiful...tons of runnable parts without much elevation. There were a few fairly good hills but not too bad and the trail was well maintained. You could tell they take a lot of time to make it nice for people.
    I signed up for this in November last year and started training in December. Training through the polar vortex was tough. I hate running inside so even though there were cold temps, snow and ice I still ran outside. I ran a 25 mile run one time right after a big snowstorm. I think, though, that this toughened me up and actually helped in this race. When something would come up that I was battling a bit with I would pull on that inner reserve and get through it. My emotional state was happiness, excitement and a feeling of almost selfishness that this was Me Time. I had nothing to do that day but take care of myself. I could accept and enjoy the attention paid to me at the aid stations. I felt like a movie star when I pulled into each one (maybe an action star since they can be sweaty and dirty and still be hot---I am thinking Nic Cage in Con Air kind of thing).
   My friend was running the 100 mile race so I got to park on her campground for the night. The yahoos next campground over decided to make it a late night so I was kept up until after 11 and then slept kind of fitfully and got up at 4:30 to get ready for the race and walk the small path through the words to the start. I got there only about 10 minutes before the race was to start, dropped off my drop bags and took my place at the very BACK of the pack. I got a big hug from my friend Jen too. Oh yeah and I had lost a filling from one of my teeth that morning too. Luckily it didn't hurt was just annoying.
  So the gun went off and we took off. The darkish woods were so cool. I love night running and night trail running is especially cool. About 30 minutes after we started it got light enough to see without the headlamp so i stuffed that in my pack. The sun came up to reveal a truly beautiful trail with pretty wildflowers along it, gorgeous views of the lakes and pretty pine forests. I felt truly blessed to be there running that day with the sun on my face, my body feeling good, the positive endorphins flooding my body as I made my way up and down hills, around small prairie kind of areas and through the sweet pine forest sections which I love!
   I had not had much breakfast that morning so my first thing was to get some food in me. The first aid station I grabbed a couple small peanut butter/jelly sandwiches and a banana plus tucked some food into my little pockets for later if I needed it. I was so hungry that morning too that I kept eating stuff at each aid station. I tried to stay away from the sugary stuff so focused on the fruit, small sandwiches and only took some jelly beans in a baggie in case my sugar started to drop. However I had actually eaten too much I think so then my stomach was giving me some trouble. I stopped eating anything at the next two aid stations and just had water and gatorade to give my stomach some digestion time and had some coke to hopefully help with the bit of bloating feeling. That worked well and I started to feel better.
   The aid stations were wonderful. There was one that was the Aloha station over by the schoolhouse which we got to pass twice, once on the way there and once on the way back, that had people dressed in hawaiian clothes and playing music. Very fun!
   I got to the end of my first loop and ran into my friend Mory who is always a delight to see. She is always so smiley and encouraging every time I see her! I changed into my singlet as it was warming up, put on bug spray (although I forgot sunscreen--oops) and got some new gels. I also changed out of my water pack to a handheld to lighten my weight load.  I got a photo taken by Ben and off I went to the second loop. This loop I  felt like I was flying! I hit the aid stations a little faster, I had more energy, my body felt truly warmed up and I was feeling amazing. Probably helped that I had not as much gear on so my body felt tons lighter but also I think the sunny trail and excitement was intoxicating. When I stopped at the Rally Campground aide station I put on my water belt as I had run out of water for a bit and so I wanted both 9 ounce water bottles instead of just one. I was having some soreness in glutes, left hamstring and quads but knew that that would happen and part of the training runs is to know the difference between sore and broken (injured) so I just turned my mind off a bit and focused on other things and ignored the soreness. I finished that second loop, got to see Scott and Ben and off I went for the third loop.
   One of the neat things is that the race had this automatic tracking thing so that my friends could track my progress. Every time I passed a checkpoint and crossed the tracker it sent up notifications to my friends who were watching. That meant that every time I ran through a checkpoint in my head I heard people cheering me on which was also a high. It was like even though I spent a lot of time running alone through those woods I never felt alone. I was surrounded by support, encouragement and love and so was never alone at all. It was like I was on a big group run with the most loving, supportive group of people I have ever known.
     By 5pm I started to get hungry again and so the next aid station I stopped and had some more little sandwiches, a few orange slices and a cookie. I was feeling a bit nauseous and light headed so the aid station lady told me to have some sugar. I also had some little salted potatoes and pickles and took two salt tablets. I felt so elated now because as I passed the 37 mile mark I knew I could do it. I thought "Just one more half marathon! I got this!" At this point I changed again into a shirt as it was getting a little chilly. It was like I was a madonna concert..a different outfit for every loop.
   When I got to the schoohouse for the last time and saw I had a little over 2 miles I  almost couldn't wrap my mind around the fact I would soon be done running 50 miles! As I came into the area close to the finish line this nice guy came up and started running me into the finish.. He was great! He kept saying to everyone "This is Heather finishing up her first 50 miler!" I saw my friends Mark, Jean and Russ cheering me on. I got to the finish line and decided to RUN it! I took off and ran through at a good pace. Some people in front of me actually moved aside to let me run through. Then Mory was cheering and placed my medal around my neck, everyone came up to congratulate me and take photos. Once again I felt like a movie star on the red carpet.
    I picked a great race to be my first 50 miler. Ultrarunners are a funny bunch too. Everyone said "Is this your first 50 mile?" like there wasn't a question of more of them. I believe there will be too.

 I had a great time, felt good and enjoyed all the little moments in those pretty woods. I felt lucky to be able to do this. Life is an interesting thing: The things that are most difficult are always the most rewarding. Only by pushing ourselves farther can we make our lives authentic and worth living.