Just A Picture - Little Miami Scenic Trail

It was real pretty when we was out runnin' last night, y'all. Here's a purdy picture I snapped with my fancy telephone.

Photo Copyright 2011 MoreToLoveRunning

Thank you, Mr. Fisherman, for casting at that very moment. 

(Taken on the Little Miami Scenic Trail overlooking, you guessed it, the Little Miami River.)

Tricking My Knees - Little Miami Scenic 6/5

I think I figured out a way to trick my knees into letting me run and I got to test it out today.

Success!

Caitlin sent me a text this morning to see if I was up for a run on the Little Miami Scenic Trail. So, we headed out. We did just shy of 3 miles (1.5-ish miles out, 1.5-ish miles back) and only took a few short walk breaks on the second leg. It was hot, y'all.

I'm really pleased with the run, though. I'm so glad I got some significant distance in (to me, that means more than 2 miles), and I'm also glad I got to test out the knee-tricker with our few walk breaks.

So, the trick is to start running with my knees bent a little more than normal. Kind of like a shock resistance thing, I guess. The hurting knee (right) doesn't hurt when I do that, and the popping knee (behind the left one) doesn't pop quite so much. And, I can do that throughout the run whenever either one of them starts acting up.

So yay for tricking my body into cooperating!

First day of boot camp tomorrow.
Chiropractor appointment (boo!) tomorrow to fiddle with my back and knees.
First day of the new job on Tuesday.

Thanks for checking in!

The Longest Yet

Oh folks, I don't know how to ease you into this, but this could very well be a painfully not entertaining post. I'm so exhausted that each keystroke is like an individual effort. But the key is why I'm exhausted. Naturally from spending the entire day in warm pajama-like clothes, being extremely lazy on my couch.

Oh, yeah, except for that 90-ish minutes this morning/noon when I ran about 6.5 miles with Caitlin.

No big thang ...

Here's our course on Gmaps Pedometer: click here for the course

We took the out-and-back approach on the Little Miami Scenic Trail. The first half was easy. Too easy. In fact, it wasn't until we turned around to come back that I figured out why it might have been so easy. I think it was down hill. 3 miles down hill. Yeah ...

Needless to say, the "back" portion of the out-and-back was really hard for me. We maintained a 5:1 run/walk interval the whole way out, but took one medium-long and one long walk break pretty early into the second leg. I thought it might make the rest of the run feel like the second run of the day instead of just a continuation. Not sure that worked so well. I insisted on some other longer walk breaks.

The problem for me came mostly with breathing. That's another reason I'm convinced it was uphill on the way back. I don't have breathing problems anymore unless I hit a hill. I couldn't draw in a breath without making noise. You know, like when your breath catches your voice box and makes that hyperventilating sound?

No?

Well, I know what I'm talking about. It's bad news for me. I've hyperventilated once in my life and it was horrifying; I don't wish to experience it again. (Hello, plyometrics box jumps for track practice at Wilmington College! I think I even scared my coach.) Anyway, I don't do well at pressing past episodes like that, which is why I've cowered away from hill workouts so much (and which is why I think I need to do some hill work this week).

As far as leg pain, I didn't have any really until we stopped at the end and I don't even know if I'd classify it as pain. My legs were just tired and me knees were a little disgruntled. (Side note: Apparently during my freshman year of college I once yelled "disgruntled!" out in the middle of the night. Former sleep walker and sleep talker, right here folks.) I felt so good going in and good through the first half. That second half just killed me.

So my question for myself is whether it was the possible hill that got me or the new longer distance that got me. Essentially the halfway point of our run marked the longest I've ever gone.

Either way, when I finished I was elated to chug down my bottle of full-calorie Gatorade to re-fuel (thanks to my pal, Rob, for reminding me I'd need to do that). I may have chugged too fast because I got a teensy bit nauseated. I also thought I was going to shiver to death for a good hour or two after. My blue lips startled my mother a bit. What's the deal with that anyway? Such a weirdo.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of Caitlin and I after our run. Pictures after 90 minutes of running? We must be crazy ... or really amused by the sign and some well-placed graffiti at the entrance to the trail. Please excuse the grossness and consider that we ran the first part of our run in the rain. Thank you.

Wonder where he went?

Caitlin, do you see him?

Really, where'd he go?

Yay! Caitlin found him!

The Little Miami Scenic Trail: Pictures!

I'm feeling extremely lazy and uncreative today, so I'm not going to write a lot about my run this noon-ish. I tried a new trail: Little Miami Scenic Trail. It's a 56.4 mile trail that starts in Newtown at the Little Miami Golf Center, my favorite place to golf. (Okay, so it's the only place I've ever golfed, but it's my favorite.)

I elected to start about 300 feet down the street from the golf course at the Bass Island park/parking lot.




Here's where I started Week 6, Day 2 of Couch to 5K (Warmup 5, run 10, walk 3, run 10, cool down 5). FYI, no hunting on the trail.




The tunnel under Newtown Road. The roadway above was strikingly thin. Weird.





Here's the beginning of the stretch along Wooster Pike (Rt. 50). It was a great day for a run. 65-ish degrees, half cloudy/half sunny.





There are signs posted along the way about trail and river history. I ... didn't read any of them. But I did read the first sentence of this one. Apparently this path used to be a railroad.

Here's the foot bridge and road bridge over the Little Miami River.

The river. If you look closely you can see lots of ... discarded tires.

So, Day 2 was more difficult than I anticipated. I think there's some value in doing these long runs on paths you actually know. Then, you know what to expect and where to start waiting for Mr. C25K to pipe in. This was my first out-and-back experience on this program, so I was just huffing and puffing and waiting and waiting for Mr. C25K to say "walk now" and then "halfway" so I could turn around and head back. The second 10 minutes was easier because I knew what to expect and had a good idea where I was going to be finished.

I may have to do some self-coercion tomorrow to get myself out to run. I think the lazy bug bit me this weekend. Blah. Running is hard. [wink wink]