Silver Falls, trails

SFC 5K loop. Drizzly this morning. Ran solo, with Kasey last week. Not sure if I ran faster but it felt harder today than last week.  Still I felt good. Knees were slightly more sore today on the downhills but still tolerable. A big improvement over the past year!

This is a good place to run,, trails are challenging and its beautiful. In good weather the falls trail will be busy with hikers, so will have to do more running on the other side of the park. I need to get my miles up more and more hills since the loops are longer and more hills.  The falls were heavy with rain today!

I'm beginning to enjoy running again. The last few months have gome well and I'm running pretty much pain free and have begun to look forward to longer runs and looking to enter races. I've already signed up for a 5k on m birthday and am hoping to get into the Beaver Freezer Tri. I'd really like to do the Eugene half again but that would mean building mileage too quickly. I want to be conservative and not injure something again. Maybe a 10k or two and one or two tris this year and a half next year if training progresses well.

It feels mentally good to again be looking forward to racing I feel like I'm getting in better shape, though pounds have yet to begin to come off.

Sitting here in the lodge after my run...this is a very pleasant place to wind down after a run, hot coffee, comfy surroundings. Good place to reflect after a run.

Received L. Fleshman's announcement about her Wilder writing/running weekends.  Added a less expensive one in Bend. Would like to attend but seemed silly to R last time I suggested it. Running and writing are a good mix.  It would be a mental challenge for me to see if I could put depth into writing. It's always been my challenge to put thoughts , personnel ones down on paper. Descriptive writing is not easy for me. also opening up emotionally if frightening, opening up oneself to being vulnerable and self-conscience.

Daylight and running

It's interesting how a little daylight can improve a run. This morning I started out in the dark, the run was going well but nothing to write home about. When I was about 1.5 miles from home, I began to notice the beginning of daylight. At about the same time I began to feel a second wind. Things got a bit easier on the run. The remainder of the run, when I began to feel a fade I made sure to look skyward toward the rising sun. It gave me a bit more energy. I finished the run feeling tired, my longest in quite a while, but feeling refreshed and renewed.

Silver Falls run with Kasey 1/20/18

I went about 3.5 miles whiles she continued on to complete 8.  This was my first trail run in several years. My knees have been stopping me. The pain of the downhills were too much to be able to enjoy the trails. But today, they felt good. No soreness, stiffness. The pace was very easy almost 11 minute average, we took the uphill portions very slow and had to stop a couple of times to let hikers by.

No matter, it's always fun to run with the Kasey. She has gotten to be a strong runner.

Running for me began as way to earn a letter jacket in high school. There were only about 10 of use on the team, one was my older brother. If I could make the top 7 I would letter as a sophmore. I ended up being the #2 runner, being faster than my brother, and finding a passion and identity.

Ever since that first XC season I've been a runner. Though I was never fast enough to be recruited I was able to run in college, to maintain that passion and identity.  By the time I left college running was a part of me, etched into my identity.

Now it's a way to connect with my daughters, well Kasey at least.  Surprisingly she's the one who has found my love of this activity.

Why I Tri

Unlike many others I currently don't have a desire to do an Ironman. I'm a runner, not a triathlete. After 4 decades of running I found myself experiencing more frequent nagging injuries and more soreness after long runs.

About that time one of my daughters did IMAZ and challenged me to attempt a triathlon. I told her if I could work up to being able to swim a mile I would sign up for one.  I achieved that, eventually did 3 sprints and 2 olys over the course of the next few years. But rather than falling in love wit the triathlon I discovered it helped my running. Fewer injuries, better flexibility and even found some speed.

Triathlons forces me to cross train which as we know is a good thing. But as a runner, I really don't get the same satisfaction and joy that I do when I run.  My most high tech pieces of tri equipment are my Timex Ironman watch which I use to time all my workouts and my cell phone which I use to listen to podcasts while I cycle.

The challenge for me is finding the right balance between swimming, cycling, gym sessions and running. My goal is a minimum of 4 mornings of running with the other workouts scheduled in throughout the week as after work workouts.