Yesterday, K dropped me off at the Hockhocking Adena Bikeway, a 19-mile paved path from Nelsonville to Athens. I started my run at the Nelsonville trailhead which ran next to the local railroad for the first portion of the route. The path eventually entered the Wayne National Forest, which provided some welcome tree cover during my run. Overall, the run was crap. I can't really think of anything positive that came out of that run. Yes, it was warm and humid (but not Texas hot), but I have been covering the same distance that I ran easily on the treadmill so it shouldn't have been nearly as difficult as it turned out to be. One huge realization that I have had recently with running is that my mind is what is limiting me right now much more than my body. For example, yesterday, countless times I looked down at my Garmin to get a sense of my pace and immediately stopped - not slowed down, but came to a dead stop - upon seeing times in the 8:45-9:15 range. My body wants to (and, I think can) run that pace comfortably, but my mind says that is faster than I can/should be running right now. I've got issues, I know.
Today was a totally different story though. Still anxiety-ridden about running on trail, I decided to join K on his run through the nearby state parks. He scouted out a good route yesterday and identified a good section that he wanted to run again today. I was a bit nervous, but more eager to give a different kind of running a try again. And, I'm glad I did. I was sure to clear with K beforehand though that the route was fairly free of rocks (compared to Texas), especially since it had rained and the trail was wet and muddy. We ran a nice stretch of trail of about 5 miles that connected the Cedar Falls area to Ash Cave. Other than losing K during the run, it was great to be out there. I enjoyed the scenery, the cooler temps in the woods, and the easy pace that I settled into based on what the trail allowed.
 |
| K & m at Cedar Falls |
No comments:
Post a Comment