Back to the Woods

This morning was the first time I hit the trails in quite a while. A lot of excuses have kept me staying with the convenience of road running pretty much a winter. I was reminded of what I had missed out on and how awesome it is to cruise through the woods just after dawn.
I ran 21 miles total this morning, but did the first 12 on the roads, timing my arrival at the trails with sunrise so I didn't have to mess with a headlamp. It snowed just enough this morning to coat the trails themselves with a white film - highlighting the singletrack as it snaked through the trees - it looked very cool (wish I had brought a camera). Obviously, my pace slowed down when I hit the trails, and even though my legs could tell they hadn't been off pavement for a couple months, I still felt good through the entire run, including my last and fastest miles back to my car which was parked 3 miles away from the trails.
It was only 16 degrees this morning, but the wind was relatively light so I was very comfortable the whole time. I wore tights with shorts over, a fitted long sleeve shirt, tech t-shirt, and my Reebok running jacket. I wore a face mask and double gloves with hand warmers in them.
Great morning overall. Looking forward to hitting the trails more often.

Topeka to Auburn

Yesterday was the Topeka to Auburn 1/2 Marathon. Brad invited me out to do it with him, he has done it a few times in years past. It turned out to be a great event all around. Aside from some strong winds at time, the weather warmed up into the upper 30's and was sunny - perfect.
The race is a one-way course from Topeka to the small town of Auburn, KS. We parked at the finish, and rode a bus to the start - a van took our gear bags back to Auburn for us to pick up at the finish.
We lined up about mid-pack at the starting line, and held a pace in the upper 7:00's for the majority of the first half. About mile 6 or 7, we sped up and maintained a pace in the low 7:00's for the next for miles. Around mile 10, I was still feeling pretty good, so I turned up the tempo just a bit more logging a sub 7:00 mile and holding through a sprint to the finish. I had just passed a girl right before the finish when I heard my name announced, then the girls name along with a notation that she was the first female to finish. So...at least I beat all the female participants. Final time was 1:39:50, 57th out of 270 runners.

Sun Rise

I need to get my butt moving faster in the morning. I woke up at 4:00 so I would have plenty of time to get 24 miles in before church yesterday, but still ended up getting started about 15 minutes later than planned and only got 22 miles in before time to go to church. Oh well, it was still a good run and my last couple miles were pacing in the low 7s - not bad for me after 20 miles. I felt extremely fresh still when we arrived at the finish, and once again wanted to keep going if not for time constraints. Brad met me after the first 4 miles so I had him as company for the majority of the run. I normally like to run solo so I can do my own thing, but it's nice to have someone to talk to every once in a while, plus, Brad and I run at about the same pace.

Although it's sometimes hard to get out the door in the wee hours of the morning, it sure is nice to be running when the sun comes up. I love the feeling of accomplishment knowing that I have ran further than most people ever will - all before they even got out of bed for the day. There is a certain satisfaction that comes from it that I can't really describe. It's not an "I'm better than you" type of thing, but more just a secure sense of self confidence. A rush that keeps me feeling good all day.