Last year I tore my meniscus late in January turning my life
upside down for months. Not being able to run for months forced me to look
within myself and refocus on the basics as I recovered. This year, January was a
great month. It included some fun runs with my wife Denise, my dog Sparta and
the Pineland Striders, and a few awesome solo runs on fresh powder.
Sunday, 05 January I ran the Mistress Dee extended Mt Misery
White Trail along with a shorter loop for 16 miles. It was a lot of fun running
on roughly 4 inches of powder left from the week’s storm. This solo run gave me
lots of time to glide quietly through the woods listening to the sounds of
nature. I didn’t wear a watch; I just concentrated on form and ran however I
felt. Some miles were slow while others seem to fly by.
Sunday 19 January, I ran the Batona Trail leg 5 out and back
between Evans Bridge, located on Route 563, and Bass River. Thanks to last year’s trail redirection it is
now roughly 9.6 miles each way. Roughly 20 Pineland Striders joined in the run with
4 of us completing it as an out & back totaling 19+ miles. This portion of
the Batona passes by historic Martha’s Furnace. I ran to Bass River with Jim
Pate and Trail Dog Danny. After a quick shirt change and GU I headed back to
the start. I felt great and cruised mile after mile until I got to Martha’s
Furnace (roughly mile 16) and then I started to bonk. My left Achilles
tightened up and I was forced to do a survival shuffle the last couple miles. Even
though those last couple miles were tough, it was a fantastic morning to run
and a great start to my day.
I continued my Wednesday night trail runs. On 22 January, I
ran the Cranberry Trail solo. It was an awesome run with 4 degrees, 9 inches of fresh powder, and the woods all to
myself. The Park Police pulled up to me as I got ready to run, rolled his
window down shaking his head in disbelief and said "Tell me you're not
going hiking in this weather?" So I replied with a smirk, "No way…
I’m going running!" Some of my family and friends think I am crazy to run
in this weather but as I learned growing up and running in Vermont, it’s all
about proper layering. I wore 4 layers on top, 2 layers on bottom,
double gloves, and a fleece-lined face mask. I actually had to open the outer
two layers to vent some heat out. It was like a 14 mile effort to run the 7+
miles due to the snow but I loved it. It was the most fun run I’ve had in a
long time. I hope there will be more like it before this winter is over. The
only thing that got cold were my toes and that wasn’t until I had finished and
was warming up my car to drive home.
If I was to do a Geico
commercial, it would be something like this, “Smart wool socks =$20. Black
Diamond headlamp = $40. INOV-8 Bare Grip
200 running shoes = $90. The look on the Park Police officer’s face when you
tell him you’re going running snow-covered trails at night in 4 degrees and sub-zero wind
chills= priceless!”.
I spent the last week as a
recovery week with no running but rather concentrating on mind and body with at
least 2 hours of yoga each day.
