January 2014

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.