Posts Tagged ‘Trail Running’
Caitlin posted earlier today a great “unofficial” primer on how to run in the rain. In it, she suggested wearing a hat to keep the rain out of your eyes and to keep your head warm. It’s a great tip — however, [especially here in Florida and other sunny locations], I’ve found that a hat is an indispensable part of my every day gear. Trust me, although many runners out there may be in their 20s and 30s and aren’t thinking about the amount of sun they’re getting on their faces — the time you spend in the sun will catch up to you. Always remember: Time Marches On — Your Face. 
[I also always wear eye protection so I don't squint as much -- crow's feet aren't always caused by laughing...]
When I run, I always wear a hat. My hat, whether it’s a baseball style cap or a visor, will have a good brim that goes out far enough to protect most of my face from the sun. Granted, the angle of the sun will depend on how well this is pulled off; when it’s rising or setting, you’ll get it smack in the face no matter what if you’re running toward it. In the winter, I’ll wear a baseball style cap that is light weight and breathable. The reason being that your head is where you’ll lose most of your heat, so covering it in cold weather is the best way to stay warmer. My choice of cap is the Outdoor Research Sun Runner Cap. The bill is made of a pre-shaped plastic so it can’t be damaged by rain and it keeps its shape. The sun skirt is detachable, and I don’t use it when running. [But it's great for hiking and backpacking.]
In warm weather, I wear a visor made for runners. I wear one specifically made for women, so it’s smaller and doesn’t swallow my head. It’s made from technical, sweat wicking fabric, with a plastic insert in the bill and it also has reflective properties for nighttime running. Being a visor, it allows the heat to escape from my head to assist with keeping me cooler in warmer weather. When you run, no matter what the weather, your head and brow will sweat. Wearing a hat or visor helps so much with keeping a large majority of that salty stuff from getting into your eyes.
Do you wear a head cover and eye protection when you run? If not, why?
This morning when I woke up, I realized my right big toe was aching. The joint nearest the foot, at the base of my metacarpal bone. I don’t recall doing anything at all to it yesterday, so I can’t figure out why it’s so painful. It hurts when I step on it or move it — especially if I pull the toe to the left, away from the other toes. I think I slept on it funny and maybe had it jammed into the area at the bottom of the bed where the sheets are tucked in. It seems to be feeling a little better as the morning goes on. Today is supposed to be a training day and I had planned to run that 4 mile run that keeps getting away from me for one reason or another. At this point, I’m just trying to not become pissed off.
Breakfast was a little different this morning. Instead of my usual Stonyfield YoBaby yogurt, I tried the Stonyfield Oikos organic Greek yogurt. This one was non-fat with honey on the bottom. It tasted pretty good on its own, but it’s much thicker than the YoBaby and once I glopped it on my cereal with strawberries and a banana, I’m not so sure I like it. Oh well, chalk one up to experience.
I’m going to keep an eye on my toe today. I’ll keep carefully walking on it; I don’t want to end up tweaking my knee or hip because of babying the foot. Since it happened so quickly overnight, I doubt it’s anything serious. With the way it felt this morning, I’m sure that if I had done something to injure it, I would have remembered when it happened. Maybe putting it up will help. It doesn’t hurt unless I put a good amount of pressure on it, so it’s not throbbing and it’s definitely not obviously swollen or inflamed. I’m going to keep my plan to go out on the trail and run today; hopefully I’ll be able to do it.
A mystery to be solved — I always pick things apart like this until I can figure out to my satisfaction what the problem was.
I finally ordered a Garmin Forerunner. However, after a lot of research, I ended up getting the 205. I don’t want/need the heart rate monitor [which comes with the 305] and I don’t need another time piece [you can use the 405 as a wrist watch as well]. Hence my decision to get the 205. Amazon.com had it for $120 and free shipping. It arrived last night and I finally got it out of the box today.
Sunday, I plan to run at least 4 miles. The cool thing about the Forerunner is that I can now keep track of my distance on-the-fly and I don’t have to pre-map my course. Woot! Freedom. This will also allow me to accurately map the off-road running I’ve been doing out on the trails. I’ve been using Mapmyrun.com and Google maps, but I’m not so sure about the accuracy of the distances with those services. Plus, there’s a feature where I can race against my previous workouts — a virtual running partner.
I’d love to get out there today and tomorrow as well, but we have our godson visiting [he'll be 2 next month] and there’s no way I can workout with an almost 2-year-old around. He’s at the point where he doesn’t sit passively in a stroller; he wants to walk himself and push the stroller himself. So… I wait for Sunday, after he’s been returned to his mommies. Meanwhile, I stare longingly at the Forerunner box, knowing it’s just sitting inside waiting on me.
Yesterday, instead of doing my training run on the road, I decided to go out on the trail. I can’t believe how excited I got about that! I’ve really missed the trails — that’s where I usually run. It’s great to get away from the noise, traffic and buildings and just be out under the trees and running on dirt. I had a really great run and enjoyed the hell out of it. It’s been a while since I felt that good during a run.
Since the trail I run is slightly uphill on the way out, slightly downhill on the way back [duh] and also has puddles, mud, sand, soft dirt, grass, the occasional deer/hawk/wild turkey and [on very rare occasions] an OUC maintenance vehicle, my usual run out there is just a hair over 2.5 miles. It’s a tougher workout on my legs and core muscles because I’ll have to do a bit more jumping, changing direction and working harder to keep myself steady than I do on a paved road.
The photo to the left is a photo of the actual area surrounding the trail.
Since I’m working toward a 1/2 marathon [13.1 miles for those who don't know], I need to up my mileage on one or two of my runs each week. I’ve mapped out a 4 mile run on a utility trail that runs between 2 subdivisions [out and back] that should fit the bill. This trail is great for those who like to mountain bike as well — I very often see this one guy who is obviously commuting by bicycle and he uses this route daily. You’ll see backpackers and day hikers out there too.
It’s relatively safe; you have to always keep aware of your surroundings anyway, even when running through town. I keep my cell phone with me and wear a RoadID ankle tag in case something happens. It has all my contact information and phone numbers for emergencies. If you get one inexpensive piece of gear, the RoadID should be it — especially if you run alone or off road.
Anyway, the map I’ve made for the 4 mile run on this trail is here:
Change the Map Type to “hybrid” and you’ll see how nicely wooded the area is. Enjoy and let me know if any of you in the area decide to try it out!
