Poplar Forest-7 miles (55:00)
Valentines Day! Was able to get a good run in before heading off to work. Made sure to order some flowers for my wife before leaving.
Today brought with it some very big news for our household. Patsy was offered an internship position at Remuda Ranch in Wickenburg, AZ. This is an offer that we've been praying about and hoping for for a while now so it is almost 100% that we will be moving to Arizona. So, now I am on the job hunt and we are hopeful. Thankfully, Remuda has told us that the position will be waiting for her until we can make the necessary arrangements. This is truly an answer to prayer as Patsy has been dreaming of working at an establishment such as this. Now we just need to find a job for me and then finalize the technicalities. I'm excited for a new set of trails and running routes. I am not such a fan of the warm weather year-round but I hear that it is beautiful there. Plus, it will be fun to start a new adventure!
Tuesday 2/15/2011
Rainbow Forest- 5.3 miles (48:00)
Lots on the mind this morning. Lots of prayer about future decisions and what moving to AZ might entail. Actually ended up taking the day off work I got myself so worked up. Good news...I feel much more at peace about everything now. God is so good and knows what He is doing and just wants us to trust Him.
Wednesday 2/16/2011
Candlers Mtn.-8.7 miles + Barefoot (1:22)
Great run up Candlers Mountain and then back through on the Lake Trail to Snowflex. Finished with a barefoot loop around campus. Always fun to see the looks you get when you run around public places without shoes on. If only they knew the freedom of running unshod.
Thursday 2/17/2011
Richland Hills- 6 miles + Barefoot (56:30)
Just a casual run around the Richland Hills area. Didn't have a plan for this run just wanted to get out and run around. While running and enjoying the view of the moon, this random thought came to mind. Everyone enjoys seeing a sunrise and sunset and also enjoy the moonrise but how many people get to enjoy the moonset? That number I would imagine is much smaller. Oh the joys of getting up at the crack of dawn!
Saturday 2/19/2011
Run to Snowflex - 5 miles (42:00)
Liberty Mountain 5K -22nd out of 193 (25:08)
Snowflex to Home - 6 miles + Barefoot (55:00)
Because Saturdays are typically my long run day I had a bit of a dilemma since the Liberty Mountain 5K was on the same day. So....to remedy this problem, I just ran to the race, ran the race, and then ran home. This was the first time I was going to be racing since the Marathon and I have not done any speed training so I didn't have too high of hopes for a 5K. I have been running these trails a lot lately so I felt I would do well coping with the technical aspects of the trail as well as the hills. Thankfully my hill training paid off and I felt very strong on the uphill parts of the race, which was pretty much the whole second half of the race. It felt great to get out and run fast and I was very please with my performance and how well my legs and feet felt after already having run 8 miles on the morning. After the races was over I ate some fruit and then headed home.
The afternoon proved to be rather eventful as my wife had big plans for my birthday weekend. I had no clue what the plan for the day was. After watching Manchester United move on to the next round of the FA Cup, Patsy and I got in the car and headed north. I had no clue where we were going because she wouldn't tell me where we were going. The ride up was quite eventful as our area of Virginia has been hit with forest fires. About 15 minutes south of Charlottesville the road was covered in thick smoke from a fire somewhere to the West. The smell of smoke reminded me of the times my dad, my brother, and I would burn the swamps back in Minnesota. Miss those times!
Once we got to Charlottesville, Patsy surprised me by taking me to Blue Ridge Mountain Sports Store to get fitted for some Vibrams. Patsy isn't too fond of my recent infatuation with running barefoot so she decided to help my poor little feet by getting me some Vibrams. After the shoes, we ventured to the Downtown Grille, where we had a rather...um...interesting dinner. Lets just say, they make good steak, as for sides...we'll just say lacking.
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| New Running Shoes |
Sunday 2/20/2011
Blackwater Creek Bike Trail- 9.3 miles (1:30)
Today is my birthday! Patsy made me breakfast in bed this morning! I housed 4 cinnamon rolls in about 5 minutes accompanied with a big cup of Dunkin Donuts. Doesn't get much better than that. After church, Patsy and I went to the bike trail for her weekly long run. Rather than doing this run barefoot, I wore the Vibrams. This run is the reason for the title of this weeks entry. I desperately wanted to try the Vibrams on some trails because I have been dying to go completely barefoot on some single track but the frequency of rocks, sticks, stumps, shards of glass, razor blades, heroine needles, and whatever else may be lurking beneath those leaves has kept my shoes on when on the unbeaten path. So after about 2 miles of pavement I convinced Pats to let me venture off on some of the dirt trails that Blackwater Creek area has to offer. I had planned on joining back up with after a short test run. Problem #1: Neither of us had our phone. Problem #2: I underestimated the speediness of my blonde beauty.
After my short jaunt on the dirt trails, I ventured back up to the paved bike path. Thanks to Patsy's bright pink shirt and blonde hair she is usually easily to spot. However, I did not see her. "Did you guys pass a girl in bright pink?" I inquired of two gentleman as they jogged by. They told me they had so I started up the trail the way we had been going when we parted ways. So I took off at pretty decent clip thinking I would catch up with her in short notice. But I began to second guess her whereabouts as I met another runner in pink. So after about a mile I decided I would turn around, thinking that I must still be ahead of her. After returning to the trail with still no blonde in tow, I once again turned around again. After passing the same people for the 3rd time I finally decided to just run the length of the trail. Sure enough, two in a half miles later I find her waiting for me. So what was supposed to be a 7-8 mile easy run turned into a 9+ mile run with about 2-3 miles of speed and anxiety in the middle. I guess from now on when I want to do some speed work I'll just tell my wife to go out and get lost and I'll sprint around to find her. We'll call them "Patsy Mile Repeats".
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| This is me running thru the woods in my new shoes |
Total Miles Jogged: 51 miles
Total Time Jogging: 7:36 hours
Total Elevation: 4,578 feet
Jog on Mates!
Watch out for those heroin needles!! Great post!
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