TALES FROM THE TRAIL (AND SOMETIMES THE ROAD TOO)

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

I Just Wanted To See If I Could Do It

Today, I thought was a good day to get back out there and run.  Then again, I thought, maybe I should rest one more day.  Maybe I wasn’t ready.  Avoiding additional injury after all is my number one goal.  But I just couldn’t stand it.  I had to know.  I wanted to see if I could do it.

I took off with painful glutes (which I believe I have self-diagnosed the problem, more for a later post), beneath breezy skies.  The weather was cool, almost cold.  Despite the glutes I felt comfortable.  I ran up Cholla Trail focusing on form.  Form, form, form – column straight, no bending at the waist and mid-foot strike as much as possible.  It gets pretty steep on Cholla, so keeping that mid-foot strike is not always doable.

Before I left, my husband said, “stay off uneven ground,” and I laughed, like that’s possible on the trails (but we suspect it’s part of my glute problems – uneven ground, that is).  I did keep my eye on the trail and attempted to stay on even ground.  Much of the time that was not possible.

But I did have fun.  Lots of fun.  And I sweated loads too, like I always do in the recovery period. 

The rolling hills of West Ridge were pretty empty.  I saw 2 runners, and half a dozen or so hikers.  Top of the World was EMPTY, a peaceful, tranquil and windy experience.  I needed that.

Top of the World:

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At the top, enjoying the wind, acting just a tad SILLY:

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After stretching at the top, I headed back the same way I came.  And I focused on keeping my pace up on the uphills.  I could do it.  Though I felt like I could put in more miles, I kept it to a minimum.  Besides – I had to work this evening and had still lots of chores and pick-ups to do.

Miles logged this morning: 6.24

Elevation gain:  Approx. 1,200 ft.

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