Round and Around Buckeye Woods

You would think that with a 100% cloud free sky and maximum sunshine, it would have been a little warmer Sunday. But you would have been wrong, as was I! Good thing I packed some "emergency" layers, just in case.

As it was only in the low to mid 20's around noon, it was still a little on the cold side, but much warmer than the single digits we had earlier in the morning. But given the abundant sunshine, it should have been warmer. You see, what I didn't count on was all the wind that particular area gets due to all the farm fields. There isn't much in the way of wind barriers in rural Medina County. So, that, combined with my recent running pains, is why I ran with no time goal, no mileage goal, and no route in mind.

I parked at Buckeye Woods, planning on returning to the car whenever I needed a drink or bite to eat. I just didn't feel like carrying a lot with me, including my camera, which left me with no choice but to use the camera phone, resulting in some low quality images.

The nice thing about this park is that the trail loops around. It's kind of like running in Hinckley but without the hills! I started out with a loop around the big field/pond area. Lots of wind there! Running through the treed sections on my way to and from the field provided the most protection from the wind, and I wished I could have just stayed under their cover. Too bad there wasn't a forested loop.

After a brief stop at the car, I decided to make my way south on the Chippewa Inlet Trail. Better get it out of the way early while I wasn't a total freezing mess in the wind. And there was wind. LOTS of wind! As you can see in the photo below, the trail is completely exposed with nothing to block the wind at all.



Also missing along the trail: me restarting my Garmin after crossing Rt. 162! I went for at least a mile before catching the mistake.

After returning from the canal side spur, which turned out to have a headwind both going AND coming back, I logged the remainder of my miles within Buckeye Woods just running loops. The trail was mostly snow covered, but not icy, and the footing wasn't bad at all.

The Asics Gel Nimbus was my shoe of choice for the day. I haven't put many miles on them and I wanted to see how they felt after a week of rest. Which leads me to some good news and some bad news. The good news: My ankles didn't bother me at all! I tried to keep my feet relaxed without tensing up at the ankle. The tongue design of the Nimbus may have helped too. The bad news: The balls of my feet began bothering me after about 8 miles or so. The left foot more so than the right. I ended up icing the left foot that night. The ball area just behind the second and third toes was very swollen. The unexpected bad news: My right knee gave out on me as I was finishing the run. I had about a quarter mile to go and I nearly fell down from it not bearing my weight. I don't know what that was about. That knee has never given me any problems before.



I'm hoping that my aches and pains are temporary, but I'm not ruling out a visit to Dr. Joe if I don't have any success working past things on my own. I have too many long runs scheduled for this year to not be able to run 15 miles without collapsing.