A Snowy Run Through the Hinckley Reservation

Saturday morning I decided to head out for a few miles in Hinckley. Weather forecast was low 20's and snow, and that's just what I had. There weren't too many people out, keeping things nice and quiet. Just the crows making noise from up in the trees. I ended up running three loops around the lake for just over nine miles. But in those three loops I managed to capture the essence of the morning. Enjoy:

Boston Training: Hill Work Session #1

I began my Boston Marathon training a little later than I would have liked, but better late than never. Right? The nagging aches and pains, which are slowly getting better, kept me from really getting into full-on training mode. But after printing out Hal Higdon's Boston Bound Training Plan, I feel much better. One major thing, it's a 12 week program instead of the usual 18, so I have only missed the first two weeks. Switching around Monday and Tuesday to deal with the snow (which we are now getting) had me running hills last night.

I arrived in Hinckley just as it was getting dark. I planned to run one loop around the lake. There are plenty of hills to choose from there, both uphill and down. If the trail wasn't runnable, I would run on the road. I ended up doing a little of both by the time I finished. I didn't count on it being so cold though, and I was glad to be doing only one loop.

Four hill repeats were on tap with one being downhill. I ran counter-clockwise from the Spillway, using the first uphill as a warm-up. The trail was plowed but mostly packed to loosely packed snow with icy spots. My first hill was the one at the Boathouse. I ran down on the roadway to check the footing, reached the bottom, turned around, and sprinted right back up. Good one! Running back down I thought about sprinting it again but decided to save it for the next one which is a little longer.

Hill number two was the one that runs alongside the long road that dips down to the bridle trail access area. I ran in the road again here as there were no cars around and more bare pavement. This one really tired me out but it felt good. I was able to get a little rest before hitting the big dip along State Road.

Hill number three was the uphill along State Road going north. Here, the trail was dry pavement and I pushed hard. I was gasping for breath by the time I crested the top. I'm sure the low 20 degree temperature didn't help any. But I didn't have much time to recover as I still needed a downhill repeat.

So I turned around and flew downhill as carefully as I could for hill number 4. A great finish to my hill work! All I had to do was run back UP the hill I just came down, then make my way back to the car which was still nearly a mile away. But that was OK. I needed a cool down.

A Little on the Hinckley Trails

And by a "little", I do mean LITTLE. Like four miles little! You see, for the second time now I've arrived 5 minutes before 6:00 for the Thursday 6:00 trail run, and the group has already left. Since I didn't think they could have left too much before my arrival, I hauled ass over the snow covered bridle trail, following what I thought were the footprints of at least five people. I ran that first mile of trail... uphill... in the snow... in 8:37! Did I mention it was getting dark? Oh yeah, that too. Needless to say, I didn't catch them, nor even find them. They might have taken a singletrack side trail, but I doubted that due to it getting dark. I didn't hear a peep either. Oh well.

I managed to get across that first water crossing dry, using the ice and stones, and ran until I hit two miles out. By that time it was dark, my lamp was on, and I had to make a decision whether to continue or turn back. Since I really didn't want to be running solo in the snow in the dark, I decided to turn around and cut the run short. Only 4 miles in 39:49 at an average pace of 9:48/miles.

Good news/bad news. Good news: No discomfort or pain at all in the four miles, some of which was hard running. Bad news: I don't think I'm going to try to meet with that group any more. It's just too hectic for me to get there by the determined time, only to find they've left early.

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.

Back in the Saddle?

Let's hope so! After two weeks, TWO WEEKS, of no running, I hit the road yesterday afternoon for a hastily planned jaunt out the Lester Trail. The last couple days I've been pondering where to run Saturday and Sunday mornings, so yesterday, when Jr. P said he didn't want to be picked up early from the day care, I decided to go out for an easy middle distance run.

The Lester Rail Trail is a converted railroad line approximately 1.5 miles from my house. At three miles in length, plus getting there and coming back, I have a nice 9 mile out and back route. With the January thaw happening, I thought it would be in decent enough shape to run on. So, lacing up my trail shoes, out the door I went.

And I was right. The trail was indeed runnable, albeit at a very slow pace. The snow was soft, wet, and slushy, and thanks to someone who drove a snowmobile through there at some point, not very deep. The going was slow, I averaged only 10:30 per mile for the six miles of the trail, but enjoyable. With the exception of a cardinal, some other birds, and some small flying insect that must have just woken back up, there wasn't a living thing to be seen out there. Just the motoring public in their Friday afternoon hurry at the three road crossings.

I've been reading Born to Run recently and tried to concentrate on my form while out there. It was kind of hard considering the lack of solid footing, but I think I managed OK. My problem is that right where you land on the foot while barefoot running is exactly where my foot pain is. Not new foot pain, but the same stuff I had while training for the 24 Hour. Maybe my feet are so week I'm going to need to work through the pain to get stronger. Or this ball-of-the-foot form just isn't for me and I should concentrate on landing the way I always have.