I RAN TODAY!
There, I needed to get that out :)
A bunch of us CHUGs and some MUDDs met up at Deer Grove Forest Preserve in Palatine today for some solid trail running. (Sidenote: Deer Grove is where I ran my very first trail/trail race ever, back in August 2008, so it was fun to relive the memories!) I decided it was time to stop being a sissy-pants and try out a little run. I kindly asked my sad toenails to cooperate and they were more than happy to oblige. I showed off my gnarled big toenails to those interested in seeing what they look like (I finally took my nail polish off), and was regaled with many an "ooo" and "ahhh" ;) They actually look like I've just painted them purple. Brian thinks they'll fall off in about 4-6 months...
One loop on the yellow trail is ~5.4 miles and I decided I'd try on one loop for size and see how things felt. I also brought Geof's mountain/commuter bike along so I could still join in on the fun after my loop.
It was great! I ran alongside new member Helen and my favorite f-bombin' dude, Ed Kelly and we caught up on all things running, donuts, Badwater and generalness. Great to see you Ed! We were truckin' along at a very nice pace for my out-of-practice legs and everything was jivin'. My hamstrings decided to speak up about a mile or so from the end of the loop, and my knees were achey as well (both were things I expected) so I let Helen and Ed go ahead and I walked in the last 1/4 mile. My lungs were so happy to be breathing in so much fresh air! My heart rate felt as though I barely lifted a finger, so everything was very relaxed. It seems that the first run back after a break is usually pretty effortless feeling, and that's when you have to be careful and make sure not to get ahead of yourself.
After everyone made it back to the parking lot, we chatted briefly before the runners headed back out for another loop. This was Brian's first run back since Rio Del Lago 100M as well, so we both called it a day after the first loop, very pleased with our efforts. We then pulled our bikes out of our cars and geared up to meet everyone back out on the trail. Of course, before we headed back out, Brian needed to check out his healing feet (and I wanted to see them, gross right?!), and he proceeded to yank off another toenail he noticed dangling...I was squirming watching the madness!! The things we endure to be runners...!
What fun it was to bike on a trail again! I haven't done that since college! We managed to putter around the parking lot long enough that we didn't catch up to the runners until just about the end of the loop, woops :)
Super fun day, great chilly fall weather, great people. I'm very happy with how the day went and I'm looking forward to some more short runs next week. Meantime, I need to get some work done on these hamstrings, yowza, they are tight!
Crash, out.
2 comments:
STILL looking for a picture of those toenails. You showed them off to real life people, but not us? No fair! Glad to see you're out on the trails again.
nice to see you are back at it on the trails.
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