Little Stony : 1/20/2018

The temperature actually made it into the 50s yesterday, so it was a great day for a hike!  Lots of ice out there still since it's been in the single digits quite a bit lately, but it made for some cool photos.  I did this hike in December 2016 when it was about 20 degrees out, but there was less snow & ice that day.  It was nice to get different-looking photos this time even though it is the same season.

into the woods

the lower falls

the upper falls

I like that you can see the frozen falls behind the water coming down in this one.

With all the ice, it was really hard to find a spot to set up the tripod where we could get in a photo with the waterfall in the background.  

The one jumping photo we got wasn't great, but I like this pre-jump photo.  

My new hiking boots got put to the true test in the stream crossing on this trail, I was skeptical, but it turns out I did get my money's worth and they are indeed waterproof!  I'm very glad, because it would not have been pleasant to have wet feet on this hike!

The Channels Natural Area Preserve : 1/7/2018

I bought myself some hiking boots for Christmas and today I got to try them out!  I am happy to say that they fit perfectly with my thick wool socks and kept my feet dry and toasty warm on a cold hike through a bit of snow.

It was a cold and windy afternoon up at the Channels today, but at least the temperature wasn't in the single digits like it has been for the last week!  The hike up was a good 3 mile uphill which helped me stay warm, but once we got into the rock channels and up in the open on top, the wind was brutally cold, which resulted in me not lingering long to take photos!  It will be a great place to go back to on a warmer day though.

The hike wasn't on difficult terrain, as it was all on forest road like this.  There were only a few icy spots, but they were easy to walk around on the edge of the road.  There was a stretch that was steep enough to make my calf muscles start burning, but other than that it was an easy walk. 

I love walking through rhododendron tunnels!

I also enjoy having someone else along to take photos of me so I don't have to do so much back and forth with the tripod...

It's too bad the old fire tower is in bad disrepair and much too dangerous to climb...

The Channels rock formations.  

 Lots of different pathways through them, 

it would be easy to get lost if you don't have a good sense of direction!

Since jumping photos are now a standard part of my adventures, it stands to reason

 that anyone who hikes with me must also take part.  

I'm pretty proud of us for getting the timing perfect on the first try! 

Roaring Run 3/22/17

I was determined to go on a photo-adventure while in Lewisburg this past week.  It was hard to decide where to go though.  My closest options were an hour away, with some of the places I wanted to go closer to 2 hours away.  The weather was also not super cooperative.  There were some dreary wet and gray days, which in hindsight would have been better because I was trying to photograph water, but in the end I went hiking on a brilliantly sunny day.  It was a gorgeous day to be in the woods, but a difficult day to get the silky long exposure photos I like.  I did manage to get a few though, and I definitely enjoyed my time in the sunshine!

Always got to jump for joy!

Playing around on some fallen branches across the path.

More photos from this visit and my visit several years ago can be found at GMcD Photography

(photos from this visit start at #26)

Sandman Extreme Half Marathon

Half marathon #29, and the first race of 2017 is in the books!  I had vague memories of how tough this race was from when I ran it in 2014, but time definitely softened the difficulty in my mind.  I had completely forgotten that this race was actually harder than the Blue Ridge!  Check out the elevation profile!  I didn't mind the 4 mile uphill climb so much (although I won't say it was the easiest either) but going back down the other side was brutal!  The first two miles of downhill were on gravel, and that was manageable, but my hip started hurting almost as soon as I hit the pavement, and that part was steeper too.  My hip has barely stopped hurting since, but I think the shake out jog, stretching, and foam rolling I did today helped tremendously.

Like my last race, I ran this one with my watch hidden in my sleeve.  I felt like I was crawling for the first mile, but since it was downhill I knew it would be easy to go too fast and ruin the rest of the race, so I made myself stick to the slow-feeling pace.  Of course it turned out to be sub-7 pace, but that's the downhill for you.  I waited til I hit the uphill, and then I kicked into gear.  I was afraid to push too hard on that uphill and not have anything left for the rest of the race, but in hindsight I wish I had pushed a little bit harder.  I'll have a better idea of strategy for next year though!  

I let go as much as I could on the downhills to make up time from the uphill, but when I did encounter flats or uphills after the long downhill, I found it really hard to get back into a rhythm after relying on momentum for so many miles.  I was pleased to see that my splits didn't get too terribly slow by the end though.  At least, not as slow as they felt!  I crossed the line at 12.85 by my watch, so I kept running around the block until I hit 13.1.  They clocked me at 1:37:18 at the line, and I finished the 13.1 in 1:38:27. My finish time was slower than I had hoped, but it was a tough race in unpleasant weather.  35ish degrees, foggy, and intermittent light rain.  And my sore legs say I ran hard even if it was a bit slow!  

Only 270 miles on the old pair but almost no tread left, and I could feel that they were wearing out so it was time for a new pair before the old pair could injure me!  Nice to race in a brand-new pair!

New race hairstyle for the hair since it's too short to braid now...double pony-tales!

Somebody caught this photo of me running up a hill during the race.

Finisher medal along with 1st place winnings : mug, headband, and bag.

I finished first place female and 5th place overall, about 4.5 minutes behind 4th place, which was my running partner Ben.  

Easing my mileage back up

This week : 

M : sweatfest 12.3 / 50 minutes

T : group run 5.4 / 8:08 / 217 ft

R : run w/Ben 7.1 / 8:02 / 328 ft

F : run 4 / 7:11 / 184 ft

Sa : hike 5.5 miles / 650 ft 

sweatfest 13.9 / 60 minutes

Su : run w/Ben 6.1 / 7:43 / 479 ft

run total : 22.6

bike total : 26.2

It got COLD this week!  I guess winter is here now.  Tuesday's run was cold and rainy, Thursday's run was colder, and Friday's run was frigid!  I didn't plan or really try to run super fast but I was trying to stay warm, apparently that made me fast.  Thankfully it was a few degrees warmer today when we ran.  It was also the middle of the day instead of evening, I'm sure that helped... 

My foot doesn't feel 100% but it doesn't exactly hurt either.  Hard to say exactly what is going on.  It was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable towards the end of the hike, but it wasn't easy going, so I wasn't surprised.  Still no real pain though, so I guess as long as it doesn't really hurt I will continue running.  Definitely taking it easy on downhills so as not to pound it too hard though!  

On a mission through the woods...gotta find a waterfall!

Found it!

Little Stony National Recreation Trail 12/10/16

Sometimes I get overwhelmed by being around people all the time and need a day alone in the woods to recharge my mental batteries.  Not long ago I was thinking that it had been awhile since my last photo adventure, and soon after that I realized a photo adventure was exactly what I needed.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my job, the people I work with, and my running group.  But life is busy and sometimes I forget how important it is to step back and find time for myself that doesn't involve sitting on the couch.  By Wednesday evening I knew I was going to spend Saturday adventuring, and started searching for a destination.  I remembered someone mentioning "Devil's Bathtub" to me, so I searched for that.  Because of course my favorite part of hiking/adventuring is taking photos of water.  But a quick internet search told me that the road to Devil's Bathtub is not recommended for 2 wheel drive cars.  Last thing I want to do is get my car stuck somewhere in the middle of nowhere with no cell service, so that location was out.  However, the website recommended some more car-friendly hiking locations in the area, so I picked two of them that were very close together.  (Although in the end I decided to leave the second one for a later trip.)

It was about 12 degrees out this morning, and the frost on my car was some very serious ice crystals that stood about a centimeter tall, but I wasn't going to let that stop me.  I put on my fleece lined running shirt, followed by two other thin but warm layers, put tights on under my jeans, wore a pair of thick socks in my boots, and grabbed a windbreaker to keep out the chill.  I hit the road at 9 and arrived at the Little Stony trailhead shortly after 10.  The gate was shut for the winter, but there were a few pull-offs to choose from outside the gate.

The view from where I parked

Taking in the view before hiking up the road to the trail

A glance back at the gate before heading out on the trail

2.6?  My garmin begs to differ.  More like 3+.  

Not that I minded the extra walk of course...but it is nice to know so I can budget my time.

The hike.

Had some fun with the frost and my macro lens.

It was hard to get a good photo of this water spray, but I gave it my best try! 

I had to use my longer zoom lens to get a close enough shot, and the weight of the lens made it unstable for long exposure shots.  Just the motion of me pressing the shutter button was blurring the image.  In the end, I ended up using the self timer, so that the shake from pushing the button wouldn't blur the image.  This is one of the best ones I got. 

It took me just under 2 hours to reach this spot.  The trail continued on, but this is where I turned around.  Turns out there's 2 more waterfalls after this one, but they will be something new the next time I go!  There's also another parking lot closer to them, so that is where I will park next time.  

We all know it's not a true photo adventure without a jumping shot!

I had a great time out in the woods for 4 hours today. I never saw another person, or any animals for that matter.  I was probably too loud through the leaves and scared away any wildlife.  I wouldn't have minded a chance to get some shots of wildlife, but I certainly didn't mind the lack of people!

A day alone in the woods with my camera was exactly what I wanted.

The only downside to the adventure was on my way back through the water crossing my left foot started to feel wet, and I discovered a tear in my boot.  These boots have been on a lot of adventures with me! I was sad to see the tear, but when I got home I looked at my Amazon history, and discovered I bought them just under 3 years ago, for only $24!  These boots have been through rain, snow, mud, and mid-winter streams deeper than my ankles.  And they have kept my feet completely dry until now.  I'm pretty sure I got more than my money's worth out of them!  And I just ordered an identical pair to replace them.  I hope I can get another awesome 3 years out of the new pair!

Star City Half Marathon 2016

By far the best race I've had in a long time!  Crossed the finish line in 1:30:28, feeling strong, successful, and happy!

My biggest challenge/concern for the race was to not start out too fast.  I knew if I started too fast, I would die later in the race and not have a strong finish.  However, I was also worried about starting too slow and never getting up to pace, or not being able to get fast enough to balance out the slow miles for an average pace I could be happy with.  I thought about scrolling through the options on my watch to have my pace on the screen and try to keep it somewhere between 7 and 7:30 for the first mile, but the pace feature isn't that accurate while running, and I don't think staring at my watch is the way to go.  My best races were run without a watch, but I refuse to run watchless now that I have Strava because I would hate to pass up the opportunity to look at my race stats afterward.  I knew my best chance for a successful race was first of all to not get carried away with the front of the pack, and to run entirely by feel and not look at the watch.  "Conveniently" it was chilly and I was wearing a pullover with thumb holes for the race.  I put the watch underneath the sleeve, and once I made sure it was running, I put my thumbs in the thumb holes and never looked at my watch (til the last mile).

I started out the race at a nice easy pace.  I was worried that I was going too slow and that I wouldn't be able to get up to speed, but I made myself keep the pace til after I passed the first mile marker.  Then I let myself open up just a bit.  I passed a few other women in the next 2 miles.  As I passed each mile marker and still felt good, I pushed the pace a little bit more.  I was slowly picking off people one at a time.  I concentrated on my breathing periodically to make sure I was breathing deeply, as I have a tendency to breathe really shallowly and that doesn't help the asthma issues. I spent a few miles in the middle debating whether I needed an extra hit off the inhaler or not.  I didn't want to use it if I didn't need it, but I didn't want to wait too long and let my legs go into oxygen debt with miles to go either.  Around mile 9 I caved and let myself take half a dose.  I was still pushing a little harder with each passing mile, and I could feel that I was going to struggle for oxygen.

I had no idea what kind of pace I was running, but I was feeling strong and hoped it was a good one.  With about 3/4 of a mile to go, a kid passed me, and as he ran by he said "we're under 1:30, come on and push to the finish."  It almost didn't register in my mind, because I didn't believe I could actually be running that well, but after a slight delay I kicked into the reserves I didn't know I had and put in the energy to keep up with him.  I was getting warm and had wanted to pull my sleeves up but hadn't because I didn't want to see my watch.  At that point, I pulled up the sleeves.  We were at 12.4 miles and 1:26 on the clock.  I gave the rest of that race everything I had.  As I came within sight of the finish I could see the clock just past 1:30.  I pushed and got across the line before the seconds got to 30.  My watch hadn't quite reached 13.1 yet, I think it was just over 13, so I kept going after the line, but I couldn't go very fast because of the finish line crowd.  My watch hit the 13.1 at 1:30:47.  I am extremely grateful to that 15 year old who was kind enough to tell the girl he passed that we were under 1:30 and encourage her to push harder!  I would have had a good time regardless, but I would not have broken 1:31, and it's possible that if I hadn't sped up I actually would have slowed down, as I was tiring and losing steam.  Finding out how close I was to my former half marathon times gave me the extra boost of adrenaline that I needed.

I was 2nd female and 18th overall.  I knew I was in second place for most of the race because several volunteers told me as I passed them, but I never laid eyes on first place.  She ended up finishing in 1:27.  I hope to get there in the not too distant future, but I know I'm not there yet!

Finisher medal, Triple Crown medal (for running all three Roanoke 1/2s this year), 2nd place plaque, and my winnings : winter running mittens and a hat

All-in-all, a pretty consistent race!  The slowest mile was the only one with a significant hill, so it makes sense that it was slower. And it was a tough hill!  (I loved it of course)

My calves were getting a bit cramped after the race, since I wore my race shoes even though the course was pretty flat.  They aren't great for flat terrain heel striking over long distances.  They are a better shoe for shorter/faster races, but I can also get away with them in longer races if there are enough hills.  Anyway, I decided to try out the post race massage tent for the first time ever.  I let someone roll out my calves with a torture stick, and it was definitely worth it!  She rolled the tight muscles til they loosened up, and probably saved me from several days of calf pain. 

And it wouldn't be a race weekend without finding some delicious food!

Friday dinner : Pesto Chicken Montabello at Ragazzi's

Post-race Lunch : Lad Na at Taste of Asia

I also had a salmon-avocado sushi roll, but ate it too fast to take a photo.

Post-race Dinner : Bacon Cheeseburger at Wasena City Tap Room