Nothing quite like a trail run to make me feel out of shape

I took Monday and Tuesday off this week because I was tired, and just didn't feel like running.  I decided it wasn't important enough to drag myself out there when I wasn't in the mood.  I had hoped to take Tuesday off of school to recover from the previous rough week, but nobody could sub for me.  We were able to rearrange my schedule so that I could take Wednesday afternoon off instead.  Not the perfect solution, but it was better than nothing!  I was able to have lunch with a friend and spend some time relaxing, and then I decided I should probably get some exercise sometime this week, so I went for a run.  I thought I would do a long run on Thursday because it was gorgeous out at lunchtime, but by 3:00 it was raining and I had a sudden burst of productivity, so I stayed at work until 4:45 instead, and then just went for a quick run before dark.  I didn't have time for a decent run on Friday in between school and babysitting, so I just took it off.  I finally got a long-ish run on Saturday, though still not the 10-miler I had hoped to get this week.

Today it was gorgeous out, and I decided it was past time I headed to the Greenbrier State Forest for a good trail run.  Some new trails have been built in the last year or two, and I hadn't gotten around to running them.  It has something to do with the fact that I was always training for races and afraid to sprain an ankle.  And then there was the fact that I couldn't run all summer.  Now, I'm running again, and don't have any upcoming races that I expect to be competitive in, so I decided there were no more excuses.

I ran a familiar trail first.  1.8 miles up a mountain, then I turned around and ran back down.  Running up that mountain made me feel like I am not at all in shape.  I'm pretty sure I could have walked up it faster, but I didn't quit.   I "only" twisted my ankles 3 or 4 times on the way down.  Then I found one of the new trails and followed it until it looped back around to where I had parked.  Despite the pain in my ankles/legs from having to use muscles I haven't used in forever, I loved it.  It was nice to get out in the woods and just jog around.  I'm sure it was good for strengthening a lot of muscles in my feet as well.

check out that elevation profile...

Runs this Week

W: 5.3 miles 38:24/7:14 

R: 4 miles 28:12/7:01

Sa: 7.1 miles 54:02/7:38

Su: 5.5 miles 58:41/10:38

Cocoa-Pumpkin Sandwich Cookies

The Cookies

1/4 c butter

1/4 c vegetable oil

1/2 c pumpkin

1 egg

1 c sugar

2 tbsp cocoa

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 c whole wheat flour

1 1/3 c white flour

makes approx. 24 cookies

Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes

The Filling

1/2 c cream cheese

2 tsp cinnamon

6-7 spoonfuls of confectioners sugar

1 tbsp apple cider

Inspired by this recipe.  I was looking for pumpkin cake recipes.  While browsing, the red velvet oreos caught my eye.  They sounded intriguing.  I've never made red velvet anything.  And I don't have any red food coloring.  But I turned that idea into these cookies.  So much for making pumpkin cake...maybe next time.

Peanut Butter Chicken Pasta

2 b/s chicken breasts

garlic powder

ginger powder

turmeric powder

1/2 c vegetable stock

1-2 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 c crunchy peanut butter

1 carrot

2 big handfuls arugula

Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces and dump them into a skillet on medium heat.  Liberally sprinkle with the seasonings (If I was less lazy, I would have used fresh minced garlic and ginger). Add the vegetable stock and soy sauce to the skillet.  Stir occasionally as the chicken cooks, so that it will cook evenly through.  When the chicken is about down, add the peanut butter.  Mix well. Turn down the heat so that the chicken doesn't over-cook.  Chop the carrot into bite sized pieces and add that as well.  The pan should stay hot just long enough to soften the carrots.  Add the arugula a minute or two before serving; it tastes better if it doesn't wilt too much.  Serve over the grain of your choice.  I chose pasta of course, but I'm sure it would be just as tasty over rice or quinoa or farro or whatever. 

 boiling peanut butter deliciousness

arugula

5k trail race

The last five days have been very long and exhausting (with some fun thrown in).  Just a quick summary for now, I will try to add detail/photos later.  I took a friend to the emergency room late Wednesday night.  It was scary and stressful, and I really did not get any sleep that night, and have not had a chance to catch up since.  I'm headed to bed early tonight and hoping I can catch up soon.

I spent the weekend at Sweet Briar College for a Sweet Tones Reunion.  Alumnae of all ages came together with the current Sweet Tones to practice all day on Saturday and then sing together in a concert that night.  It was fun, and a great experience, but it was a bit overshadowed by worries and exhaustion from earlier in the week.

The SBC lacrosse team hosted a 5k trail race today, so I ran that before I headed home.  I was the overall winner by a minute or two.  The course was not well marked at the end, and I took a wrong turn, but still ran the correct distance.  Many other runners took various wrong turns, and the race organizers just kind of shrugged it off.  So it ended up being more of a fun-run than a race.  But that's fine by me.  It was a gorgeous day out.  The only reason I didn't get lost is because I ran those trails all the time while I was a student, and I knew the general direction I was supposed to be going, and where I needed to end up in the end.

Run United Half Marathon

Another slow "race" in the books for me.  Saturday morning dawned bright and cold.  It was about 34 degrees out, which was a step up from last year's 26, but still not ideal.  It was probably 36 or 37 degrees by the time the race started, but it was still far from warm.  I started out at a comfortable pace.  I realized in the first couple of miles that the pace I had settled into was two slow for a good race, but it's hard to speed up once I've settled, and I really had no motivation to speed up.  I spent the rest of the race trying to speed up, and mostly failing.  It's hard to find motivation when there is no one anywhere near you for the entire race.  There were only 29 runners total.  My friend Jim won the race in 1:34:32.  I finished in 1:39:53 (last year 1:32:49).  The 3rd finisher was 3 minutes behind me.

It was a gorgeous day, and almost warm by the end of the race (turned out quite warm and beautiful in the afternoon), but I just wasn't in race-mode.  I'm finding that although running is going well and feeling good, I am not back to race-shape yet.  My body isn't ready to race, and my mind isn't ready to force it either.   I know the lack of any competition in this race made it hard to be competitive anyway, but I'm not sure that I would have had the energy or will power to race even if there had been people near me during the race.

This Week's Runs/Rides

M: run 4.2

R: run 4.3

Sa: run 13.2

Su: bike 21

10/18/14 Chasing Waterfalls : Sandstone Falls

Today was Bridge Day, and just like last year, it was gray and cold out.  I went by myself the last two years and got some cool photos, but really didn't feel like going alone again.  None of my friends were able to go this year either, so I decided to skip it.  In the middle of the night last night, I decided that I should go somewhere else instead of sitting at home all day.  So I decided to check another waterfall off of my bucket list.

Sandstone Falls

I was driving along the road (still about 15 miles away from my destination) and saw a sign for an overlook, so I pulled off to check it out.  It offered a view of the falls from the opposite side that I would see them from eventually, and from high above them.  

 Just a little bit further down the road, there was another overlook, so I checked that one out as well.  It was a view of the river.  There was someone bird-watching there, and he pointed out a Bald Eagle's nest to me.  He also told me that the pair of eagles had been flying around a lot the day before, catching fish, and hanging out in the nest.  Of course they didn't bother to appear while I was there...

After the second overlook, I continued on up the river til I finally got to the bridge crossing it, then headed down river until I neared the falls.  I caught a glimpse of mist rising off the falls before I reached them, and pulled over to snap some photos.

Eventually, I reached the actual parking lot and set off down the boardwalk that overlooks the falls.

The leaves were colorful, the falls were awesome, and I had lots of fun taking pictures.  I even got out my tripod so I could take extra-cool photos of the falls.

After I took lots of photos, I went for a run along the river.  It was nice to run somewhere new.  It was also really flat.  I took the opportunity to run a 1 mile time trial off of a track.  I ran the TT during the 3rd mile of a 4+ mile run.  I finished it in 6:25.  Not my fastest, but not too shabby considering I woke up short of breath this morning, for no explicable reason.

After my run, I headed towards Bluestone Dam, which was sort-of on the way home anyway.  I had heard that there were frequent Bald Eagle sightings there.  But once again, I was disappointed.  And I didn't have hours to sit there waiting, so I had to head home.  I'll catch sight of one eventually!

A Sunrise, a Scenic Railroad, and a Rainbow...What a day!

I'm in my seventh year of teaching, and so far, there have only been 2 years that my job description was the same.  The other five years have all been different.  This year's "something new" is that I spend 6+ hrs a week as a teacher assistant in the 2nd/3rd grade classroom.  Somehow, this turned into me getting asked to go along on their field trip today.  Since most of my Thursday schedule involves that class anyway, it wasn't too hard to take care of my 2 other classes and be free to go along on the field trip.

I suspected that I would be tired after a day-long field trip, so I got up extra early this morning to get my run done and out of the way.  4.8 miles in the moonlight, watching the fog in the valleys, and then I somehow got cleaned up and fed and it was barely past 7.  So, I headed to work early to get some things done before we left on the field trip.  I glanced out the window somewhere around 7:25 and saw a gorgeous pink and blue sky.

Less than 5 minutes later, the sky was gray and cloudy.  Not a hint of color to be seen.  I got some work done and then we piled into a few cars and headed towards the Cass Scenic Railroad.  Highlights/Entertainment on the trip up included 7 yr old girls singing along to Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" and a 7 yr old boy requesting his favorite song : Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball."  Thankfully, "Wrecking Ball" was not on the iPod. I enjoyed getting to talk to a parent I didn't know very well, while the kids sang and played games in the back.  I also enjoyed the scenery.  Some trees are still green and too many have already lost their leaves, but there's still a decent amount of color on the rest of the trees.  There were a few lingering clouds hanging out in the treetops that looked really cool as well.

Once we arrived at Cass Scenic Railroad, we watched a short film about the history of the old logging town/lumber industry, walked through the little museum, and then boarded the train.

After the trip up the mountain to Whittaker Station and back to Cass, we had a picnic lunch and spent some time on the playground before heading back to school.  The ride back was quite entertaining, but sadly I don't remember the specific funny quotes that I wanted to remember.  I'm tired. Once back at school, I did some work and uploaded/edited the photos from the trip.  I just happened to glance out the window at one point and caught this:

Sometimes, it pays to stay at work late!  But it has been a very long day and I am looking forward to a good night of sleep!