Lord Hill trail run

Did a trail run at Lord Hill (and, yes, it was hilly) with 3 fellow runners (Tony C., Kendall K, and Kelsey K.). 11.62 miles (so says the Garmin) in 2:14:19. Time included walking steep hills and stopping to wait for people a few times. Fun run! Cold, though (27 when we started). My running streak will end today, at 19 days. I'm resting tomorrow, then running a Last Chance half marathon in Bellingham, WA on Thursday. I'll run it as a training run instead of for time. Should be fun. And cold.

Oh, one extra thing I wanted to mention. If you're like me, you may NOT want to take a 15-minute ice bath after a 2+ hour run in 27 degree weather (especially if you're as lean as I am, w/o natural insulation). I think I nearly got hypothermic after the bath. Was shaking so hard, I couldn't hold a cup of tea. I bundled up in several layers and closed myself in the bathroom in front of a wall heater for 40 minutes. Live and learn. Hopefully it helped my legs recover, anyway.

Initiation

Got my first "Trail Runner's Badge of Honor" this morning. Nothing major, fortunately. I bit it (on a root) while running down Tiger Mountain, near Issaquah, WA. I ran with my friend Arthur. About a 6 mile round trip. My quads and calves were feeling it on the way up (partially due to yesterday's race, partially due to not being used to running a lot of hills). Got pretty steep near the top. Really enjoyed it, though. I can see myself eventually transitioning into more of a trail (ultra?) runner in the future. As far as long distance trail runs are concerned, I want to work into them gradually. So far, I've avoided any major injuries this year. I hope to keep that streak going for a long time!

I ended the week with a very modest total of 21.7 miles of running and 20 miles on the bike.