Monday, March 19, 2012

Accidentally Too Far

The thing about trails is once you commit to running one, you pretty much have to finish it. There's no taking a shortcut, unless you're one hell of a bushwhacker.

Having consulted a map of the trails I planned to run, I thought I had a good seven-miler routed. Turns out I miscalculated the distances of the connector trails, which added almost a mile and a half to my Saturday morning run.

Despite the extra distance, I felt good -- loads better than a week ago when I had skip a trail loop and cut my run short. Maybe it was the shoes?
New Balance Minimus Zero Trail shoes (MT00)
I've been on a bit of a running gear buying binge. I'll give my new New Balances the "First Taste" treatment later this week, and you'll soon be hearing about what I bought to solve the issue of carrying my phone on the run and new visibility apparel.

Last week's running plan vs. reality turned out to be one run short, but only one mile short of goal, with three runs for 15 miles and a long of eight miles (and change).

This week's running plan calls for four runs and a total of 17 miles, with a long run of eight miles and at least one trail run. I also want to get back to my strength exercises, which I ditched when I got sick.

Saturday is the Dirty Dash, a 10-kilometer race in the Dirty Trail Race Series, my first race of the year and first trail event ever (hence why I bought new trail shoes). My goals for the race are 1.) don't fall, and 2.) finish with pace around 11 minutes per mile (an overall time of ~1:08:xx).

I hope everyone made it through St. Patrick's Day alive and free of legal trouble. Cheers!

3 comments:

Carolina John said...

Is that supposed to be a hint that your St Patty's day consisted of lots of amateur drinking and legal trouble?

Glad the new trail shoes worked out. They can be tricky to get just the right feel.

BrianFlash said...

Good luck on the trails! One piece of advice to help you meet goal #1. Don't follow anyone too closely. They go down - you go down.

Anonymous said...

Isn't a trail dirty by nature? Regardless, best of luck.