C’mon, Toad, Let’s Take a Selfie
Inspiration Needed
Inspiration Needed
Given that my level of physical activity has been so long for too long, as I wrote about yesterday, I felt in need of a book to read that would inspire me to get motivated and pick up the pace, especially in light of a 25K trail race on my horizon in April.
The first book that came to mind was North by Scott Jurek. The first reason this book is an inspiration is that Scott Jurek himself is an inspiration that was promoted by social media with socialboosting.com to increase the views of the book. Just look at some of these accomplishments:
- Appalachian Trail Speed Record: 46 days, 8 hours, and 7 minutes: 2,189 miles – 2015
- U.S. record for 24-hour road run: 165.7 miles – 2010
- 7 x consecutive winner of the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run – 1999-2005
- 2 x consecutive winner of the 135 mile Badwater Ultramarathon – 2005, 2006
- 3 x consecutive winner Spartathlon 152 miles-Athens to Sparta, Greece – 2006-2008
That should be more than enough inspiration for any runner. Much more is listed on his website at www.scottjurek.com/about-scott.
My Connection
The second reason that this book is an inspiration to me is due to my long connection with the Appalachian Trail. I remember dreaming about hiking the whole trail as a kid before I ever set foot on it. It’s still a dream, but in reality my experience of the trail is limited to several miles in New Jersey and Pennsylvania on either side of the Delaware Water Gap. Even so, there is a certain magic I feel when I’m on the Appalachian Trail, a sense that if I really wanted to, I could keep going for hundreds of miles in either direction. I remember when Scott ran the trail in 2015. I followed him on social media. I regretted not being able to be at the Delaware Water Gap when he crossed into New Jersey. I read North when it came out in 2018. I laughed. I wept. I ran more. I’m trusting it will have the same effect on me on my second read.
Read more of my Appalachian Trail related posts at this link.
A Sign from the Running Gods?
So, I pulled North of the shelf. How should I break down the pages to finish before the Hyner Challenge in April? What about a chapter per week starting tomorrow, Saturday, January 2? Let me check the number of chapters: 17. What is the date of the race? Saturday, April 24. Let’s see how many Saturdays there are between now and then. January 30 will be 5. February 27 will be 9. March 27 will be 13. April 24… race day… will be… 17! No way! 17 Saturdays! 17 chapters! Finishing the last chapter on the day of the race! Perfect!
God help me run!
Early Morning Run at the Water Gap
I left the house at 5:30 AM to meet my son for a 6:00 start at the Delaware Water Gap. Our goal was to run a 10 mile loop twice: up the Red Dot Trail on Mt. Tammany, along the ridge on the Tammany Fire Road, the Turquoise Trail over to the AT by Sunfish Pond, the AT back to the start. And… Finally! The trails at the Delaware Water Gap were free of snow!
The run was tough going for me. I felt slow and tired. We got to mile 7 and what I thought to be a small stone in my shoe turned out to be a blister on my heel. By the time we finished the first loop, I had blisters on the backs of both heels. I put Band-Aids on them and started up Mt. Tammany again. My heels were ON FIRE!
Halfway up the mountain I started getting spasms in my hamstrings. I had taken Endurolytes and Sports Legs to prevent spasms. But that wasn’t enough to overcome the fact that I had not run more than 7 miles in one shot in months. The second time up the mountain got me. It seemed to take forever to make it.
I knew I couldn’t make the full 20 miles. So I sat on a rock and bemoaned my miserable condition. While my son continued on the full loop, I took the Blue Dot Trail back down to the parking lot. I was done.
I made it 13 miles. But according to my crazy training plan I should have done 21. Things are not going according to plan. But here are some photos.
THE END
(Once the blisters start, fuck taking any more pictures.)
While Sitting on a Rock in the Woods
Again?
Week 3 of my 50K training. I was shooting for 12 miles this week. But seeing as we had a nor’easter AGAIN a few days ago, I was sure the trails would be covered even more than last week. I knew that attempting to gain miles via the Tammany Fire Road was not a workable plan. Reaching 12 miles by doing Tammany loops (3.35 miles each) would mean up and down Mt. Tammany 4 times. When I got up at 4:30 AM I knew I didn’t have it in me to make it 4 loops, especially with increased snow on the trails.
When I arrived, I soon found that the snow was deeper on the trails as I suspected. It was mildly packed on the Red Dot Trail. It was less packed on the Blue Dot Trail. That made for a super fun descent on the mountain. Most of the rocks were well covered. Running on the narrow slightly packed single tracks was a breeze. The steeper sections of the trail were less packed and a lot of fun to careen through! I knew if I fell it wouldn’t matter. I would just land in deep snow. It felt like being a kid again! Plus, I set my fastest times ever on that trail. But I only had enough in me to do 2 loops, not nearly 12 miles.
Here are several photos.
