Browse Tag: Running

The Right Idea (?)

Img_6409

I went to the Delaware Water Gap to do some trail running this afternoon. The weather called for a few inches of snow. I thought I would take my chances and go anyway. I’ve been getting antsy for a trail run. The last time I ran on the trails was the day after Thanksgiving.

Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.

A light snow fell through the afternoon. It quickly made for slippery footing. I wasn’t able to run as much as I would have liked, but hiking through the woods in the snow was a peaceful experience.

Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.

I took the red trail up Mount Tammany. Halfway up, I passed another guy on his way down. We were passing through a steep rocky section. Both of us were concentrating on our footing. Neither of us said a word to the other, passing some ten yards apart. I saw no one else on the way up. Visibility was rather low by the time I reached the top of the mountain.

Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.

I took the blue trail down the mountain. This allowed for some running even though the ground was fully covered with snow by that point. I knew it was risky but I couldn’t resist. I caught up with four guys making their way down the mountain. They were bundled up and evidently didn’t hear me coming with their hoods tight around their heads. Either that or I was silent like a ninja in the snow. As I went around one of the guys, he jumped and said, “Shit, that guy scared me! Where the fuck did he come from?” Then he added, “Well, that guy’s got the right idea.” Fifteen minutes later, I, for one, did not think I had the right idea.

Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.

There is nothing more slippery than ice. Well, snow on top of ice is more slippery. Actually, snow… on top of ice… on a hill is some really slippery stuff! I was almost to the bottom of the mountain, approaching the stream, coming down the hill that leads to the bridge. Suddenly, I was on my back looking up at the falling snow! There was a section of ice from a nearby spring and it took me down quick! “That guy’s got the right idea” my ass! My aching ass!

Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.

Img_6420

There was no more running for me. Done. It was just too dang slippery. I had a quarter of a mile to go to get back to my car. I was almost there when… BAM! Flat on my back again! I landed so hard that I’m pretty sure my entire skeleton exploded and then snapped back into place. It probably improved my posture. It wrecked my morale. I thought about crawling the rest of the way. I was done being a ninja. It was time to get in the car, thaw out my beard, and drive home.

Img_6421

My Running Story

Princeton Half Marathon 2015
Princeton Half Marathon 2015

For most of my life I had been an on-again/off-again runner. I liked running but never seemed to be able to stick with it. For many years I was a wannabe long distance runner. But as the years increased and my running did not, I found myself overweight, on high blood pressure medicine, and depressed. My favorite pastime by then was lying in bed watching movies and stuffing my face with chips and salsa. Once I fell asleep while eating Ring Dings in bed and woke up to find that I had rolled on one. I had officially become a slob. Oh, and I was smoking half a pack of cigarettes a day. That was 5 1/2 years ago. I was pretty much at the end of my rope with myself at that point.

Coinciding with this dissatisfaction with my physical condition was the happy circumstance of meeting a wonderful lady who would become my wife a few years later. She was/is a very active girl and that motivated me.
I started walking every day. I cut out the Ring Dings (most of them). I cut down my portions. After 4 months, I had lost 20 pounds. That’s when I started running. After another 4 months I had lost another 20 pounds. My doctor took me off the blood pressure medicine. Four years later, my blood pressure is better than it had ever been.

My wife go me to run my first race, a 5K, in the spring of 2011. I was hooked! I did a few more that year. And more in 2012. Even more in 2013. In 2014, I got the crazy idea that I could run a half marathon. I ran my first half in October 2014 and was ELATED. I have now run 7. And this year my wife did her first (and then second and third) half marathon. She said that seeing me do my first two inspired her to go for it. Imagine that, the Ring Ding peddler inspired someone to run 13.1!

Onward and upward for the future!

I’m Not One for Snot Rockets

No Snot Rockets

I’m not one for snot rockets. For one thing, it grosses me the heck out. But I think I worry about snot rocket malfunctions more than anything. I fear blowing snot out of my nose with insufficient force and having it land in my beard or my thigh or the top of my shoe. I fear inhaling the snot into my mouth as I’m huffing and puffing.

So, I run with a pocket full of paper towels. Tissues don’t cut it. They just get sweaty and turn to mush. I use paper towels, basically one for each mile. I have persistent sinus problems in spite of taking allergy medicine every day. For a guy with such a condition, mastering the technique of the snot rocket would save a lot of hassle. But I opt for the paper towels instead. Snot rockets just aren’t my style.