The sun is setting earlier, and rising later. It’s once again dark when I roll about of bed in the morning, and everything seems to be moving a bit slower. I am pretty sure that it rained for the past two weeks, with random, limited breaks to give us just enough hope that it might stop. I’ve commented before on the simple joy to be had from running in the rain, but walking from your car to your office in the rain is another question entirely. I’ve found out the hard way that the University of Delaware campus is a haven for puddles and poor drainage. It’s truly a civil engineering headache and I’ve had the soaked pants on several occasions to prove it. However, I’ve been in taper mode for the last week or so, and am starting to get rather excited for the Grindstone 100 this week. A certain hurricane may be soaking my chances at beautiful sunny weather, but a light rain under a tree canopy isn’t all that bad, right? We’ll see what I think after I’ve been running through the night! If you’re interested in following me or checking in this weekend, the race is being webcast at http://www.eco-xsports.com/ beginning at 6PM on Friday. Rain or shine, I’ll be out there #chasing42!
Chasing42 Log: 20160920- 20161003
Run: In the past, the taper has been a cause for trepidation. I’ve worried about getting too antsy and feeling paranoid about injury. However, the rest of my life has been so busy lately that I luckily haven’t had time to be all that worried. However, I’ve kept things interesting the last few weeks. I made a trip north to Mt. Tammany last weekend for some climbing training and trekking pole practice, and had a blast on a beautiful Saturday morning! This past weekend, I finally had a chance to run the Brandywine Bend Footrace that I had heard so much about since moving to Delaware. This amazing 7.5 mile trail race through Brandywine Creek State Park and surrounding private property is truly a gem and I had a blast! I’ll be sure to share more later. In between, I’ve been keeping it simple and maintaining my streak with some quality runs of varying lengths, speeds, and terrain. In the process, I’ve been focusing a lot on recover and nutrition, and that extra attention has me even more excited for this weekend!
Thought: I’ve been listening to a lot of running podcasts lately, including some fantastic interviews at Ultrarunnerpodcast and GingerRunner, and the epic stories of races and back country adventures have me craving an adventure of my own! I’m not sure what that is going to look like, but I’ll be doing some serious planning once I have Grindstone under my belt(buckle). Where should I go? What epic runs or adventures have you always wanted to undertake? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
