Take me home...

Country roads (and trails)  provide endless inspiration for a good, long run.  I find I can lose myself in the quiet solitude - the slap of my shoes on the pavement underpinned by the chirp of the birds and the babble of brooks - and the miles just melt away.

This past weekend, while on travel that took me briefly through my home town, I hit the Headwaters Rail Trail for my long run.  The Headwaters Rail Trail runs from Garrettsville, OH to Mantua, OH and follows the route of the old Cleveland-Mahoning Railroad line.  Incidentally, the last great train robbery occurred on this line at the depot in Garrettsville in 1935 (#coolhistoryfacts #garrettsvilleismorethanlifesavers #moveoverhartcrane).  The crushed gravel trail is growing in popularity for hikers, cyclists and horseback riders. 

I grew up crossing this trail, which ran between my grandfather's house and the old pony track behind it, when the trail still held railroad tracks and ties.  I remember crossing the railroad, not just on horseback, but also with packs of friends to the creek to hunt newts and crayfish.  So, coming back and running almost the full eight miles out (and then back) felt a bit nostalgic. 

The run was strong...oh boy was it strong. 

There are days you walk out the door, hit your stride and never look back.  Sunday was one of those days.  The first mile was a bit of a drag which wasn't real surprising...it was on roads through town en route to the trail.  Once I hit the trail, though, everything just clicked into place.  The air was cool, the ground was forgiving, my mind was focused and my body was engaged.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't so focused that I couldn't enjoy the scenery around me.  Brilliant green trees, Queen Anne's lace and daisies dotting the edges of the trail, scenic yet functional barns peaking out from the farms, and the occasional sound of water rumbling over rocks just off the side of the trail.  And the silence broken only by the sound of my shoes and the chirping of the birds.  I couldn't have made up a more peaceful environment in a deep daydream.

Now, it wasn't all fun and games.  I would be remiss if I didn't confess to the pain in my rear that ended up being a horse fly biting in and going for a ride.  Yikes that was a bit painful....and now I've succeeded in causing you to imagine that sight.

All this bucolic bliss gave me additional endurance I didn't know I possessed when I slinked out the door earlier that morning.  Rather than the twelve-mile out and back I planned, I pushed out an extra mile...and got stronger on the second half of my run rather than slowing to exhaustion. 

Swept past the old grist mill downtown

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That is such a great feeling.  When I finish stronger than I start, it gives me confidence that a bad start to a run never has to mean a bad run (though this run didn't have a bad start...it was just a good run that grew great).

I'm so happy to have the opportunity to experience runs like the one on the Headwaters Rail Trail.  Truly, country running helps me find a happy place that settles my training into a comfortable place.  I hope others feel the same about trails like this.  Happy trails!!!

2015 miles to date:  609.12 miles

Observations:  The back pain I was experiencing last week has passed.  I switched to a standing desk at work since it was sitting that increased the pain.  That seemed to help a bit.  I'm still riding the high from Sunday and hope to drive that all the way through to my long run this weekend.

 

Happy turkey day...

This morning was fantastic! (...too bad my health went down hill from there, but that is another story)  Why was it fantastic?  Well, I had one heck of an awesome turkey trot at Advanced Rehabilitation and Health Specialists (ARHS) in Mantua.

First off, let me tell you why I love ARHS.  About fourteen years ago I was having major health issues (not like the minor seasonal cold type issues I alluded to above)...we're talking the type the doctors had a difficult time pinning down.  It had to do with my head.  I had severe headaches and other issues that caused me to have blurry vision, imbalance, sometimes an inability to stand or walk.  I couldn't focus and the pain was intense...all the time. After MRIs, blood tests and other tests, it was finally determined that I had severe tension in the muscle group that ran from the shoulders up to the top of my head.  Let's just say I carry my stress in my shoulders and neck...to the extreme.  This is where ARHS came in...they were the physical therapist group I spent several months with, a couple times a week, receiving muscle massage (the painful kind) to release the tension and learning new exercises to help me keep the stress damage in that area minimized once I was back on an even keel.  It was, quite literally, life altering and probably the reason I am devoted to running today.  Remember how I'm always saying running is my yoga...my stress reliever?...yep, exactly.

So when I (a) found out I was going to be in Garrettsvill for Thanksgiving and (b) looking for a turkey trot to replace my Annapolis event and (c) discovered there was one at ARHS, it was an easy choice...run the one at ARHS.  Bonus, it was being run on the Headwaters Trail that was nothing more than large stones on an old railroad bed the last time I was on it.  Today it is a smooth surface trail that runs through the beautiful forest and fields I spent the first 22 years old my life around.

The turkey trot kicked off at 8am and was a simple 30 minutes out on the trail, turn around and come back for another 30 minutes.  No specific distance.  Do it at your own pace.  This is what I call a fantastic event. 

So I took off.  For about the first mile I had a small seven or eight year old boy running just slightly ahead of me (and any time he started to slow down and fall behind me he would sprint ahead again).  He soon became way too tired to play at the charade of keeping up and started walking.  Soon I was out on my own, just me and the trail, and the second from the front of the pack heading out.  It provided me the ability to take in my surroundings.

Because my legs and lungs were feeling good, I was keeping a decent training pace.  I got 3.5 miles out when I hit the 30 minute mark.  That was almost to the route 700 crossing, which is where I used to pick the trail up when it only consisted of the 700 - Garrettsville section.  Then I turned it around and headed back.    I've decided I really like this trail.  It's much like the NCR trail I ran the twenty miler on earlier this year with Lara.  Smooth, relatively flat, and very fast.  It's also runs through pretty farm country, which I sometimes miss in Annapolis and Washington.

When I crossed back over the start line, I logged exactly 7 miles on the nose....7 miles and nearly 900 calories burned (which means more calories to eat great pie and potatoes at the dinner table).  As a fun, added incentive ARHS also gave out random door prizes that were more funny than serious.  Yes, and sentimental.  They gave out many Hostess prizes (how much are twinkies going for on ebay these days?) and I won the Hostess cupcakes.  So maybe I didn't have quite so many calories left by the time I got to the dinner table.

Of the turkey trots I've run over the past several years I have to say this was one of my favorites.  There were no prizes for who finished first, no one asked what your time was and you were only accountable to yourself.  Sometimes that is the way it should be in a "race."  Happy thanksgiving and happy trails!!!

Stats -
Miles:  7.0
Time:   1:00:12 (average pace of 8:35 per mile)
Location:  Headwaters Trail, Portage County Ohio
Feeling:  one of my favorite runs this year (though I ended up with a head cold by the end of the day)