Posts Tagged ‘Trail Running’

I don’t really know what happened but today I pulled off a 55 minute trail run on the Big Springs 8k loop today. Normally I have been doing it in about 65 minutes but this past week I pulled off a 62 minute run and after a few days riding the bike I hit 7 minutes off my time. I stopped smoking about 40 days ago and wondering if it just might have played a big part of this? I’m sure it has! You can check out my Smoke Free Timer and see how long it has been, leave me a comment if you can.

So I’m going to slow down my run days just a little and see if maybe that will help get my time down around 50 minutes or so, it is worth a try.

I have one week till the Park City Mini-Trail Series 15k trail run kicks off and I still need to do a 15k run, I have ran three 8k loops out at Big Springs but what I need to do is do a double run around the loop! I see on the R.U.N? Events website they are saying “The 15k has been mapped out and as it turns out, we are actually going to be running a 14k” sounds good to me. Still I need to get out and do at least a 14k but if I do a double loop around Big Springs that would be 16k so I think that is the game plan. I can run a 8k in about 65 minutes or so but that is with my dog Sam and she can give you a push if you are not keeping up with her. She is a really great training partner and a joy to run or even ride with. Kind of wonder if I couldn’t take her on this run if I leashed her?

It has been raining all week so I have been getting my running in and I’m usually wet from sweat anyway so the rain doesn’t bother me. I have really enjoyed the benefits I get from trail running and highly recommend it to anyone wanting to strengthen there core. I can usually get more in a one hour run than I can get skiing or biking for 3 hours, so it is great if you have a time restriction pulling at you. If it is weight you are wanting to loose then trail running is probably the best way to do that. I seem to drop more pounds better if I add 3 runs in a week and bike the rest of the time and my balance has improved on my feet from the time I have spent running.

So as I get ready for this week my plan is to go out and do a few double loops around Big Springs my favorite place in the world to run!

It’s not very often I play the lazy card but that is exactly what I did on day 6 of my smoke free life. Normally I would have taken a ride or a run just to set things right in my head. I about did around 7:45 pm last night, I was looking at the time and trying to decide if I should drive up to Big Springs and do the loop or go out to Lambert Park and take a ride. In the end I decided to just take a day off and work on a website I was needing to get updated, if you want to check my work here is the url http://avanacansing.info.

It has been a few months since I have done nothing and I was feeling a little guilty at first but guilt is not really my thing so I got over it. So today I’m trying to plan out where i’m going to go ride or run, I need to take a ride it has been over a week since my last ride. I really have been enjoying the runs so much that I have taken my bike out of the car and put it away. I’m thinking of giving it a bath and getting it dirty for today, or maybe I will just run?

What to do?

Day 5 of my smoke free endeavor started off a little slow and sore, the rain came in around 4:00 pm and gave a fresh sent to the air. Long about 7:30 pm I decided to get to Big Springs Hollow and run a 8k loop, still plenty sore from the 14 mile trip to the summit of Timpanogos the day before. What better way to deal with the pain than to push it out with more pain, yea I know but seems to work in my head. I got to the parking lot about 8:00 and knew I had about 1 hour 20 minutes till dark and I wasn’t carrying a light this time so I needed to get around the loop before the lights went out.

My lungs are recovering very well now that I haven’t smoked in 5 days and I stay very active every day I can. The ground was wet from the rain and there was a few sprinkles coming down as I cleared the first big meadow and about 2 minutes ahead of my normal time. Right away I have noticed I have better lung power going on, I don’t seem to be struggling to get air as bad as I did even just 4 days ago.

I got over the hill scramble and started down into the next meadow where there was a bunch of deer grazing and watching Sam and I very closely, just in case we got hungry. I toped out over the wood bridges of the springs in about 42 minutes and was heading down to the campground at the top when it started to rain. There were tow people kissing in the rain on the bridge at the camp site as I crossed it, scaring the hell out of them, sorry about that! The trip down only took me about 14 minutes, I was running as fast as I could to get out of the rain but at the same time it felt so good and cool.

I hit the bottom at about 1 hour 2 minutes and the rain stopped, great run in the rain!

I’m on day 3 of my new smoke free life and even thought the stress has been a little high today, the benefits have started to amaze me already. Went out to Big Springs Hollow to do my favorite 8k or 5 mile loop with Sam my German Shepard. I usually finish the loop in about 72 minutes but today when I looked down at my watch I had done it in only 61 minutes, that is an 11 minute faster run time than my normal time!

From what I understand the carbon monoxide has now left my blood stream and tissue and is now being replaced by oxygen. The oxygen is working on faster cell recovery, so when I push it over a hill my recovery time is faster. This is not only showing up in the run itself but after the run I notice that I’m less tired and recover from the run much faster than when I smoked!

I also have noticed that I’m sweating less on the run now, I use to just pour it on uncontrollably but on this past run I was pretty dry when I got back. Again I would think that the oxygen is playing a big part in that. My lungs are clearing out and I can now take a deep breath without hacking all over the place, still hurts just a little but that should get better soon.

I want to thank Josh and Susan (mom)  for your comments, you don’t know how much they have helped me already!

Day 2 was harder than the first day, I have been sick to my stomach for most the day and I’m sure it is the gum causing it, would love to go for a run or ride right now! For the past 5 days I have been running about 8k every day, I want to go for a ride but for some reason I keep doing trail runs. Big Springs Hollow is my favorite place to run. There is a 8k or 5 mile loop there that just rocks! It has a bit of everything going on for it, from grassy meadows and big open fields to tight covered in trees and plenty of water for your dog. That all adds up to a really diverse run or ride but I love to run that loop.

It looks like day 3 and 4 could be the worst of this, I have plenty of gum to back me up and I’m hoping to get out and do something to get my mind off the stress. A long ride or run/hike would work good for me.

Please leave me a comment and help me get through this, need the help right now!