Running Amongst Mountains

Yeah, I said "amongst". Shoot me. It sounds fancier.

You have all probably watched Sound of Music, and if you have, you have heard this song a bunch of times:

"Climb every mountain, search high and low
Follow every byway, every path you know.
Climb every mountain, ford every stream,
Follow every rainbow, 'til you find your dream!"

If you haven't, Shame on You! You need to Go and watch it RIGHT NOW! 

This week, I went home for some much needed R&R and wonder of wonder, joy of joys, cooler weather. Weather I can run in without dying! Weather I, wait for it, WANT to run in. I know. Crazy, huh?

Since I started running more often (and longer distances), I have lived in the hottest, most humid places you could live in the US. Florida and Louisiana to name a couple (and the worst). And remember how I was saying in this post that sometimes I don't like to run. Well, now I see why. I have been running in the wrong places.To "find my dream" I had to go back home to the "path I know". And it was great.

The only problem about where my parents live is that there is not a very good place to run. They live right on a (scenic) highway in the middle (literally) of the mountains. So, the choices are...the highway, where there are blind curves and NO shoulder or...straight up the hill via old logging roads. So, up I went.

Oh, there IS another problem. Snakes. As you may remember in this post, the last time I went for a walk in the area, I ran into a not-so-little friend. Luckily, I know what to avoid. Unfortunately, where I was running, some of those things were unavoidable. Snakes love to hang out in all these places, so I watched my step here!!

In addition to having to be on snake lookout the entire time, the run was HARD. Luckily it was not too hot!! My total elevation gain was 1375 feet.

The mountains were brutal. The road I took was an old logging road and was not in the best condition. It was very rocky, so not only was I worried about snakes, but I also feared I would twist my ankle.

 I went pretty high!

To get to the top, there are something like 39 switchbacks. I DID NOT get to the top!

Here are a couple Google Earth Images just becuase it's kind of fun that you can see a) the road, b) all the switchbacks and c) the mountains! I made three markers (which turned out kind of small). One for the top of the mountain (~4500 ft), one for how high I ran (~3100 ft) and one for where I started (~2000 ft) What's really sad is that 4 years ago there was a massive fire on the same side of the river that I ran on and so now all the trees are burnt (these images are from 2006).

(click on each photo to enlarge)

(click on each photo to enlarge)

I miss the pines!

So to butcher paraphrase the words of the Rodgers and Hammerstein,

"I Climb every mountain, I search high and low (for snakes)
I Follow every byway switchback, every path you I know (while trying not to trip on rocks).
I Climb every mountain, I ford every stream (while waiting for a snake to jump out and bite me),
I Follow every rainbow unmaintained logging road, 'til you I find your my dream second wind!"

Can anyone tell me -- when running hills, what is the "normal" elevation gain? What is the normal procedure? I have never done hill training runs before. This one was kind of forced, and I had to take it pretty slow! And most importantly, have you seen the Sound of Music?

This post is linked up with Jill at:

What a Difference a Day Makes

I run, but I am not a runner.

I wear a ratty old t-shirt; I don't have the newest lululemon quick-wicking, poly-propylene, fire-resistant $78 dollar t-shirt. I still struggle a lot. I lack motivation. I dread going out some days, even though I feel great once I am done. I still think, as I am running, about how much I would like to walk. This happens all the time. But I always tell myself, "just one more mile, just one more mile."

And that is how I run. One mile at a time, for 3 miles, or 6 miles, or 8 miles. Or 13.1 miles. And someday I will run for 26.2 miles. And then I might move to Turkey and lie on the beach all day eat dolmas and hummus and never move again.

On Saturday, my thermometer said it was 93 degrees. While this is hot, I have been running in the evenings most of the time and it is generally around 90 degrees then, so I thought nothing of it. I went out and did what Hal Higdon calls an "easy pace run", where you run only 3 miles at your half marathon pace. Sounds like a cinch, right? But I was dying. Literally. The sweat/humidity was dripping off of me; my face was the color of lobster bisque; I was panting like a Pomeranian. It was Hell.

So, my next day on the Hal Higdon schedule of Hell was Sunday, the long run day, and my goal was 8 miles. After my 3 mile "easy pace" run, I was sitting in the car crying/hating running with the AC blowing full speed on my face and as my brain cooled off a bit, I (got really smart and) decided that in order to not fall over dead of heat exhaustion and to keep myself from hating running completely from now on, the long run would have to be at a cooler time. So, along came the 5:30 am wake up plan. This is all well and good, except that Sunday is my ONE chance to sleep in. Out the window that went in the name of running. Ciao sleep (sorry mommies, I know you are thinking, "Dude, I never get any sleep and this girl is complaining about one little Sunday morning. Boo hoo her")!

Sunday morning I got up, had a cup of coffee and some breakfast and hit the trail running. Literally. It was 78 degrees outside. I ran. I kept waiting for the feeling to come back, you know, the one that I have had pretty much EVERY DAY that I have run in MO, but it didn't. I ran and was happy, not too sore, not too hot and not feeling like walking! One hour and 18 minutes later I was done. It wasn't even 8 o'clock yet. I was already done.

And I felt good. Not just physically good, and believe me, I felt physically GREAT, but mentally good. I felt confident that when my race comes in the fall, I am going to nail it. I am going to finish, not with dread in my heart but with a good feeling. I have been doubting that a lot. The runs I have been doing have been draining, even the short ones. And, while I may not be running at my goal pace (9 minute miles for a half marathon, which would bring me to a sub 2 hour half), I am feeling better about myself and my running.

Even if I am not yet a runner.

This post is a Fitness Friday linkup with Jill at: 

I have a couple of questions for the more seasoned runners (or smart people in general!). One: My iPod keeps dying. I think it's from the humidity. Does anybody know a way to protect it/fix it? Two: The strap that keeps my iPod on my arm is giving me chafe. Three: I have never used Gu or any of those supplements. What is your take on that? Any tips?