I had a hard time getting out of the apartment this morning for my workout. I finally figured out I needed a break from the gym, even a small break would do. I peaked outside and noticed it wasn't raining, so I grabbed my Garmin Forerunner, hoping I could run in the neighborhood for a little while before the rain started. I got to my car, and the forecasted rain didn't look as threatening as I thought it would. I asked myself what would make my workout, and the quick answer was, "American Tobacco Trail!" I ran there for the first time three weeks ago and really enjoyed it, so I headed back there this morning. Eventhough I had week-old running shoes on, I decided not to worry about the weather, whatever may come.
The weather, by the way, remained very cloudy and pretty windy at times, which felt great! I wasn't sure how far I wanted to run this morning, but I knew it wasn't the 10 miles I'd kinda hoped for early in the week. I'm still just a tad tired from the half marathon, and my legs are still a little heavy-feeling--not as bad as this time last week, but just a little. Once I started running, I thought I'd go 5 miles, but at the 2.5 mile mark, I decided to go for 6 miles. I turned around at the 3.05 mile mark, and decided to stretch it the end for a 6.2 mile long run in 1:43:21. The pace is slower than I'd hoped, but since I was tired, I took some walk breaks. I must admit, it was very pretty on the ATT this morning, even with the heavy cloud cover and wind. There were a lot of leaves in the air and on the trail, a very fall-like day. I enjoyed the scenery! :)
3 comments:
I love when I feel good enough to keep going. Doesn't happen often, but when it does it's nice!
I went on an amazing run last night. As the sun went down, I just felt great and kept going. I was running in the total dark for about 45 minutes, but it was no problem. Sometimes you just get those magical running moments where time stops, and your legs just seem to float.
Hi Lesley,
Good old Google Alerts brought up your blog. Glad to hear you enjoy training on the American Tobacco Trail (ATT). We've been working to get it built for a very long time. It has been usually challenging, often frustrating, but ultimately rewarding.
Nothing makes me/us happier than to see and hear about folks enjoying it.
BTW, we run ATT maintenance and construction workdays almost every Saturday at 9 a.m. on the trail in southern Durham, Chatham County and sometimes elsewhere - like this coming weekend. You and all are welcome to join us. Trail work is excellent cross training!
Sign up for our volunteer reminder list by clicking on the highlighted subscription page link at: http://www.triangletrails.org/VOLUNTEERS.HTM
BTW there is a neat little race in Pittsboro this Saturday, December 13. Check out: http://www.chathamnc.org/index.aspx?page=823
Shalane Flanagan, 2008 Olympic Women's 10,000 meter bronze medalist, is scheduled to meet the public and sign autographs after the race. Shalane trained on the American Tobacco Trail in prep for the Olympics. More importantly, she had foresight to tell USA Today that she trained on the ATT! ;-)
In any event, glad to hear you enjoy the ATT. Best of luck in your training. Keep on going the extra mile.
Happy Trails,
Bill B.
www.triangletrails.org
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