Training Updates: Adventures from the Trails

Since returning from Costa Rica in mid-March, things have been busy with work and with training. Because I was planning or involved in a number of events in the second half of this semester on top of my normal teaching, research, and committee duties, most of my rather limited free time over the past few weeks was spent running. I've dedicated runs to those who have sponsored me (more on that soon). I've also had a few adventures out on the trails.

I got pretty banged up two weeks ago about 2/3 of the way through a 2 hour long when I was in a collision with a cyclist and his dogs. The cyclist had his two dogs on bungee cords and they were zipping down the trail. They came right at me with incredible speed, and, before I could move left or right, the two bungees bisected me and cut my legs right out from under me. I went straight down and landed flatter than a pancake. My running buddy Christy just managed to jump over my legs as I went down. If she hadn't, she would have fallen on top of me. I had bruises where the cords impacted my shins, as well as some on my left elbow, my knees, and on my right breast where I first absorbed impact with the ground; I had some scrapes on my elbow, and road rash on my hands from catching myself. It sucked, but I felt really lucky that I didn't sustain worse injury. My nose came about an inch from being ground into the pavement, so I thanked my lucky stars that I didn't have a fracture or any broken bones. The cyclist popped back up and his dogs were fine. Although it was a pretty scary incident,  I managed to finish out my miles that day. I even held it together emotionally and didn't start crying until driving home from the run. I did have some pain in my shins from impact on bruised legs for the rest of that day and the next week or so but managed to make runs two days during the week that followed and to do my long run the next week.

Well, mostly.... Due to a moose resting on the trail, we turned around a bit earlier than planned that day so instead of running 2 hours 40 minutes I only ended up logging about 2 hours and 10 minutes that day. That time did at least include a massive hill that has crushed my soul while doing the Zombie Half Marathon in 2012 and in 2015, and I was not sure what to expect about tackling it during this training run. However, I was running with one of our team coaches and his gazelle-like gait and cheerful demeanor propelled me up that hill. I might have been doing it incredibly slowly but I was running the whole time. In fact, the only time I walked during that day's run was when I was fueling and when we had to wait to see what yet another moose would do -- it was being indecisive about whether or not it wanted to cross the trail and graze on the other side. Once it did, we were able to pick up the pace again. I wasn't able to get a photo because I had my phone in my carrier, and I needed all my alertness in case the moose got interested in us instead of grazing.

In general, I have to say that although I've missed some mid-week miles and a couple of longer training runs over the past couple of months, I'm pretty pleased with the overall level of consistency in my training for Seattle up to this point. The only thing that's making me nervous is that due to missing a long run for a conference in Boston one week and the moose blockade a couple of weeks ago, my longest run so far in this cycle has only been 13 miles. However, with the end of the semester in sight, I'm looking forward to fewer long work days and more time for resting and relaxing as well as running. And there will be a lot of that in the next few weeks. We have a couple of 3(+) hour long runs coming up on the training schedule before tapering. It's hard to believe it, but my spring marathon is now only eight weeks away.

I wouldn't mind if my next few weeks of running were a bit less adventurous. I really hope they are bear free! Have you ever had a wildlife encounter while running? Have you ever been in a collision on the trails?