Happy trails

This morning, Jeff and I ran about 7 miles at the Umstead State Park. We started at the Graylyn Rd entrance, then from the Graylyn trail to the Reedy Creek Trail, to the N Turkey Trail, then back to the cars at Graylyn. My daughter Mia and Jeff's daughter Anetta biked ahead of us, coming back every 2-3 miles to give us their water bottles. Those two are training for a teen's triathlon in September (150 m swim, 4.5 mile bike ride, and 1.5 mile run), and probably rode a total of 8-9 miles.

The trail itself was nice sand and gravel, although one trail had rough gravel and deep ruts. The way back on N Turkey was full of hills, and long steep ones too! This was a new route for us, and we didn't know what to expect- almost everyone else was doing it the other way! But since we didn't know what was coming, we just went up each hill as it came along- in a way this was better psychologically. The short hills at Lake Pine had became sort of dreadful, as you knew they were coming.

I did well during the first 4 miles. We did 10 min run, 1 min walk. But the hills got my HR up to a max of 174, and I had to tell Jeff to do 5 min/1 min to allow my HR to come down. My HR monitor kept beeping- I guess the thing was set for zone training up to only 155 bpm. So in the end, I had to shut down th timer to stop it beeping. If I knew how to work it (if I read the manual!), I could set the max HR higher, while running. But it was too tiring to set it while trying to trek uphill. Anywa, average HR was 136.

The good news is that my legs held up, although I felt it a little in the knees. A few hours after the run, the knees hurt a little, but I think it's almost gone now. I should have iced it for longer..oh well. The new Asics Gel Kayano shoes held up nicely. I tried hard to strike heel up, midfoot first. Still learning it, but I think I can do it. I did run noticeably faster when I concentrate on form, since at high gait speed and very quick contact with the ground, the body moves forward fast. The bad news is that on trails, we can't rely on our daghters always being there. So I need to get a belt to carry small bottles of water. I also have to be conscious of carb reloading. I felt weak up those hills- I could have used a Clif bar or gu.

Running on trails is the way to go. It' easier on the knees and legs since it's softer. Lots of runners at Umstead too- looks like everyone was training for the City of Oaks. I will shoot for 9 to 10 miles next weekend, and do treadmills during the week. For a first run on trails, this was not bad. And I am glad to get back on the game and rebuild those long runs. So my mileage this week is 4+2+7 = 13 miles. Next week, it should be around 16 mles.