Monthly Archives: March 2013

Running at elevation

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This morning I did my level 3 Jillian 30 day shred workout before work. When I got home from work I headed out for a 3.5 mile run at 10:00/mile pace. I just ran around on the roads around our house. It was one of those runs where you just kind of keep running around until you hit the distance you’re aiming for. The weather was a bit warmer today, getting up to 40 degrees, but it was still windy. I was able to run in shorts, though, which was nice. My legs need all the Vitamin D they can get. I realized today that I haven’t taken a complete rest day since February 17. I’ll finish the 30 day shred on Tuesday, which means next Friday will be my first complete rest day in quite some time!

Today I worked in a community called Burke’s Garden. It’s literally a little valley that sits like a bowl up in the mountains and it’s really pretty up there.

Burke’s Garden is actually the highest valley in Virginia, and sits at 3,100 feet. It’s nicknamed “God’s Thumbprint” and for good reason. Check out the aerial picture and you’ll see what I mean.

This community is where the Varmint 1/2 Marathontakes place, a race that is held every year in June. Barry and I ran it last year and had a good time, and are planning to run it again this year. It was a very challenging run, as it is very hilly and is run at elevation. We live at approximately 2300 feet, so I’m not sure how much effect the additional 700 feet had. The hills make the race so difficult, it’s hard to say if the additional elevation affected us or not.

I know my running was definitely affected when I went to Denver last summer for work. The fist thing I did when I got there was drop my bag at the hotel and go out for a run, and I paid for it. I spent the rest of the evening with a headache and nausea. Over the week, I adjusted, but all of my runs while I was there were challenging.

That’s an advertisement I saw on the side of a bus while I was in Denver. I thought it was pretty funny!

Do you live at a high or low elevation?

How much elevation change (either up or down) do you think we have to have before we feel an effect in our running?

Have you ever traveled somewhere that had a significant elevation change from where you live?
 
 

It’s windy outside

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Well the weather went and did a 180 from yesterday to today. Just when I thought we were heading into spring… Today the temperature hasn’t gotten out of the 30’s and it’s very windy. We have also had snow on and off, and at times it has snowed so hard it was a complete white out. Funny thing- the weatherman predicted a high of 52 today, but the high ended up being 36. They have this 3 degree guarantee contest where if the actual high is within 3 degrees of what the weatherman predicted they put $10 into a pot that goes to charity at the end of the month ($100 if he gets it exactly right). He was off by 16 degrees today, haha.

This morning started off with a level 3 30 day shred workout, inside and out of the weather. Level 3 is still very hard for me, but I feel stronger during the workout than I did my first day at this level. Today I did every movement without switching to the modified version of the move partway through the sequence (for those who’ve done 30 Day Shred I’m talking about Natalie vs. Anita).

This evening Barry and I braved the wind and ran 5 miles on the trail in town. I decided to take today and tomorrow easy, since we are going to be running a 10K on Saturday. Last week I ran hard (for me) on all 3 of my weekday runs and then I felt very tired and sluggish during my long run on Saturday. I don’t want to feel that way for our race, so I think easing off today and tomorrow will be best. The low water bridge was almost under water after the hard rain we had a few days ago.

Dinner tonight was cornbread chicken pot pie. Basically it’s chicken, cream of chicken soup, and corn mixed together and then topped with cornbread. It’s a recipe out of my Campbell’s casserole recipe book that my grandparents gave me a few Christmases ago. Perfect dinner after a cold day. Want to know the secret to awesome cornbread? Jiffy.

Only 8 more days until spring!!! (or something like that)

Are you running a St. Patrick’s Day-themed race?

Any signs of spring yet where you live?
 
 

Four miles and a new phone

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We are having some gorgeous spring-like weather today. It was a really pretty day outside today, with the temperature in the upper 50’s. That means it was shorts and t-shirt running weather! This evening I did a 4 mile progressive run at the trail in town. I felt strong and fresh today. I ate a granola bar about 20 minutes before my run, after discovering last week that I feel a lot better if I eat shortly before running. My mile splits were: 10:24, 9:37, 9:14, and 8:53. I also did a 0.8 mile cool down afterwards.

This morning was my third day at level 3 of Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred (day 23 overall). Let me tell you, Jillian is not messing around! Level 3 is really tough and she means business. I don’t know if 23 days is enough to see much change (I hope it is, though…) but I feel like my running has gotten a bit stronger since I started the 30 day shred. I wouldn’t necessarily say I’ve gotten any faster, but I’m finding that my usual pace feels easier than it used to.

One last thing to mention. Last night we went by the phone store and found out that I was eligible for an upgrade. I ended up choosing my first-ever smart phone, so I have now crossed over to the world of smart phones! It was quite a concept to see email messages real time as they came in today! The phone also takes much higher quality pictures than my old phone did. That picture of the trail was taken with my phone, during my cool down. I have now joined instagram, as turkeyrunner, although I’m not quite sure exactly what to do with it. I’ll also now be able to scan all those funky codes that are on everything (once I figure out what app does that….).  

How is the weather where you are?

We had a beautiful day today!

Do you have a smart phone? Tell me something cool that I can do on my new phone! 
 
Are you on instagram?
 

That exciting thing I’ve been talking about

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Yesterday after my long run, I ate a quick breakfast and changed into dry clothes and headed to the former Norfolk & Western Depot in town. It’s located at the start of the trail that I run on in town and is currently used as a bike shop/bike rental place. But I wasn’t there to rent a bike.

 
I was there because a steam engine pulling 12  passenger cars came through town on it’s way from Bristol to Radford, VA.

As you can tell by the people out watching the train, it was kind of a big deal. These excursions only take place once a year, if that, and usually it’s just freight trains that come through town. There was a similar excursion in July 2012, but before that they hadn’t done an excursion using a coal-fired steam engine on the mainline Norfolk Southern tracks since 1994.  

Picture from when the train came through last July

The passenger train was pulled by the Southern Railway steam locomotive #630. It was built in 1904 in Richmond, VA and was retired from regular freight service in 1952. It currently resides in the Tennessee Valley Railway Museum in Chattanooga, except when they bring it out for an excursion as part of the 21st Century Steam program.

The excursion was by the Norfolk Southern Corp., in partnership with Watauga Valley Railroad Historical Society & Museum and the Tennessee Valley Railway Museum. They said the tickets sold out within days of them going on sale. Unfortunately, the train did not make a stop in town, so I was unable to get a good side shot of the engine. He actually came through really fast, which was kind of wild since people were standing really close to the tracks. It was fun to wave at all of the passengers on board.

The train made a return trip later in the afternoon, but I must have missed it because all I saw were two freight trains go by. Here is a good side picture of it at the grand junction depot at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum.

Here is another photo of Southern Railway #630 coming out of the tunnel that it goes through after coming down the mountain and before coming into town.

It was a really neat thing to see, as I think there are only a handful of steam engines operating in the country. Here’s one more picture, from the Watauga Valley Railroad Historical Society website, that shows the engine better than I could as it was going by yesterday.

Hopefully someday we can take part in this once-in-a-lifetime experience to see the hills and mountains of the Appalachian region, while riding behind a steam engine, and to hear the whistle echo in the hills and hollows. See you next time, steam locomotive #630.

Have you ever ridden on a train pulled by a steam engine?

Black Hollow Long Run

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I decided to do my 8 mile long  run on a road a little over a mile from our house called Black Hollow Road. To get to Black Hollow, you have to go down this monster hill about a mile into the run, which means towards the end of your run you have to make the climb back out of the hollow. Black Hollow Road itself winds through farmland and I usually see very few cars. Today I saw three cars and one tractor, and a whole lot of cows, horses, and sheep.

It’s a really nice day outside today. It was around 27 degrees, with no wind and not a cloud in the sky. It’s supposed to warm up to nearly 60 degrees today! The temperature had already climbed to 40 degrees by the end of my run. Despite the nice weather, I didn’t feel all that great today. Just one of those days, I guess. Right from the first step I took at the end of our driveway, my legs felt heavy and tired.

I kept plugging along and around 2 miles into the run my legs finally shut up. I guess after ignoring them for about 20 minutes they figured I wasn’t going to listen to their protests that they were too tired for hills today. Speaking of which, check out the elevation from today’s run. I still need to check the elevation stuff on my watch through Garmin Connect. The run was a lot hillier than it looked on this elevation profile, especially the descent at mile 1 and the ascent at mile 7.



After I got past 2 miles, I just took the entire rest of the run one mile at a time. Sometimes you just have to do that to get through a long run. So the miles ticked off one by one, and before I knew it I was back at the big climb out of the hollow, close to mile 7. I took one short walk break about halfway up, but I’m glad to report I ran almost the entire thing. I finished up my run back to the house, with a 10:47 pace. Good enough for me, since I was questioning my ability to complete 8 miles after the first mile today. I also had my pepper spray with me today, in case I had a run in with the pit-mix dog (I had to run past his house twice today), but he wasn’t out, thank goodness.  

 
View from the bottom of the climb up from Black Hollow, just before mile 7.
View from part way up, where the hill levels off and then climbs some more
Black Hollow Rd. is the one going off to the right at the bottom.
 
Once I got home, I had a quick breakfast of some scrambled eggs with hot sauce. Then I headed into town for that exciting thing I mentioned on Thursday that was happening today! Unfortunately you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see what it is, since this post would be entirely too long if I included it today.

When I got back home, I did my Jillian Michaels 30 day shred, level 2 workout. Today was the last day at level 2, so tomorrow morning I will be doing level 3. Yikes!

Don’t forget to spring forward tonight! One of the two times a year it would really stink to work in a clock shop, haha.

What was your long run/workout this weekend?

Did you know Arizona and Hawaii don’t observe Daylight Saving Time?

Any exciting plans for the weekend?