The early sunset this time of year really messes with my running schedule. Luckily, now that I have Sven I am able to still get my run in, even if it’s dark when I get home from work. I started having some issues with my shins again at the end of this week (starting Thursday evening). I have grappled with shin pain on and off pretty much since I started running, and in high school while playing field hockey and soccer as well. I have been stretching and icing, and may take a lower mileage week to let them rest a bit.
 
Monday- Rest day. I woke up feeling really tired and achy all over, and never felt any better as the day went on. Luckily I think the extra rest worked because I woke up feeling a bit better on Tuesday.

Tuesday- 5 mile run with Sven. I am probably going to be doing a lot of miles on the treadmill during the week this winter, since it is dark by the time I get home from work. I started out with a half mile warm-up and then ran the rest of the run as a progression run. My first mile was 10:17 and my last mile was 8:48, with an overall average pace of 9:28/mile for the run. Oh and I still have the chip on my shoe from the marathon. When does it become socially unacceptable to still have that on there? Not that I’m going to take it off, but just so that I know.

Wednesday- It was uncharacteristically 60 degrees outside and I had big plans for an easy run on the roads around our house after work. Things were looking good until the afternoon, when things took a turn for the worse at work and I wound up getting home in the dark again. So back to the treadmill I went for an easy 4 mile run. I mixed it up and watched the Thanksgiving episode of Biggest Loser from last week while I ran (I listened to music on Tuesday).

Thursday- Again it was uncharacteristically warm for December, with a high in the upper 60’s. I managed to get home with just enough time to squeak in a 3 mile run outside before sunset. It was dusky when I headed out, so I wore my reflective Army belt to make myself more visible. The vehicles I encountered on the road actually seemed a bit more cautious when driving by. Maybe I’ll start wearing it all the time when I run on the road.

When I got home I debated on doing a few more miles on the treadmill, but instead decided to have a freeze pop. It was nearly 70 degrees outside after all (don’t worry, we had high’s in the 30’s and freezing rain over the weekend).

Friday- Rest day. Although I did some cleaning around the house (because the rule is you have to clean before you put up Christmas decorations!), so we can count that as some light cross training.

Saturday- 7 mile trail run at Pandapas Pond with Barry. This was my first time running at Pandapas, and although I found it challenging I also had a really good time. We crossed the creek 8 different times during the run, and the 34 degree weather made running with wet socks/shoes extra cold!

Sunday- Rest day. I had visions of sugar plums an easy 3 mile run, but my shins were still very bothersome, especially when walking down stairs, so I opted for a rest day. I spent the morning decorating the house (more on that later this week) and then Barry and I did a bunch of errands during the afternoon- almost done Christmas shopping!

Total Miles: 19 miles

In addition to running, I have been keeping up with the 30 Day Plank Challenge since December 1st. I heard about this challenge from Stephanie over at Now I Run. She chose a handful of challenges to do throughout the month of December, as a way to fill the void of marathon training. I’m right with you on the planks, Stephanie! This week’s planking was as follows, from Monday, Dec. 2 through Sunday, Dec. 8: 20 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, rest, 45 seconds, 45 seconds. I’m really bad at writing them down in my running log, but I printed the plank calendar so I remember to do my daily plank and then cross it off! 

Have you ever done any sort of fitness challenge?

P.S. Hokies are going to the Sun Bowl on December 31 to play UCLA. This will be our 21st consecutive bowl game. Go Tech Go! 

Yesterday afternoon Barry and I headed up to Blacksburg for my first run at Pandapas Pond. I have heard great things about trail running at Pandapas so I was really excited. I made plans to do a 7 mile out and back run on the Poverty Creek Trail. The trail was rolling throughout and at times got very rocky and root-y. Just after mile 1 I had my first major ankle roll, but managed not to fall. I completely rolled my left ankle to the side while all of my body weight was on my left foot and it had me hopping up and down on my right foot for a few seconds.

Our county had it’s annual Christmas parade on Thursday night. That was a night of mixed emotions for me, but it was fun to be at the parade and it was a good distraction. Barry and I missed the tree lighting, but arrived in time to watch the parade. I am not the best photographer, but I am downright awful when it comes to nighttime photographs. Sorry if the quality of these are cringe-worthy, any tips would be much appreciated!

The parade was led by two police and sheriff vehicles, followed by a color guard and a Kiwanis Club jeep.

 

Numerous groups were handing out candy to the kids as they passed. I received a candy cane during the parade from the manager of the local Food City.

There were some floats with some really great lights, but I really struggled with taking pictures of these. Exhibit A:

Exhibit B, live nativity scene:

Exhibit C, Northstar Church float with live music:

There were also a string of classic cars and a truck that I believe was from the local Army National Guard.

Last but not least, Santa and Mrs. Clause made their appearance on the fire truck to bring up the rear of the parade.

Overall it was a lot of fun to be at the parade and see all of the float displays and see all of the kids get so excited. I miss the magic of being a kid at Christmastime.

Does your town have a tree lighting and Christmas parade? Do you like to go?

This ones a hard one to write. My dad and sister had to take one of my childhood dogs, Sadie, to the vet to be put down last night. She hasn’t been in the best health lately, due to old age, and really went down hill Wednesday night. My dad called me and told me she wasn’t doing well and that he thought she might pass away soon. He was kind of hoping she would go on her own, but when that didn’t happen he called the vet’s office yesterday morning to schedule an appointment to have her put to sleep.

If you’re keeping count, that’s the second dog that we’ve lost this year. Sadie was 14 years old, which is pretty old for an Australian Shepherd (they usually live an average of 10-12 years). We got her on Christmas day in 1999, when I was eleven. I remember rushing through Christmas morning so that we could pile into the car and drive to the farm to pick her up. She was this tiny little rolley-polley fur ball and she cried the entire drive home.

She was such a fun puppy, though. She was very playful with me and my sister and loved to run fast and play fetch, and was very sweet and affectionate.

At Virginia Beach, 2011

 She had a strong mothering instinct and essentially helped raise my sister and me. My little sister actually slept on the kitchen floor with her on her last night, reversing the mothering role.

Wednesday night

Sadie and Simon, 2009

On Sunday morning I headed up to Radford for a run. I started in Bissett Park, but immediately headed up out of the park and through the tunnel into Wildwood Park.

The last time I ran through Wildwood Park, which has a paved bike path that is roughly 1.5 miles long, I noticed a lot of hiking trails branching off of the bike path and winding into the woods. I was not about to go try trail running for the first time ever when I was 5 weeks out from my first full marathon, so I filed away these trails for later. Since completing my first full, I decided I wanted to explore trail running a bit. I did my first trail run last weekend and although it was tough, it left me hungry for more adventures.

From last weekend at Claytor Lake State Park

I spent the first 2.5 miles or so running the paved path in Wildwood Park.

On my way back, I started to explore all of the trails. The first one I tried out had a little foot bridge over the creek and then climbed up to a cave in the hillside.

The cave was called Adams Cave and had a grate that was added in 1996 to block the entrance to the cave to preserve it. A sign next to the entrance stated the cave was first used by Native Americans and was then explored during the Civil War for gunpowder ingredients (but they didn’t find what they needed). I continued on with my run and went up some very steep climbs to the top of the hillside.

The sun was in a bad spot, but hopefully you can see how steep this was. I actually walked some on the way up and on the way back down. It was muddy from the snow we had earlier this week that had melted, and that combined with the wet leaves made it slick!

Some other signs along the trail of the snow and freezing rain (and cold temp’s) we had during the week last week.

After running the hiking trails on one side of the paved bike path, I got back on the path and connected to the trails on the other side. This is where I encountered the “Grand Staircase.” It was quite a climb and some of these steps had more than a foot in height difference. I found myself mixing in some stair climbing action with my run.

This view is from halfway up the Grand Staircase, looking back down to the bottom. There are at least 15 more steps where it drops off in the picture. These got me huffing and puffing! On this side of the trail I encountered some trails that were rockier and had more roots. They were also a lot muddier in some areas and at times I felt like I had 3 pounds of mud caked to the bottom of my shoes.

More of the stairs. These ones were shorter and not as steep.

I ended up doing a little over 3 miles on these hiking trails before heading back through the tunnel and back to Bissett Park for a total of 6.3 miles. My legs were very tired after this run. I didn’t get to explore all of the trails on the Grand Staircase side of Wildwood Park, though, so I’ll definitely be back for more.

I am also hoping to explore Pandapas Pond soon, with a longer trail run. Hopefully that is in the works for this weekend!

Have you ever run on a trail that had built in steps like these did? 

Have you ever been “spelunking” (i.e. exploring) in a cave? 
I toured Luray Caverns in elementary school, but I’m really not a big fan of caves. Especially ones you would have to crawl in.