Frozen blood, running outside and MRI's

Still waiting for winter...a little bit. There have been some wicked cold days, but not much snow. Cool things I discovered in -10 degrees Fahrenheit is that frozen blood is bright pink and pretty awesome to look at. Also, it doesn't actually feel that cold at first, which I guess is the dangerous part. But then, when you notice weird pink stripes on the door of the car that won't start who's battery you've been trying to wake up and you realize that your finger is bleeding rather copiously and that you didn't feel it at all...yeah, I guess that's one of the dangers of being outside in -10 degree weather for very long. That, and frostbite. The best part about the crazy cold weekend was that I was coaching at our regional championship swim meet, so I spent the majority of the day in shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt standing in a very warm aquatic center. But, I digress, I did not come here to talk about frozen blood and warm pool decks. I came here to talk about running!
One of my swimmer's gave me a gift card to a bookshop over the winter, and I finally decided to use it at the end of January and bought a running specific training journal. I hemmed and hawed about it and kept coming up with reasons why it was a silly thing to purchase. I journal all the time in simple blank notebooks, so why not just dedicate one of those to a running log? I already track my target and actual mileage on pieces of butcher paper I pin up to my wall, why do I need anything fancier than that? Ultimately, the real answer is I don't NEED anything fancier than butcher paper or a blank journal. I also don't need my copy of The Annotated Alice- but I really love it. I love all the backstory, all the little pieces of history that are a part of Lewis Carroll and the creation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. So, I decided to get something that I don't necessarily need, but that I felt I wanted, as a bit of an incentive to really stick to my training and to be honest with myself about it. My logic being that, even though it wasn't my money- it was a gift card, knowing that I had splurged on something like a running journal, I'd really keep to it, be honest with myself, and push myself to consistently work hard. So far, so good. And I must say, for any runners out there like me who don't necessarily feel like they need the structure of a running journal, but like the idea of something that has random bits of encouragement, core sequences, speed workouts, etc. I highly recommend this journal I bought. Even the texture of the outer cover is really satisfying. You can find it here, but I always hope you try your local independent bookstore first!!

The old school version, which I still use, so it's the first thing I see everyday.

So, I've been tracking my mileage and staying pretty on point with my targets. There have, of course, been a few hiccups here and there. Long runs disrupted by sub zero temps and every weekend for the past month being consumed by a swim meet, but I feel good about the miles I've put in and the ways in which I've arranged my daily routine to accommodate my runs and get things done. I've also been happy to get most of my miles outside!! While I have still resorted to the Climbing Elliptical Thingamabob on occasion, most of my miles have been outside, and most of those have been on trails! When running through snowy, icy woods I've been using my Kahtoola Microspikes and was really surprised at how well I could maneuver in them, it feels just like regular running, which is great. I still find myself searching for more vertical training opportunities closer to my doorstep, but there just isn't much vert to be had nearby. Still, I've run in many wonky circles around Ethan Allen park to get more up and downhill training, as I know this is what my legs need in order to be ready for the Zane Grey. I used the meet weekends in different locations to take advantage of some hills and some new vantages. Also, my fundraising for the Vermont100 is off to a pretty great start. I am considering doing a bake sale, or selling some of my prints, or other such artsy creativeness in order to add to the fund. Its a bit tricky, not being on facebook, I recognize that I'm missing out on a large audience, but I'm talking about it here, and on twitter, and have generous friends who have posted links on their facebook pages, so that's helpful. The fundraising page is here. Feel free to share it with ANYONE!! Every little bit helps.
Okay, so to prove that I have managed to get some time outside, here are some pictures from the last few weeks. There was even sunshine on some of the days!!! (Even though it was around 17 degrees...)

Early February in Burlington

Lake Champlain sunrise from Red Rocks State Park

Keeping track of hill repeats with a very complex and advanced system of placing tiny rocks on top of a very large rock at the top of the hill.

Adventures around Montpelier

This is an old lookout tower in
Montpelier's
Hammond Park,
a bit taller than the Ethan Allen Tower.

View down the stairwell from the top of the Lookout

A view from the top. Sunny and beautiful and a balmy 16 degrees!

Can you tell I'm smiling? GingerRunner buff, represent!
Train Hard. Race Harder. Party Hardest.

Came across this on the trails and thought
it was too good to be true...
Nope, it really was the raddest outhouse
I've ever seen. 

This is the view from inside the outhouse!

Coming down the State House trail, you can see the golden
dome through the vertical lines of the trees.

Mid-month around Burlington

Not sure why the cold sunshine looks so amazing
over Lake Champlain, but this was a glorious day.

Empty docks

Partially frozen

Frozen beaches, Adirondack's across the lake

Just a little icy...

Championship weekend in Beverly, Massachusetts

Fancy hotel

Great little set of trails found close to our
meet at Snake Hill park

Sunny and warm(ish)
It was 40 degrees out,
so I ran in shorts and a t-shirt.

That's pretty much the update of the last three weeks. Oh, I also found out that my endurance capabilities extend beyond running. I had a 3 hour MRI session on Valentine's day for which I was complimented for making the MRI tech staff look really good by my ability to lay really still for that long. So, yay for that. Hopefully it'll lead to some answers on the mystery neuropathy stuff. If not, at least I'll have some really cool pictures of my brain, cervical and thoracic spine!

Thanks for reading, and do please share my Vermont 100 fundraising link for VASS if you feel so inclined.

Lastly, more music that's been rolling around my head while out on my runs. I am not a runner who can run with headphones when outside, the only place I can do that is in the gym on the thingamabob. But, as a music lover, I constantly have music in my head. My go to music source is KEXP, I consider myself a 'Morning Faithful' and also mid-day, afternoon, and so much more. John Richards, the weekly morning dj is also a runner, and has musical tastes, and a sense of humor, that is very in sync with my own. This past Friday I nearly didn't get out the door in time to get my whole long run in because the music was so good I kept telling myself, 'Okay, I'll leave after this song.' And I kept not leaving. So, thanks John, for making me run a little faster to squeeze my 18.5 miles in. Also, as a music lover, I am an amplifier for KEXP, and cannot sing their praises enough. They even have a running podcast!! So, here are some clips from a variety of KEXP studio sessions by bands that I've been singing along with a lot lately.

Kurt Vile

Gems

Ibeyi- so, so, so good

Bully- new music that feels reminiscent 

of my Jr. High life, in a good way

Speedy Ortiz- one of the best shows I saw

last year was Torres, Speedy Ortiz and 

Courtney Barnett. Love this band.

Young Fathers. Always. Always. 

This band is beyond incredible. 

Waiting for Winter...

The thing is, I've lived in a lot of different places, including the Pacific Northwest, where it rains. A lot. Now I find myself in New England, specifically, in Vermont, and I keep waiting for winter. Last year, when I moved out here in March, the Connecticut river was frozen solid, there was snow covering the ground, and everyone had tales to tell of what a brutal winter it had been. So, I decided I'd see if I had what it took to make it through a Vermont winter, and chose to stay out here for more than just six months. Yesterday I went for a run in shorts and a t-shirt. In Vermont. In February.
Needless to say, this has been a strange winter. There have been a few days of snow, and some really cold days, but it hasn't been harsh and crazy like I expected it to be. To be honest, I've been a little bummed at my lack of opportunity to go frolic through the snow covered forest trails with my sweet new gaiters (I've used once) and my microspikes (I've used three times). So, maybe I'll have to stay for another year to get a chance at a true Vermont winter, it's hard to say. I think it's easier to say that I'm sad to have missed that opportunity, simply because I have yet to have to make it through it!!
It is beautiful out here. Currently I live just a couple blocks from Lake Champlain. I run along it often, and through the Ethan Allen Homestead. I've yet to make it out to Mt. Mansfield and Camel's Hump State Park, but they are on my to-do list and I hope to get out there and explore those trails.
November 1, 2015 was a pretty spectacular and exciting day for me, as I found out I had gotten into the Zane Grey 50 miler lottery. I was so stoked!!! And I also had this weird random pain in my lower left leg that I couldn't figure out. But, I didn't think too much of it. I got into Zane Grey!!! Yes! Let the nose make contact with the grindstone and have the serious, focused training time commence! My family has a spot up on the Mogollon Rim, and I have many great memories of that area. I've volunteered with the Zane Grey race in the past, and it has always been something I wanted to do. Not to mention, I spent one fall working on the first section of trail out of Pine for about two weeks. I'm connected to that place, and am looking forward to the challenge.
So, the leg pain. It moved. Instead of just being my lower leg, it moved up, to about my knee, and consumed my whole leg. Constant nerve pain, with random bursts of intense driving pains that seemed to go all the way through my leg. I would go out for my run, and find myself falling, because my muscles weren't listening to my brain, and my left leg would falter. I went to see an acupuncturist. They were stumped. It progressed, moved up my leg further, and I went to see a doctor. Blood tests, interviews, muscle responsiveness tests, still stumped. I was told to stop running until they could figure it out, and that was the last thing I wanted to hear, but I obeyed. The long and the short of it, the pain continued to increase, became constant, and eventually was in both legs. My late-fall/early winter training had quite the hiccup and I was starting to get stressed out that I wouldn't have things figured out or make a recovery in time to train and race at Zane Grey. I tried my best to stay positive, and continued to get tests done. My least favorite test was the EMG, where electrodes were attached to my leg and then shocks were sent to measure my peripheral nerve response time. After the electrodes that were taped to my legs, they used needles (similar but slightly larger than acupuncture needles) that were inserted directly into my muscle tissue and then given a current, again to measure the nerve response. Not particularly pleasant.  So far, the doctors of Vermont and I are still trying to sort out what this mystery pain is. I was medicated, which I've now stopped taking, to see if there is any change/improvement, and there seems to be. The pain is not as constant or intense, and the muscle control is no longer an issue. I've gotten really good at lying still inside MRI machines, and I'm pretty proud of myself for that. The best news, though, is that I was officially cleared to start running again.

Running outside as often as possible has been my main priority. While I am grateful that my current coaching job at the YMCA allows me access to our exercise room and the machine I like to refer to as the 'Climbing Elliptical Thingamabob', nothing beats running outside and on trails for this kid. It just makes me feel so happy and free, even on days that feel like a total slog, I just love being outside.  So, training for Zane Grey is officially back on track and I am once again excited for that race instead of worried about being able to participate. I can't wait!! The shift from being grounded to being back to running also had me looking at my future race options post Zane Grey and trying to figure out what else I could do. I had such a blast running the Vermont 50, and a great time volunteering at the Vermont 100 last year, I decided to see if I could become a charity runner for this year's Vermont 100. I contacted Amy, the RD, to see if there were still any charity spots left, and there were. So, now I'm training both for the ZG50 and the VT100!!! Finally getting back to racing after what has felt like too long of a hiatus is really wonderful. I realize just how spoiled I was my few years in Tucson with a TTR run almost every weekend during the peak training season. I've gotten creative making my own routes out here, but it's nothing compared to the incredible trails I had just outside my door while living in Tucson, and the fantastic folks there were to run with. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing some of those TTR folks at Zane Grey.
But, back to the Vermont 100 for a moment. I am running as a 'Charity Runner,' which means I'm responsible for raising a minimum of $1000, all of which will go to Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sport. VASS is really an incredible organization, and I'm honored to be able to raise some money for their programs. I'm also hoping to maybe find some time to volunteer with them this summer when they are doing sports like kayaking and such where I could actually be a useful guide. (Skiing, I would be NO help getting anyone down a slope!) I plan to check in here at least every month or so, to update how my training is going, both for ZG50 and VT100. If you feel a streak of philanthropy running through your veins and feel like donating to my fundraising campaign, that would be extraordinarily appreciated. It's as simple as a bunch of folks out there in the running community dropping as little as $5. No donation is too small. My fundraising page is here.
As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you're having some fantastic winter adventures wherever you are!

And I almost forgot, some music that's kept me motivated of late: