Training Log Archive: Daviding

decided to find the mysterious "grace cole nature park" that is supposedly soomewhere in my neighborhood. Set out at about 630 having looked at the google map briefly beforehand with only a rough idea of where the park was, and not a good strategy for getting back. my house is up on a hill above the lake, and to get to the park I had to run all the way down the hill, over a little, and then back up the same hill in a different spot, making a three-quarter-circle if you can picture that. I didn't have a watch or anything with me, but by the time I got to the park I could tell I'd already ran somewhere close to three miles, even though as the crow flies the park is only a mile away from my house (hence the three-quarter circle to get there). The park was supposed to have a nice little hilltop with a meadow and wildflowers, but I wandered around the main trails twice, circling the whole park, and couldn't find the area. I even went off trail a little bit but all I found were people's backyards :P At the point, I was getting fairly tired, I'd been out for a half hour and done a lot of hill climbing. I did not want to go back the way I'd come because that would mean another half hour of running and even more climb. I vaguely remember from the google map that there were too dead ends that almost touched each other and it looked like there might be a way between them. I couldn't remember which dead end it was though, since I remembered there being several on the map. Exiting, the park, I went up the first dead end I saw, but it didn't look like there was a path at the end. I kept going however, and saw a gap in the ivy with a little staircase leading up. I followed it and ended up on a dead end in my neighborhood, only a mile from home. Success!

ran around the neighborhood a little before dinner.

Georgetown Hood Hunt with Alec. Very clean run except for two little mistakes- being tempted by the staircase at number 5 and having to go the long way around to get to the tiles, and going half a block too far on 12 before realizing our mistake and turning around. Our route was:
3-1-2-4-10-20-24-25-26-23-22-21-19-18-8-9-7-6-5-11-13-14-17-16-15-12

Back to my normal shoes, in this 75 degree heat they dry out quickly. I ran at 6pm, which might not have been the best decision since it was quite hot and everyone was out walking their dogs. I hate how people walk their dogs off-leash in Hamlin, it's really disrespectful to all the runners and there's signs everywhere telling them not to. I have nothing wrong with them playing fetch on the field or anything but the trails are supposed to be for runners and walkers. If you have to stop every quarter mile because you don't know whether the crazy-looking dog ahead is friendly or not, it really ruins the experience. There are designated off-leash dog parks not too far away, so if it's really that much of a hassle they can go there. I'm really sick of it. I know the park staff try to come in and police it but they're so understaffed and stretched too thin that they shouldn't have to worry about a problem that can be easily prevent if people just stop being selfish. sorry for ranting, just one of those things that really bothers me, i don't think anyone reads this anyway so it doesn't really matter i guess. c'est la vie.

Was so exhausted after Saturday that I took a rest day on Sunday, even though it probably wasn't good for my body. Back to the grind on Monday, had to wash off my shoes after the back-to-back meets so I ran in an older pair, which didn't feel that good. Luckily blisters are healing up quickly, still don't know what to do with this hip thing though, it keeps coming back. It feels like a muscle problem, not a joint problem, but I've done all sorts of stretches and they don't seem to help.