Asphalt and Trails

Saturday – Had a great run on Saturday morning. I ended up in a pack with four other women. One of them was my usual running partner, Mandy, but the other three I hadn’t really spoken to much before this weekend. One lady grew up in Russia and it was interesting to hear her memories of older relatives bolting the door to listen to a Beatles record that was smuggled into the country. Another lady grew up in Leesburg and ended up knowing someone that Steve and I used to party with years ago. (My how things have changed, but I won’t get into that now.) The third lady – a 21 year old getting ready to go back to Longwood for her last semester – turned out to be a knitter! We talked about our latest projects and the usual “old lady” stigma that’s associated with knitting. All of this made the 16 miles go by much faster. The only downside was that I stepped off the path and rolled my ankle. Nothing serious, but it is a bit tender and slightly swollen.

The rest of the afternoon was spent searching for some trail running shoes. Supposedly trail running shoes have a thicker sole so that your feet don’t feel like they’re getting stabbed by every rock you step on. They also have a front bumper to protect your toes should you kick a rock or tree limb. After buying a pair at REI, Steve and I grabbed some apps and beers at Coastal Flats. We then decided to check out VA Runner. They had a decent selection of road and trail shoes, but they don’t put prices on any of their shoes (annoying!). The store had a decent selection of other gear, but the group of five 18-21 year olds sitting on the counter chomping on Twizzlers certainly didn’t instill confidence.

Sunday – Ventured over to Great Falls in the morning with Steve and Mandy to break in my new shoes. Lots of hills, rocks to scale, and a handful of U-turns to get back on track. We ran about 8 miles worth of trails over there, but it took us about an hour and 40 minutes. That’s about 20 minutes longer than if we were running on the road, but it was worth it. Steve had a post-Ironman “lets share our stories” party to go to that afternoon that I decided to skip. That Ironman has consumed enough of our lives for this year and I’m over it; at least until it squirms its way back in next year when Steve has to start training again. I decided to ice my ankle and work on a scarflette while he was out bonding.