My Morning Run: Now an evening run

It is offical, it gets dark in the Big Sky at 5:00 p.m. Crazy. This means one of two things: you run in the dark in the morning or you run in the dark in the evening. I opted for the latter. Fortunatley I have a running partner who motivates me and vice versus - when we both guilty each other in to going.

It is strange running here though, because in Reno I never felt in danger or scared, but here I do, especially at night. Why you ask, while it is because there are these things called bears and deer. In the local park there have been bear sightings, black all be it, but bear none the less. Bears are big, fast moving when pissed, and can hurt you. Luckily, it is almost time for them to go to sleep for a few months.

Deer on the other hand are still around. Deer are not the brightest animals as demonstrated by the start-stop motion, fake out the drive routine that usually ends up with the poor animal dead on the side of the road. Deer do the same thing when spooked by runners on the trail. They don't really know which way to run. Sometimes they will run toward you, to the side of you, or away from you. Either way they are big and have sharp hooves that can hurt you.

With that I have decided to do one of two things: Join a gym or go running on my lunch hour. I a thinking that the gym will come later in the season when it get to cold to run outside. For now I think I will take my chances with the deer and the bears.

My Morning Run - Or Lack There Of

As you can see from the posts, or lack of posts about running, I have sort of taken a break from the whole running thing--at least in the mornings. Instead I have switched over to an evening runner. This is due to the fact that I now have a running partner, Samy. Yep finally got him some good shoes and he is running right along.

But for old times sake I went for a run the other morning and it was glorious. Nice cool weather, not a lot of people, and lots of birds. Good stuff.

To add to the fun, on the mornings that I don't wake up earlier enough to run, I ride my slick new (White Lightning) bike to work and school. I think that makes up for the lack of morning runs.

My Morning Run: Everybody and their dog

Spring was in the air this morning. Motivating this morning was not hard to do at all with the blue skies and shinning sun. I guess that is why everybody and their dog was out for a walk or a jog. Dogs and people all over this morning--great times!

So nice in fact that one of the many dogs I met this morning decided to go for a little jog with me. He was lagging behind his owner a bit and when I caught up to him, he (the dog) ran with me for a little while until he realized that I wasn't his owner. Made me laugh.

Hope the weather holds and spring makes a permanent apperance.

Happy Running!

My Morning Run-Birds and Knots

This morning was a great day to get up out the of bed and lace up the running shoes. Crisp clean air that smelled like rain greeted me as I walked out the door. Off for a 30 minute run, I opted to head up stream this time. Passing early morning dog walkers and other joggers, I eased into the run, slow going as it was the first time in four days that I had done much of anything.

Knees quietly groaning as they warmed up, but by the time I reached the big tree in the trail they were fine. In part due to the awesome avian distraction: a Brown Creeper or a Northern Flicker, I am not too sure.
Northen Flicker

Part of my enjoyment of early morning running is that there a tons of birds out singing and dancing in the trees. If the foot falls are quite enough, you can catch a glimpse of the numerous and varied birds that live in the area. This bird is the first up close encounter that I have had. It was sitting about head high on a dead tree, motionless, but staring me down. We looked at each other for what felt like a minute but was only seconds before I realized I had to keep moving.
Brown Creeper

I have developed a habit of stopping dead in my tracks when I see birds, especially ones that I can't name. This time, it came back to bite me. That brief pause may be the reason I have a knot in my leg. Not bad, but big enough to be bothersome when trying to cross my legs.

Stretching is key! Happy running!

My Morning Run: Week 4 = Pain

The saga continues....
Running this week and last has perhaps been one of the toughest, yet most enjoyable things I have done in a long time.

Last Friday started with a 70 min run down to the river and back. A good start for sure, but half way there, the knees began to groan and complain, the hips began to rebel, and my ears began to close in on themselves, due to the incessant talking of another slow runner (did I mention I am again back of the pack?) Then something amazing happened, I hit that endorphin high that puts you in to a perm-a-grin state and everything melts away. It is just you and the foot beats of your pace taking you back up the hill and to the stopping point. Yep 70 minutes of running down.

Wednesday on the other hand was a bit tougher. Only a 50 minute jaunt, but with a speed work out thrown in. Legs of lead is all I can say.

Keep running.

My Morning Run: Marathon Class Begins

Friday morning began as most do for me: laying in bed listening to the fourth alarm going off and me contemplating if I should get up and go run. I finally decided to get up and throw on my smelly running close because this Friday morning was the first group run with the marathon class. 60 whole minutes of sucking wind and trail pounding. What fun!!! No really what fun.

What fun it was, because for the first time (or at least the last few years) I was not the slowest person in the pack. I found four other ladies who suck wind as bad as I do and move just as slow. 30 minutes in to the run as I made my way back down Evans Canyon, it was brought to my attention that there was a coyote running along side us on the opposite hill side. What could be better than a brisk morning run up a local trail and seeing one of the most adaptable creatures on Earth--not a whole lot.

It is moments like this that keep me lacing up my shoes every morning.