Dealing with taper crazies by thinking about some of my favorite running things
It's here! It's here! Taper crazies, taper tantrums, (half) maranoia - all the insanity that comes with rest and nerves leading up to race weekend. The Rock 'n' Roll Raleigh half marathon is this weekend and I'm giving mile 7.5 to 8.7 a big ol' stink-eye for that ugly hill I'll have to run up. (And that's already the toughest section of a half marathon in my opinion, so I don't need any hill to make it worse!) Fine, fine, after a weekend on the Appalachian Trail I shouldn't complain about a measly ol' 163 feet elevation change. I shouldn't complain...but I still will. Bah! But since it's Friday I've got a few things on my radar to celebrate the weekend!
My slightly fanatical tendencies towards eco-friendly crunchy/granola habits
Last summer my friend (another Emily than the one I went backpacking with) and I were packing up her family’s beach house so it could be empty for a couple months, and I made sure the discarded food containers were recycled. I didn’t think anything about this until months later when Emily told me that this experience had reminded her how much we waste when we don’t recycle and that she’d started recycling more items on a regular basis. Once I realized I was a little fanatical in my recycling habits, friends pointed out other habits of mine that I didn’t realize were that unusual. After a while these eccentricities piled up and I realized I could write a whole blog series on green options, so today I'm introducing the "Good & Green" series!
How I introduced my friend to backpacking with incredible views and juuuuuuust a wee bit of snow
We had a few days off work on March 16 and 17 (rumor has it we got those days off because of the start of the NCAA tournament), so with the extra free time my friend Emily and I headed off to the mountains to hike a section of the Appalachian Trail.This was Emily's first backpacking trip and the pressure was on me to make sure she 1) didn't die, and 2) had a good time. (Spoiler: I delivered on #1, and hopefully on #2!)
Worried about not PRing? Here are a few other things about a race to look forward to.
I am trying so hard to psych myself up for this race.The Rock'n'Roll Raleigh marathon and half marathon is coming up on Sunday, and I'm racing the half. Racing? Running? One of those. I'll be trying to race my time to see if I can somehow get it under 2 hours and 10 minutes, but at the same time I'm worried.
Catching a glimpse of spring through photos
I'm pretty sure my body is in shock - it was freezing this weekend on the Appalachian Trail and yesterday in Durham it was in the 80s! What what what?! On my run yesterday my body was like, "what is wrongggggg with this world?! I was hot and then cold, yes and then no..." but hey, that's NC weather for you. (Yes, NC weather is a Katy Perry song.) Even so, I've managed to get a few sneak peek photos of spring. Enjoy!
Repurposed flood plain in Durham offers short hike adjacent to park
For hike #5 of my 52 Hike Challenge I was hoping for a nice, easy, local trail. I had just run 11 miles the day before and I had an indoor soccer game Sunday afternoon, so I wanted something easy to enjoy with Ryder and McCrae. I did my usual scouring of the internet, books, and Google maps, and I found New Hope Bottomlands Trail in Durham. New Hope Bottomlands Trail is tucked away: it's 2.2 miles in a lollipop loop through a floodplain with some views of New Hope Creek.
A true running injury and supporting the local nonprofit First Pages
On Saturday in the middle of a 12 mile long run I suffered my first pure running injury. Sure, I've had aches and pains and black toenails and soreness before, but a true running injury? 15 years of running and it finally happened: I tripped on a sidewalk, went sprawling, and tore up my knee. Seven blood-soaked miles later I finally limped back to Fleet Feet at the end of my run.And while I might have had the misfortune of tearing up my knee on a run that morning, local kids had the good fortune of getting a nice big box of books donated for First Pages!
Local restaurants and breweries offer taste of Durham
The 5th annual Bull City Food & Beer Experience this past Sunday at DPAC drew quite a crowd of local beer and food enthusiasts. Sponsored by Tyler's Restaurant and Taproom, Sam's Quik Shop, and Harris Beverages it featured 35 Durham restaurants and 35 breweries, most of them local to North Carolina.
