This morning I thought it would be great to go and run the Big Hill Spring Trail, only 10 minutes from my place. My wife and I (and our kiddo too) walked it a week or so ago and I thought it would make a good loop for technical running as there are roots, rocks and some inclines to deal with.
Off I went at 530am… in the pitch black… Usually, dawn starts just before 6am, but as August crawls on, dawn is slipping past the 6am mark into more of a 7am type. With low cloud cover, I got to the parking lot and there was just a hint of dark blue in the sky. I started the run, ran/walked for about 5 minutes then realized I was dumb for trying.
First of all, I didn’t have a bell, and I guess there is always a chance of bears being in the area, especially if they know delicious joggers are there. So that’s the first problem.
Second of all, it was dark, and I had no headlamp. As much as I would like super night vision, dawn brings about weird tricks on the corneas. That’s the second problem.
One of these would be good too, $80 MEC.
Thirdly, roots. Lots of roots and rocks. In VFF’s, that can lead to stubbed toes / slips and falls. So after pussyfooting for a few minutes, it was best to head back to town and try out for a 5km test run. Not much I can buy to prevent stubbed toes, except “normal” runners, but that is a discussion I will not have for today (if ever).
Roots… lots of roots.
I drove back in to town and the light was becoming more and more. By the time I started my run, it was light enough to see everything well. I wanted a new PR for my 5km (currently 23:something), so I headed down to the river paths, which are flat and happily non-rooty, and gave it my best.
Run data can be found here.
YES!!! A new personal record for the 5 km. 22:47! Pretty decent too as I haven’t trained at all for a 5k pace in, well, a LONG time! I’m hoping to get under 20 minutes, and not on a track, but on trails. Soon enough!
So after yesterday’s trail run and various other escapades that I have done, and not to mention conversations with Barefoot Neil, I’ve added an item to my want list. It is called a Contour HD, and it is a one-button HD camcorder that you can wear! Great for motorcycling, paddling, snowboarding (when I do), running, biking, etc… And at $299, it’s actually a decent price!
With Christmas only 116 days until Christmas, this is on my wishlist. That is only $2.57 a day, or Tim’s coffee (which I don’t drink but you may) per day. Also on that wishlist is a rugged camera for photos. My camera is GREAT outdoor photo quality, but when it comes to where I go, it tends to get wet and dropped and beat up and scratched and dropped again and dropped again. So I’ll have to do research on a decent rugged camera. I’m sure they’re out there.
:-)
The Camera sounds like it would be lots of fun for you!
ReplyDeleteSo how many bells do you run with?
Do you always have bells on when you go into the woods?
Currently, I, uh, run with no bells. It's probably a good idea that I put those on. And yeah, I will always run with a bell from now on.
ReplyDelete