The cherry blossoms have passed and the lilacs are now in bloom! Beautiful sunny run today. So many birds around. This week running, I have seen four great egrets, a green heron, baby goslings with their Canadian parents, Mallard ducklings with mom, cormorants, and so many red winged blackbirds! I am enjoying the last few runs of my taper! Almost go time!
All because I'll be running a 25km/800m elev. gain HM at the #Innsbruck Alpine #TrailRun Festival on Sat. Last year I ran the same event and that wasn't so good because the weather was very hot and I started off too fast, and by the end the hammer was about to knock me down.
But this year it should be better, or quite the opposite, as snow is expected to get close to the max elev of the course.
Went for a 5 mile trail run yesterday morning with a friend and her pup. A nice slow pace, a few stops to throw sticks, and one stop to listen to an owl making a racket. Trails not yet in Spring thaw, mostly frozen solid dirt, but overall perfect for running. #TrailRun#running#DogsOfMastodon
A 13km #trailRun late Sunday afternoon in almost spring-like conditions at around 10°C.
My plan is to increase my regular #running distance from 10km/300m elevation gain to around 15km/500m elevation gain and run a pure fun HM at least once a month. This should help me prepare for the 35km/1800m #trailRunning event I intend to participate in May.
Seeing the clouds break up this morning, I decided to go for a midday run up to the lookout tower on top of nearby hill Devinska Kobyla.
And the views were worth it, even though the terrain made #running a bit tricky - snow, ice and mud, thawing in some places, frozen solid in others, and not always easy to tell which is which. :) 🏃♂️
I signed up for my first #ultra#trailrun. While the 44kmn distance really is an ultra only technically, I'm looking forward to it. I'm hoping it to become a start of a multi-year adventure. I'm old, but I don't think I'm too old to start.
Broke out the spikes and the nordic poles for today's run after snow, freezing rain, and freezing drizzle. Surfaces were not too bad but I was glad for the extra traction.
Registered! The leaves are turning, the weather is getting colder, the time has come to register for a race to keep me warm through the winter! 80km/50miles coming up in May! Woot!
Beautiful run yesterday! All the runs are swishy now - swish, swish, swish through the fallen leaves!
I also saw a #salamander, waiting for me bravely in the middle of the trail, and as I jumped over him, stopped and started recording him, only then did he leisurely start walking away. What a diva!
🦎 🎥
This was the first time I saw one in these woods, too. I knew that some of them must live around here, I just wasn't lucky enough - until today! :)
I strained a hamstring on a run this morning, so I’m limping badly and grimacing every so often when a step goes wrong. I’ll be infinitely more patient the next time I see someone who needs a little more time to get around.! #injury#hamstring#running#trailrun
I did a little afternoon #running race against the rain. 🌧️
I made it to my destination (a lookout tower on a nearby hilltop) first, but the rain caught up with me before I made it home.
So, I guess it was a draw? 😅
The darkened forest, the soft sounds of raindrops hitting tree leaves above, the smell of rain (it's got a cool name "petrichor"!). Ahh, that's the good stuff! 👌
Pup's first camping trip! She did so well with the long drive and the whole camping experience. Really good for the whole crew to #GetOutside and the first time I have gone with camping for a race trip.
On Saturday, I had a trail race. I pulled out 20km early due to GI issues at just over 57km. Beautiful run though, great scenery, and 1488m elevation. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday. I was pleased with how I handled the GI issues as after I accepted I was done, I still had to keep going for another 20km to get to the next aid station so I could DNF. Despite the rough go, I still got to enjoy the insights you get from running far.
Am in Dunkeld on the first leg of my #running#vacation in which I hope to explore parts of South Australia that I've never been to. And visit some wineries along the way of course. And #pyconau in the middle too!
Photo shows where one of tomorrow's Peaks And Trails 20km event mountains should be, if it wasn't for all the cloud... 😂
Final #trailrun before Adelaide and a few days of #pyconau conference. Did a #run around the landmarks and lookouts of Onkaparinga River National Park. Saw many of the locals having brunch too 🤩 #running#vacation will resume next week.
Today's post #pyconau#vacation#trailrun was a 20k out and back along the coast near Victor Harbour going into the Newland Head Park. A lovely track, lots of variation and scenery 😊