I HEART CAITLIN SMITH

There has definitely been less thinking/reading and more running recently. I finally ran hard enough to make my legs sore on my Sunday and Monday runs. I've been switching back and forth between the Montrails and my Brooks Cascadias and while I like them both quite a bit, I have to say that I prefer the Masochists. The Cascadias feel like trail slippers and don't have the protection for running on loose stones that the Montrails do. I still like them a lot. I feel like they each work different muscles. Speaking of muscles...

I read an article at a blog called iRunFar.com called "Apathy, Your Body, And Trail Running" and it spoke about the little things that we can do to prevent injury and make us stronger and how we (I) tend to forget about those things until the damage is done. I've been lifting weights twice a week before work but have stopped doing my hip exercises and stability ball crunches. Why? Because I'm a lazy fucking sloth. It takes about 25 minutes to do the hips/crunches and the hip exercises can be done 2-3 times per week but even that seems overwhelming. Maybe there are too many distractions at home? It would seem that getting out of a warm car into the wind and pouring rain would be more difficult than laying on the floor and exercising for 20 minutes.

My parents are moving in a few weeks and I had to dig through some of my storage boxes. In the past it has been the equivalent of walking through a minefield and has spun me far too close to the edge. I found photos, letters, and anniversary gifts (including an 8th anniversary gift of the shirt she was wearing the night we might) and somehow didn't run off the rails. I'm not sure what the difference was this time. Is it that I'm so focused on running and playing with the band that helped? Was it the punishing run I went on Sunday morning? God knows how much money I've spent on shrinks in the last decade and I still have no fucking idea what goes on inside my own head. Run, Forrest, Run!

I did another recon mission looking for new trails to run. I found Hemlock Hills/Pine Mountain last week and this week I found some horse trails that will be a little bit more smooth than Hemlock. I also ordered my Garmin 305 on Saturday so I've broken two rules that I set for myself. The first was that I would not turn into Imelda Marcos and buy a shitload of shoes and the second was that I would not buy a Garmin or any other goofy and distracting electronic device. So I'm done with the shoes for a while and the Garmin will help me to map out the distance of my trail runs and make sure that I keep my heart rate in check. It would be nice to think that I'm done spending money I don't have but let's be honest...


THE TOP 5 REASONS WHY CAITLIN SMITH IS MY FAVORITE RUNNER...



1. She throws her arms out to her sides like a running back when she runs.
2. She curses quite a bit in her blog.
3. She's not above peeing on herself when she's racing.
4. She talks to her legs when they're going too slow.
5. She has a lucky thong that she wears when she races.



LESS READING/MORE RUNNING

I decided that rather than sit around reading my 8,000th ultra runner blog I'd stop being a fucking pussy and actually put some shoes on and run. Novel concept. It was 55 degrees and about an hour before sunset and a perfect end to the day. It was only a 2 mile run but before I started I kept thinking about how shitty yesterdays run felt. I spent more time warming up before I got started and I instantly felt better. My shitty/uncomfortable runs still freak me out. Alcoholics have something they call sober reference. What sober reference means is that every day that you have sober is a day that you can reflect back on and draw strength from when the wheels are falling off. I just need to develop some running reference. At some point soreness will just be soreness, a bad run will be a bad run and not some sign that I may not be a runner, and that the good runs can be just as fleeting and finite as the bad runs. I'll get there.