Sarah Runs Vermont

Navigating life one run at a time. 

[sarahrunsvt]

Week Four Recap

I don’t know what to say. This week my partner whom I live with announced he was leaving me. Although looking back on it, I now realize it shouldn’t have been such a shock, I was not prepared for this. It has been truly devastating. I did not run this last week. After the initial announcement, I packed my things, called out of work and drove eight hours home to be with my family and friends for a few days. It might seem drastic, but the time away to process things has been very beneficial. I always thought I would move away if he left me. I always thought it would be one of the worst things that could happen to me. I now know that to be untrue. It happened and I’m ok. I’ve never been so thankful for the friends in my life. Over the last few days I’ve realized that I have evolved into someone I don’t know in this relationship. I somehow lost my sense of self, my individuality, my direction and my self-respect. Although the pain of this loss is great, it feels almost wonderful to be emotionally independent again and standing on my own two feet. I was unhappy in this relationship yet instead of admitting that, I blamed myself and naturally my self-esteem tanked. It created an environment in which the relationship was both the problem and the cause. 

I signed up for the marathon finally. I had been procrastinating on it. I also signed up to take the GRE and intend to finish my program this summer. The sense of dread I had about applying to vet school during the relationship has now vanished. I am free to apply and go where I like without having to sacrifice my dreams for someone else’s. I only hope I can learn from this mistake and prevent it from happening again. Maybe the answer is to never love someone else harder than I love myself, as stupid as that sounds. 

[sarahrunsvt]

Run No. 13: Sunday, February 3 2019

Was a real struggle to get myself out the door for the last run of last week. Motivation was low, mood was low, energy low, anxiety high and it we had freezing rain. Although this run was a short 20 minutes, I’m glad I got out the door. I finally made it to four runs in a week. 

[sarahrunsvt]

Run No. 12: January 31, 2019

Today’s run was a hard 45 minutes on the treadmill alternating hills and speed. Didn’t feel like braving the single digit weather today. I normally get too bored to stay on the treadmill for any length of time, but doing hill/speed work helped and I had a lot of energy to burn. That makes a total of twelve runs for the month of January which really isn’t too bad. Looks like I should be able to make my fourth run for this week as well over the next three days. 

[sarahrunsvt]

Run No. 11: January 29, 2019 

Today I set out for a hike around a local frozen pond trail, but I brought my trail runners just in case the trail was packed down enough to run on. Turns out it was, just barely. It took about 50 minutes today, which is slower than normal. The footing was quite uneven and I did not bring my Yaktraks which led to slipping and sliding in a few spots. There’s something so incredibly relaxing about this trail in winter, though. It has become one of my favorites more recently. 

[sarahrunsvt]

Run No. 10: January 28, 2019

I finally caved and bought a 20 pass gym membership. Although I know there are plenty of people who brave the weather, I feel like the combination of the short days, single digit temps and huge amounts of snow we’ve been getting lately has made it harder to get out there. I’m hoping to use up all 20 passes to this gym by the time spring rolls around. Of course I will still run outside, but I’ll reserve it for particularly terrible days when I’m looking for an excuse. It also comes with pool access and an indoor track. Yesterday I ran for roughly 40 minutes and did one round of plyometrics. 

[sarahrunsvt]

Run No. 9/Week Three Recap (January 21 - 27, 2019)

I’m going to be honest here - I only ran once last week and it only lasted fifteen minutes. I went out for a run on a particularly cold day and turned around before getting very far from home. I felt defeated, tired and sad. The rest of the week went about the same way and I did not run again. I struggle with anxiety and depression. It’s something I’ve been working to overcome over the past few years and I have made progress. However, it still takes hold of me every now and then, sometimes more often than others. I guess during this life transition it’s not surprising it has been more of a problem lately, but of course I am disappointed. I was able to work my way out of it on Sunday afternoon and things have been much better since. 

[sarahrunsvt]

Week Two Run Recap (January 14 -20, 2019)

Monday: 30 minute yo-yo run on local trails 

Wednesday: 40 minute loop around a new pond trail 

Friday: 30 minute mixed pavement run on the road and through local cross country trails 

Total running time this week: 1 hr and 40 minutes

Unfortunately I didn’t make my fourth run for the week. The snow came in Saturday afternoon with extreme cold temps. I probably could have made it out in ski goggles, but it didn’t happen. Looks like we got almost a foot and a half of snow. The snow piles on the side of the road are incredible. Total running time this week was the same as last week, but I’m okay with that. I will make an effort to add a fourth run this week and increase my time up to two hours or a little more. Marathon day is still 18 weeks away so I’m not too concerned with getting started too fast. I am more concerned with building up regularity in terms of my running schedule and keeping it consistent. 

Cross-training: 45 minute skin up my local mountain with some regular skiing afterwards.  

[sarahrunsvt]

Run No. 8: January 18, 2019

Today’s run was a thirty minute mixed pavement run up to the cross country trails at the local college. I think it’s about a mile there and back on the road and a good mile loop within the trail system. We have a pretty bad snow storm coming in this weekend, but I plan to get one more run in before the end of the week. Feeling pretty tired and run down today. Definitely going to take it easy and get some extra sleep. 

[sarahrunsvt]

Run No. 7: January 16, 2019 

Today’s run was a forty minute loop around a local pond trail. This was my first time on this particular trail. Jasper and I had a blast exploring the tracked out snow through the woods and farmland fields. We hiked up a couple of steep sections and ran the rest. No animal sightings, but we did see one lonely ice fisher out in the middle of the pond. What a wonderful experience to be in such solitude and quiet. I’ve been very struck by how quiet it has been lately. It’s a stillness that I’ve only ever experienced in the dead of winter. I know sometimes it’s hard to love this season, but I will honestly miss it when it’s over. 

[sarahrunsvt]

Nice morning skin up the mountain today. For those of you who have never heard of skinning, it entails putting special carpet-like “skins” on the bottom of your skis so that you can hike up the mountain without sliding backwards. It’s a great workout that builds both cardiovascular fitness and strength at the same time. I did one lap today that took 45 minutes to the top and then rode the lift for a few runs afterwards. Highlight was definitely eating brie and crackers inside the lodge between runs. ‘Twas a great way to spend a Tuesday morning. 

[sarahrunsvt]

Run No. 6: Monday January 14, 2019

Going to start adding the date to these posts to make them easier to keep track of. Today was another typical, out-and-back trail run on my local trail system. In future posts I’ll refer to this run as the yo-yo run, since I run the trail out to its end and then back to the start. This trail is fairly fast, although there are a couple of steeper and more narrow sections. It’s very beautiful and convenient since it’s less than five minutes from home. As my marathon training progresses, it won’t be quite long enough on its own except for maybe a short recovery run, but for now I think it’s fine. The trail is very soft right now, but a little easier to run now that the snow is starting to get packed down. Going to aim for a forth run this week. Tomorrow will be a morning ski and skin up my local ski resort mountain. Very much looking forward to it.

[sarahrunsvt]

Week One Run Recap (January 7-13, 2019)

Thought this might be a good way to organize my runs on here so I can look back at my training. Here’s what I did this past week: 

Tuesday: 30 minute run in CT on an old estate property. 

Friday: 30 minute trail run, out and back on my neighborhood trail system. 

Saturday: 40 minute mixed pavement, but mostly trail run on my local trails and the nearby college trail system. 

Total running time this week: 1 hr and 40 minutes 

I’m not quite sure what to aim my weekly total for, but I’m thinking it should be at least eight hours for marathon conditioning. Depending on the terrain, that might be somewhere between 40-50 miles. I know I said I’m not training with mileage in mind, but at least that gives me some idea of what to shoot for. 

Cross-training: hour and a half nordic ski on Thursday.

Nice easy start to the year. Hoping to take it up a notch this week with a fourth day. Going to keep my runs mostly on trail and fairly short while I build up a good base. 

[sarahrunsvt]

Run No. 5

Today was another brisk day, but slightly warmer in the low teens. Run number five was a forty minute loop through the trails I ran yesterday and another trail system connected via a short stint on the road. The doggo went out for a run with my partner, but I chose to run alone. I don’t know why, but I am not much of a fan of running with others. Sometimes I just need my alone time and usually that’s while running. That makes three runs for this week, but I’m hoping to get another one in tomorrow. Although I had planned on keeping the first few weeks at three runs a week, I think considering how short my runs have been and how forgiving the snow is a forth run might be called for. 

[sarahrunsvt]

Run No. 4 was short and sweet. A thirty minute out and back in six degree weather on snowy trails. Although we didn’t go too far or stay out long, we had a blast running through the snow. It’s hard to tell in the second picture, but we both have frost on our eyelashes. Because of the cold, I’m going to aim to run the next few days in the same fashion; short and on trail where there’s less wind between the trees. I was dressed warmly enough to have stayed out for much longer, but I worry about Jasper and his thin and floppy ears. He seems to stay pretty warm in his coat while running, though.

[sarahrunsvt]

Today’s run turned into a nordic ski instead. After all the fresh snow we got the last few days, I felt like it would have been a shame to miss the opportunity. Jasper and I skied for roughly an hour and a half on ski trails and farmland. We spotted some kind of large owl on our way back to the car. Not sure what kind, but he didn’t seem too phased by us from where he was perched in a tree. Going to try to get two more runs in over the next three days. It’s going to be extremely cold with highs in the single digits, but I’m determined to still get out there.

[sarahrunsvt]

Run No. 3

I wasn’t expecting to be able to get a run in on my long weekend trip, but I’m glad I brought my shoes anyway. Today’s run was a very laid back, roughly thirty minute run around an old estate in the Connecticut town we’re staying in. It wasn’t a terribly big park, but I was able to do three laps and have some playtime with Jasper. We head back to Vermont tomorrow morning. Hoping we don’t get caught in any bad weather. Next run is planned for Wednesday before work at 4p. Might be a road run considering the snow in the forecast.

[sarahrunsvt]

Run No. 2

Accountability post here. Run no. 2 was a relaxed 30 minute run on local trails. We recently had a snow that melted today, so there was a lot of mud on trail, but better that than ice. I’ll be traveling the next few days and may not end up going for a run this weekend, but we’ll see. Made it to two runs this week for a total of an hour and a half. Going for three next week. In other news, made some big decisions at work today. I accepted a full time position with benefits at 34 hours. Although my budget will be tight, my schedule looks great and I should have plenty of time outside of work for running/skiing/figuring out the meaning of life. Wonderful.