Pre-Training Begins!

This past week marked the beginning of my six weeks of pre-training. With my new iPod in tow, I ran/walked/ran 2 miles Tuesday evening. I wasn't able to wait for it to cool off because of an evening activity later on, so I headed out in the heat right after I got home from work. It took me 27 minutes and 17 seconds to complete the distance, which isn't as great as I had been running in the spring (amounted to 13.64 min./mile), so I chalked it up to the heat. Thursday evening I was able to get my run in right before dark, and I ran 1.5 miles in 16 minutes and 45 seconds - 11.17 min./mile...still not the pace of the 5Ks I ran in the spring, but better than Tuesday and I felt pretty good at the end of my run.

On Friday night Neil, the dogs, and I headed up to Tioga County to spend the night and Saturday with his parents and sister at a cabin they were staying at in Blackwell along Pine Creek. Not far from the cabin, we came upon a yellow-phase Timber Rattlesnake in the middle of the road just west of Morris, the town where the annual infamous "Rattlesnake Roundup" is held. This was the second live rattlesnake I saw this year, much less my entire life (we saw a black phase one in the spring in the Tuscarora State Forest), but the third for Neil as he saw a yellow-phase just earlier this week on a work excursion! We didn't, however, get to see the visitor they had last fall when they stayed in the same cabin and that others had reported in the cabin's journal of spying earlier this summer - a black bear.

On Saturday, the five of us (Neil's mom and dad, sister Cyndee, Neil, and I) headed out on the Pine Creek Rails to Trails. Starting at Blackwell, we biked 12.4 miles through the Pine Creek Gorge up to the Turkey Path. We then hiked 1 mile up the Turkey Path to the top of the ridge to a lookout point in the Leonard Harrison State Park. I had been there once before on a family vacation when I was in fourth grade - we camped at Watkins Glenn (NY) and stopped on our way home at the lookout to see the PA Grand Canyon; that morning, I had a bit of a bike accident before we left our campsite, so I have a picture of me with my brother, Eric, standing in front of the fence at the overlook (with bandages on my knees). The trek up was a bit steep, and at the top we noticed a sign saying the roundtrip should take 1.5 hours. It didn't take us nearly as long to get back down, and when we did, Neil's mom, who had waited at the bottom with our bikes, said we had only been gone for 1 hour and 10 minutes. We agreed that it was a much better idea to start at the bottom and head up, then back down, rather than start at the top, and then have to head back up! Although, it seemed like the majority of people on the trail were starting at the top due to the easy road access; the only way from the bottom was to access the trailhead from the Rails to Trails.

After our 2 mile hike (roundtrip), we ate the lunch we packed and headed back to Blackwell. The first four miles, we really made some good time, averaging about 10-12 miles/hour according to Neil's dad's bike pedometer. We stopped at Tiadaghton for a quick bathroom break. Shortly after we were back on the trail, some people in front of us were stopped and said that a rattlesnake had been spotted, although we didn't see it (several places along the trail there are signs regarding rattlesnakes and their popularity in the area). At this point, we all just wanted to get back; at the point where there was a sign for Blackwell saying it was still 6.7 miles, I thought for sure we had less to go than that. At the marker indicating we were still 2.4 miles away, Neil asked me if I wanted to stop (we were in front of our family at that point), and I told him no, I just wanted to be done. We FINALLY made it back, and we were all pretty tired. I wasn't necessarily hurting anywhere, other than my "sit bones" on my butt. After a shower and a yummy meal of chicken kabobs, we headed home. All in all, we covered more of a distance than the marathon, which is pretty neat to think about - biked 12.4 miles, hiked 2 miles, biked 12.4 miles...26.8 miles total!

Yesterday was to be a run day, and today a cross-train day, but I figured with our bike/hike yesterday, I would just swap the two. So, this evening I ran/walked/ran 3 miles. I really wanted to run the whole time, but after about the first 2 miles, I walked for probably about half a mile; my lower back was hurting, and I figure that biking yesterday probably was the culprit. Once again, due to the walking, my time wasn't great - it took me 38 minutes and 37 seconds (12.87 min/mile).

Neil and I are running a 5K on Saturday - the Wildcat 5K in Millerstown to benefit Wings of Kindness. This will fit in nicely to my pre-training since I am to run 2-3 miles on Saturday. Hopefully I'll be able to run the entire time. With other runners, I should also keep up my pace pretty well. I'm not really sure of the course, but I'm sure some hilly terrain will be involved!

I'm off tomorrow, with 1-2 miles on Tuesday (which I'll have to do in the morning before work since I have a presentation to give in the evening for work and I won't be getting home until probably 9 or later that night), off on Wednesday (which is nice since it is our three year anniversary and we are headed to The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore to feed the giraffes and then the Cheesecake Factory in Inner Harbor), 1-2 miles again on Thursday (although I may try to go for three in preparation for Saturday), and then off on Friday.

On Friday, I am meeting with Lauren, the Central PA LLS TNT Campaign Coordinator, to go over my fundraising strategy. At this point, I am 3% towards my goal. I am hoping after I send out my letters (August 25), my fundraising will take off. In addition to my letter campaign, I have some other ideas up my sleeve, so stay tuned!