PLRA Letterboxing hike

The day started sad and gloomy with the weather matching my mood and thoughts for the morning.  The Letterbox I was looking for was not on an easy path with both physical and directional challenges.  More than once I had to double back quite a ways to see where I had gone astray.  I took my time and enjoyed the distraction of the challenge, and the quiet of  the woods.  I even took the time to sit in meditation in a piney glade for a spell.  It was exciting to finally find the letter boxes, both beautiful carves and well worth the effort. (Thanks Fritz!) Rather than retrace my steps I decided to continue on the horse path and then turned onto the bike path to make my way back to the trail head.  I thought I was done discovering things along the trail.  But I found this cute, little, lonely mushroom standing straight and tall like he's guarding the path.

   

I also found a small multitool that must have fallen off someone's bike. Then I came to an overlook on the bike path, (scene above) the sun had come out and a capricious blue dragonfly was zipping about too fast for me to photograph.  On the last mile back I thought about all my turn arounds and extra hills and miles added to my journey;  The wolf's song from Into The Woods was playing through my head...

"...Just so little girl, many paths, so many worth exploring.  Just one would be so boring, and just look what you're ignoring..." 

Lesson's on the trail:

1.Stay patient with yourself, it's OK to make mistakes and have to go back a few or even a mile of steps to find where you need to go.  It's all just part of the journey.

2. Take bug spray...no REALLY double check the car and maybe pack 2 cans in case one rolls under the seat.

3. Even when you have reached the goal, keep your eyes open for other new discoveries.  Some of the best discoveries are not sought after, they are simple pleasures and surprises.

One Fish, Two Fish

We decided to try out my new stamp I carved by stopping at Hartwick Pines on the way home to find letter boxes.  We have been to Hartwick pines many times, but the letterboxes are hidden along the Au Sable trail which we had not been on before.  It was a beatific trail, more remote with less traffic and unfortunately more bugs.  The Mosquitos were horrid and I had to walk quickly back and forth along the trail while trying to stamp and log in the log books.  It's a good thing I can laugh at myself!  I imagine I looked pretty funny, and I am surprised there aren't any smashed bloodstained carcasses in my log book.   The trail was somewhat more enjoyable once I had found all the letterboxes and we could go much faster.  I would really love to come back to this trail in late fall or early spring when I can saunter and enjoy it more.  Highlights of the trip included seeing some beautiful early summer flowers, I especially loved the pink lady slippers which I had not seen in the wild before.  We met a botanist from MSU who was thrilled to hear there were pink lady slippers ahead on the trail.  We only met a few others out there but it occurs to me that we are all out in the woods on our own quests.  Steve and I to find letter boxes, a botanist to find elusive wild flowers, a family with their dog to find some time together away from the busyness of home, and a runner probably out to find some piece of mind.  

Good luck on your own quests my friends!

I am not on the run today.  I decided to try letterboxing with Nylah at the Huron Meadows Metropark.  For those unfamiliar with letter boxing it's sort of like a treasure hunt where you find "Letterboxes" containing a rubber stamp and a log book.  You carry your own stamp and ink and log your stamp in the book to prove you found it. Learn more at this link:  http://www.atlasquest.com/
I have not done letter boxing since Leanna was in girl scouts and her troupe went out a few times.  It was a bit topsy-turvy trying to get supplies, and get myself and Nylah out there. But once I finally started it was a lovely day on the trail.  It was fun and exciting discovering the clues ( no spoilers) and thinking "oh yah, this is the right place." It made me look at a trail I have been on many times in a very different way, I was looking closely at the shapes of the trees and rocks to see if they could possibly match the clues.  After the adventure Nylah and I spent time down by the river bank and enjoyed a snack and watching the birds, snakes (who knew Nylah could jump that high?) and a turtle who were also enjoying the sunny day.
Lessons learned:

1. Double and triple check that you packed a print out of the clues. You really don't want to have to go back home for them.

2. Invest in a stamp pad, the ink will work better than markers in the hot sun.

3. Bring a small towel to dry off the letter boxes, I'm sure it would work better than my pants cuffs.

Trail Marathon, Pinkney MI 2016

People refer to golf as a nice walk through a park ruined by a small white ball.

A trail race can be a great day in the woods ruined by the perceived need for speed.

I have now done the Trail full marathon twice.  Both times the first loop was easy going, filled with camaraderie and laughter.  It also went by much faster than I expected.  The second loop is when the real test seems to start.

I turned my ankle in the first mile of the second loop.  It wasn’t a really bad turn, just enough to really slow me down.  It was especially annoying going down hills on an ankle I couldn’t trust.  Three miles later I was stung by something black and fuzzy on my other ankle and I thought “Shit this trail is out to get me!”.  The next several miles I felt as slow as syrup; I could not seem to go any faster.  It became a mind game of staying positive as I was being passed by run/walkers and speed walkers.  There were lots of bright spots to the day to enjoy and be grateful for. Perfect weather, the smell of wild lilacs, may apples sprouting and the violets, trillium, and forget-me-nots sprinkled the sides of the trail.  Then the race director Randy happened to be at one of the aid stations, he took one look at me and said “You’re a sight for sore thighs!” 

I tried to enjoy my day and not let self-doubt destroy my run, but I was often caught in thought loops of “I guess my body just isn’t made for marathons.” and “Maybe I should just focus on half marathons since the first half went so well.”    I really, really wanted to quit and my body kept saying. “We could stop any time now”  But I didn’t stop, I didn’t quit, I kept pushing and I kept moving no matter how slow.  I used my mantras and looked for those bright spots on the trail I had missed the first time through because I was too focused on the path to notice the beautiful day. I knew if I made the 22 mile aid station I could finish.  I sang songs in my head and I told myself “I have a Toltec heart, I am worthy!”  At mile 22 my friends were shouting my name as I picked up pace and ran up the hill.  The heat was getting to me and I turned down a beer and begged for something cold.  Amanda scooped up handfuls of ice from the cooler, and Brian told me to shove it down my sports bra and I would feel better.   I tried it and I started to feel a lot better.  Brian looked at me and said it’s only 3.5 miles you’re finishing this I am not driving your ass to the finish line.”  And he was right. 3.5 miles is the distance of a typical after work run, where I am used to pushing through the exhaustion.  I remembered my friends from BARS and Running lab runs and told myself over and over “It’s just a BARS or Running Lab run, I got this, I can do this”.

I did actually feel way better, I was able to pick up pace to 14 min/mi with less walking.  I started to meet random hikers on the trail who cheered me on.  I caught up with some 50k runners on their last 5 miles and they seemed to have had a rough run as well, and I felt better about my own struggle.  In the last half mile I caught up to and passed one of the walkers who had passed me many miles back.  Steve was waiting for me as I rounded the bend to take the last hill up to the finish.  I managed to kick it up to a final sprint as Steve ran me into the finish line. I finished short of my goal of under 7 hours, however I did finish 30 minutes faster than the last time I ran it.

I did it in spite of my brain trying to sabotage me with gloomy thoughts.  I joined my friends at the finish party and enjoyed stretching out in the sun, boozie popsicles, laughter and moans as we recapped our adventures.  I know I can do this.  I know I can survive the trail and conquer my self-doubt to run 26.2 miles again.

Into the woods I go, to lose my mind and find my soul!

Possibilities

I am currently training for a Full marathon at the end of April, soon to start training for a Tri sprint end of June, and since that is not enough crazy I am considering my next Ultra.  A 100k early June or focus on the Tri and consider a 100k at Woodstock in the fall.  Hmmm.  I ran across my journal entry from after my 50k. 

         "It is somewhat fitting that I ran the "far out 50k" at a race called Woodstock. There was the usual laundry list of ups and downs: Finding your watch uncharged, unexpected storms blowing through, downed trees ( one filled with very angry bees!) muddy, shoe stealing, ankle twisting paths. Finding friends and camaraderie in pain, sweat, and the joy of movement.  it was the best of times, it was the most surreal of times and I found myself smiling through most of it."

By my words I don't believe I'm done with Ultra runs, but timing may be important if I want to stay healthy and be successful at my other races.