i n • p u r s u i t

Quarantine log: day 12 I felt convicted last night about my exercise during this pandemic. Up until this moment, I haven't really felt that I've been doing anything wrong with my actions. But last night, I thought about the massive crowds that have been at local parks. (More crowds than the Fourth of July. Which, I guess, is significant.) I mean, even on that rainy day, I passed quite a few people on the Swamp Rabbit Trail. (Normally, I'd see maybe one or two people on a rainy day.) By being another body on a high-traffic trail, am I being part of the problem? For a while, my thought has been that I am not part of the problem. They. All the others. All those people who never go outside who are suddenly on MY trails. They are the problem. But the outdoors belongs to everyone. I don't have a greater ownership in it because I am a frequent user. I am, indeed, part of the problem. By being another body, when the problem is ALL THE BODIES

Quarantine log day 10 Felt blah yesterday. Woke up feeling more blah. Just down. A little depressed. Emotional. Overwhelmed. Negative. My husband had a period of no meetings in the morning, so he encouraged me to go for a run. After having J complete his english & language arts, and math for the day, I let the kids watch Pete The Cat (or Pete and the Cat, as Ruthie calls it!) and got ready to go. I drove to three parking lots on the trail before I found one with open spots. Then I sat in the car for several minutes because I just didn't want to get out. It was cold and dreary outside. I knew I should just go. I knew I'd feel better. But sometimes, it's just hard to get out of the car. It's funny how ten miles can seem way to short somedays and others, three miles seems impossible. Today, was obviously one of the days that three miles seemed impossible. I visualized my turn-around point in my mind and it just seemed so. far. away. I decided t

My week started off with a trip to Walmart. Monday is my normal grocery shopping day, and we needed a bit of replenishment. It was more crowded at 6AM than other Mondays, but no surprise there! I've been trying to keep the kids on a bit of a schedule. Monday and Tuesday were easier. We woke up, ate, did worksheets, chores, and then played (outside or LEGO) until lunch. Then, they had quiet time followed by tablet time followed by more play time (outside or LEGO) until dinner. And bedtime immediately follows dinner. On both Monday, we went for a hike. On Tuesday, I took the kids to Furman to ride their bikes! Monday night I was able to chat with my mom which was so nice. She is quarantined in the Philippines. But she is doing okay and I'm so glad we were able to chat! I've been able to get in plenty of exercise this week, which I've been very grateful for. The outdoors isn't canceled! Indoor seating at restaurants has been closed! Dr

Where: Paris Mountain State Park Distance: 10.3 miles Strava link Thursday brought me something I hadn't had in a while. Bright blue skies and both kids in school. So, of course, I took off to the mountains. It didn't occur to me until afterwards that planning a long run up a mountain was awfully ambitious considering I just had my race last weekend. I decided on my route by doing some math: How much time I had divided by what pace I expected to go. I parked at the first shelters, ran around the lake and up towards Sulphur Springs. Up the mountain, down to North Lake, around the lake, up the tough side of Brissy Ridge, and then back down the mountain again. It was when I was struggling up Brissy Ridge, wanting to really push myself, that I realized how much I missed my Tailwind. I don't think I realized until that point how much I depended on my liquid fuel. Candy is fun, but it doesn't have enough calories! Definitely need to make a new order for

Race Information Name: Conquer The Rock Date: March 8, 2020 Distance: Bear Crawl 25K Location: Table Rock State Park Website link Strava link Time: 4:32:20 Our story starts the night before the race. I slept terribly! I had been a little nervous all week and, that night, I was very restless. This was my first very serious trail race. I had run 15.5 miles only once before, but not at that kind of elevation! (Granted, it ended up over a mile under that. That is one part of trail races that I still have to get used to.) As soon as my alarm clock went off at 5:30AM, I hopped out of bed fully dressed. Sometimes I sleep in my running clothes if I have an early start the next day and this was one such night. I guzzled some water, braided my hair, and made myself a peanut butter sandwich. Man, it was hard to eat that sandwich! I had to eat something, but it wasn't easy. I washed it down with a Gridlock (ALDI's monster energy knock-off). You know, breakfast of champions.