Gettin cold out there..

Well, I just wanted to do a quick 'mile check'. You see, I've tried to log my miles/workouts on the 'daily mile' website, but I'm already finding that to be too taxing.. and I feel silly putting my workouts on there.. I suppose I could just put my run stuff in & leave the rest out.. I really don't typically keep track of my miles or anything, unless I'm training & have been given workouts by a coach or something, but I DO think it would be cool to keep track & maybe know at the end of a yr how much I've run.. So I'll try. I thought since I have this blog & check in to it fairly regularly for right now, maybe I can just track my weekly miles on here.. So here goes.. Last wk was a big one for me. I know this b/c I tracked it on that website.. and then accidentally misled my fellow trail runners on how much I had run that wk b/c I had misunderstood the way it tracked.. Anyway, long story short, I ran 50miles last wk. This wk we're clocking in quite a bit less at only 35mi, but I'm OK with that. The runs I got in were good runs AND I put up with a lot more cold than I had been faced with previously. I'll get used to it & I hope my running buds do, too, because running in the cold with friends ALWAYS makes you feel more sane than braving the ice/snow/cold alone. Yesterday I had to settle for just 1 loop instead of the 2 7-ish mi loops that I wanted to do.. A large group from Indiana Trail Runners met up at Eagle Creek to do a preview of the coarse for the night marathon coming up.. It was nice to be able to check it out and a big eye opener to a) remembering what it's like to run in the snow.. made it feel quite a bit slower/longer than a usual 7-ish miles.. and b) I really need to pay attention out there! I tend to underestimate the trails at eagle creek because they are quite a bit more 'tame', for the most part, than the other trails that I prefer, such as Tecumseh, Brown county, etc.. But leave it to Planet Adventure to find some good obstacles for us out there! As if running in the snow in the dark in the woods isn't enough.. now we can add balancing on the edge of a steep drop-off into the lake, climbing down steep hills and over large trees.. and many other fun things to think about! It'll be fine.. So that was my run for saturday. Then today I met up with a few pals to take on the mt bike trail out at Ft. Ben. I was right in thinking that it would be a fun run.. Previous mt bikers, however, were wrong in thinking that biking when the ground goes through freeze/thaw is a good idea.. the rutting was pretty bad in parts & to be honest, I'm not quite sure why anyone would want to slip slide around on ice on the edge of a hill on a bike.. I guess I'm not quite 'there' yet, as far as mt biking hard core-ness.. But if those bikers were trail runners, maybe they'd think twice before tearing up the trail like that..Quite the ankle rolling situation! Oh, well. For the most part it was a good run. Did have a bit of GI issues.. not too atypical for me. Here's a lesson for ya.. 'Cookie Dough Zone Bar'.. NOT a good pre-run option.. at least not for me. You'd think I'd learn. I actually did pause just for a moment before I ate it.. 'do I need this? (yes, you need the calories) is it going to settle alright? (uhhh..maybe??)' I have a failry finnicky tummy (that's an official MD dx, by the way), so I usually have to be pretty careful about what I eat before a run. I ate this exact same bar before saturday's run & started to feel a little 'tummy issues' coming on toward the end of that run, so I should have known. But now, after 2 failed uses with this bar (they're so tasty, though! but I guess when the 1st few ingredients are all variations of sugars and other strange things you can't pronounce, it's not exactly shocking when the body revolts.. I know I revolted a bit when I actually took the time to read what I had eaten), I will officially take it off the list o' things to eat before a run. I've had it lots of times.. I guess usually before a swim, or after a swim on the way to crossfit.. both of which involve less time being out & about & less 'jostling' of the tummy tum.. so I can continue to use it for that (did I mention they're really tasty?), but I think pb&j's, even clif bars seem to work better for running. Anyhow.. never too late to learn something new, is what I always say (by default, of coarse. I'd love for it to be the time I no longer have to learn new things.. but I'm just not there yet..). So there we have it. My mileage check for the week. By my count, we're at 85 runnin miles for the year thus far! (so long, dailymile.com. No offense, but I'm just not cut out for the daily logging of my every move). Here's to getting out for some more cold weather running! Lord knows I have the stylin duds to do so (I hit the sales items at Dicks.. let's just say they were most likely on sale for a reason, & it wasn't because they were feeling charitable & wanting to pimp out their finest pieces..)