June 4, 2008
· Filed under General Thoughts, Running
With work and life and other responsibilities it would be a challenge to through-hike the AT. We frequently hike in the Shenandoah National Park and other areas in Virginia and during many of those hikes we have spent time on the AT.
Memorial Day 2008 we hiked from Rockfish Gap ( southern entrance of the SNP and hiked the trail to Jarmans Gap. Was quite a beautiful hike and would have been so much easier had we been in better shape.
We decided to ”collect” ,in pieces, as much of the AT in the park as we can over the next year or 2 and then do a SNP-AT trip in 2010 or 11. When kids and school and swim team schedule reduce.
The weather was cooperative and comfortable. Worked up a good sweat but we had sufficient water and food for the day.
This is also a great section for a couple hour trail run workout. Variety of surfaces, good climbs and downhills and easy to run if park is closed for bad weather.
January 30, 2008
· Filed under General Thoughts, Injuries/ Pain, Running
When I started running (for the fun of running) 22+ years ago I worried about my knees. After a several years of fun on the gridiron and the basketball hardwood my knees were a little worse for the wear.
When I started running I was in constant quest for the best shoes for a big guy running on his toes after 7 knee surgeries. I had better than average success with that but found running on roads and sidewalks to be abusive. I would have loved to run of clean groomed grassy trails but could not imagine running on the trails I hiked.
The varied and technical surfaces filled me with fear that all the twists and strains would tear up my already weakened knees. I WAS WRONG. Hanging out with Gill and Frannie and other trail runners I learned that careful buildup on the trails actually strengthened my abused joints. The greatest buzzword in the popular fitness media is Core Training and running on a wide variety of trails has increased core strength and flexibility in my knees (and my ankle with screw/staples).
I am going to spend as much time on trails and enjoy the Real World – smell the woods, hear the animals and if I continue to be lucky- Commune with beautiful furry, feathered or scaled creatures.
I will participate in the Bad to the Bone trail races and other events put on by Charlottesville Running Company www.badtothebone.biz and www.charlottesvillerunningcompany.com
