Trail Dates!

As another training cycle for my first fall run (really just a building block for December 50k) comes to an end, I am doing a lot of reflecting on what this last few weeks have taught me or gifted me. I have continued to be an early morning runner! As reluctant as I was to make the switch, this by far has been one of the best decisions ever. Getting the day started, as hard as it is sometimes...really hard! lol. It's so worth it. And has been key for consistency in my fitness and healthy lifestyle. I have also added much more cross training this summer through exercise videos (at home! Don't even have to leave my house!) and bike riding. The long runs are always stand outs in a training cycle though. Each opportunity Chris and I get  to spend some time running and hiking together is such a treasure. It’s just a lovely time (sometimes slightly miserable but ALWAYS totally worth it 😂) to disconnect from the hustle and bustle and connect with one another! We are always grateful for the family that don't mind letting us escape for the day and are more than willing to entertain our brood for us. We have our last long run (for me, not him! LOL) this weekend and I'm pretty excited about it! Excited to taper off a little, excited for a run in a new place in September, and excited to take it all in. Trail running,  long distances, spending date nights running...those are never things I thought I would be doing, but my goodness am I so so glad running, trails, mountains, distance, and I crossed paths, because it's changed me. Built me. Made me better. Also thankful for a partner in life that doesn't mind being a little crazy with me, because it's changed us. Built us. Made us better.

A little over a year ago, Chris talked me into climbing Table Rock. My brother had just died, I was running pretty consistent but nothing major, I was so naive and emotional, and I agreed. (I mean how hard can 7 miles be? Ha.) I wasn’t much of a trail girl but I made it up the mountain and back down. I was so incredibly sore and overwhelmed when we got done. And in the following weeks, I began to see, that climbing that mountain was hard and in doing that hard thing, I had time to find something down in myself that I needed to explore. I also discovered, I really like trails and mountains, and hard, physically challenging, things (relatively speaking...lets be honest, not all our hard things look the same. Ha)! And so. Since then, I’ve been exploring. Little by little, I peel back the layers, as my husband calls it, and I find more in there. I’m not fast, or talented, or gifted in running (for the most part, I wouldn't even really call what I do a run), I’m actually quite bad it 😂 But! None of that is required for it to change you, I’ve learned. I’ve got so much more to do and get better at and the possibilities that I have before me and the TIME to explore this excites me (and maybe scare me a little).

This month, we had a trail date, and I climbed that mountain again! However still hard, I can see how far I’ve come over the last year. And! More than that, I again am reminded of what’s inside. Isn’t it funny you can live years and years and still not fully know yourself? This last couple weeks have been weeks of reflection for me. And with reflection, I refocus, dig a little deeper, and press on.

We've since had another long run in Hitchcock woods and look forward to a long run tomorrow at another trail close by. This training cycle has been hilly, hot, humid and hard! I've collected each memory to keep and remind me. To look back on and remember. I treasure them all. So, this September, I'll tackle Jones Gap and in October, I plan to give Paris Mountain another visit....all of this, building for what's to come!

 View from the top of Table Rock will never get old! 

 Did I mention these runs were hot? and hilly? and hard? Yep. They were all of that. But also so much fun! 

So, I guess from this training cycle I've just gained the courage to keep digging and maybe the courage to encourage you to dig into yourself a little. You don’t have to be good at it, you just have to do it. See what’s inside there. See more of what you were created to do. Connect more with The One who created you to do it. Do something you didn’t know you could. Go for a long walk in the woods, climb a mountain, test your physical and mental limits, you WILL find yourself there.