First Ever 30 Mile Week! And Georgia Coast Rail-Trail (Woodbine) Review

I've been a bad, bad blogger lately.  I haven't been keeping up with my regular blogs, or writing my own.  I think it is the time of year.  It's not that I'm actually busier than normal... but my brain is.

• What time should I serve Thanksgiving dinner?
• What should I serve?
• Can I get away with ham again this year?
• Maybe I should ask someone else to make the turkey.
• Oh my goodness!  Only ___ shopping days till Christmas???
• How do I fit all this in my budget?
• Should I shop the Black Friday sales or get everything online?
• What in the world do I get my dad this year?
• What in the world do I get my mom?
• Why don't we just have a gift-free Christmas?  We could sit around and sing, eat and play games!  Think the kids would go for that???
• OH NO!  I haven't even thought about cards!
• Should I get a family photo?  one of the kids? just a regular card with no photo?
• Why don't I just send everyone facebook greetings instead?
• If I serve ham for Thanksgiving can I serve it for Christmas too?
• Uh-oh!  I think the lights are out on some of that garland for the stairs.
• Oh, please, please PLEASE let all the lights still work on the Christmas tree!
• I've gotta lose 5 lbs... how am I gonna lose 5 lbs with all these parties and dinners?
• What are we going to do for our anniversary?
• Wait!  I have surgery on the 4th?  So, I won't be able to use my hand for a week?
• I wonder if everyone would think me rude if I just checked into a hotel for the month of December.
• How would I afford that with all these gifts I have to buy?
• Wait... When did we decide was a good time for Thanksgiving dinner?

Play that on repeat day and night and that is pretty much my state of mind.  Somewhere in there, though, I manage to run.  It's the only way I know to stay sane!  And this week I ran

30.2 miles!

That is the first time I have ever run 30+ miles in a week!

As I have mentioned, I am trying to run 1,000 miles in 2013.  Since that fateful fall on Jan. 1st, I have spent all year playing catch up.  Finally, I am where I should be (897 miles!!!), but I face a third surgery on my hand next week and am trying to bank some miles for that.

Last week I was feeling bored with my regular running routes and so I went in search of a new one.  I discovered the Georgia Coast Rail Trail:

"The Georgia Coast Rail-Trail will be a 68-mile trail stretching from Kingsland north to Riceboro. Winding through lush green marshes, longleaf pines, and saw grass…crossing 43 beautiful tidal rivers and creeks…no trail in the nation can match it.

Spring 2010 marked the opening of the first 3.5-mile segment of the trail, at White Oak in Camden County, and another 2.75 miles in Woodbine was officially added to the trail in June 2011. The goal of the non-profit Georgia Coast Rail-Trail Inc. is to transform the entire abandoned CSX rail corridor into a 10-foot wide trail for walkers, cyclists, joggers, equestrians, and nature lovers."

I ran an out and back along the 2.75 mile trail in Woodbine Georgia.  The first 1.5 miles or so is... well... as straight as a rail (ha!) but the last mile+ is part of the Woodbine City  Greenway and is a little more meandering and scenic with cute little benches, light posts and decorative paths

The trail ended at the Satilla Riverwalk:

Which leads to the Waterfront Park with bathrooms!!!

I actually started and ended  at the park (since there was parking).  Total miles was about 5.8.  This was a great little running route and well worth the 13 mile drive.  I even returned 3 days later and let the kids ride their bikes while Brian and I ran.  It was great for that, since there are only 3 roads that you have to cross and, in such a small town, there was little to no traffic.  I highly recommend this trail if you are in the SE Georgia area!

I had such a great time "discovering" a new route, and it reminded me of one of the things I like most about running - exploration!  Lately, I've felt bogged down in the whole training regimen - Long Run, Tempo Run, Speed Run, Repeat.  And I have missed the simplicity of just running for the fun... for the excitement of discovery!  

Have you run in any new or different places lately?

Week 10 Review and Happy Veteran's Day!

I know, I know.  It's been a while.
I've been playing hookie from the World Wide Web.  (But, not from running!)

So much has been going on in the last couple of weeks:

My 44 yo brother fell 25 feet from a deer stand and punctured his lung, crushed his clavicle and a bunch of ribs, and suffered a concussion.  Somehow he managed to drive himself 10 miles to my parent's house before collapsing!  We are so thankful to still have him with us!

My grandson turned 2!

I threw him a little birthday party and got to hear,
"Mimi, I love you!"
for the first time ever!
Be still my beating heart!

Then there has been the general hoopla that this time of year tends to create:  Decorating, cleaning, mending and home improvements in preparation for the holiday season.

Yeah - I'm full of excuses!

But the training goes on, and this was the breakdown of week # 10

Days running: 4

Total miles: 26

Long Run: 11 

Runs without music: 3

I learned a few things this week

1. It really does take 1 day per mile to recover from a race!  I was surprised by how sluggish I still felt a whole week after my last race.  My mid-week speed and tempo workouts were way off my normal pace, but by the weekend things were starting to fall back into place.
2. It can feel very freeing to run without music!  I'm not sure what happened this week, but I was just tired of listening to music while I ran - so I went cord free!  Well, not entirely cord free, since I ran with my earbuds stuffed in my bra for my entire 11 mile long run!  I just never felt the need for them - the thoughts in my head were loud enough!
3. Sometimes, the biggest battle is just getting dressed!  This was one of those weeks when I simply did not want to be a runner.  I wanted to be a couch potato.  I longed to be a couch potato!  But, somehow I tricked myself into running every time with these 6 simple words:
   
   "Just put on your running clothes!"
   
   I'd tell myself that I didn't have to actually run - just get dressed.  Of course, once the clothes were on I was going to run!

Happy Veteran's Day to all the wonderful men and women out there who have served!!!