Marathon Goals

The Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon is three weeks from today.  Yesterday was my final monster training run.  Twenty miles covered and three hours of time spent running leaves plenty of time for thinking.  If I am not conscious and aware of my thinking my brain turns into a scrolling laundry list of physical complaints:  left knee hurts, right instep burns, right knee hurts, hitch in my side, sweat in my eyes, left calf feels like a cramp in the making, left knee hurts, right instep burns, right knee hurts, hitch in my side, sweat in my eyes, left calf feels like a cramp in the making, and on and on and on.

Yesterday I devoted some of my run to setting goals for the real marathon.  I already have my time related goals set, so I was thinking more about qualitative goals related to being in the moment and enjoying the experience.  In setting my goals, I tried to concentrate on positive statements.

I will run the entire 26.2 miles.  I want to end the race saying I ran the whole way and did not walk at any point.

I will be aware of the race route.  The race route travels some nice neighborhoods and parks that I am familiar with as well as some areas that I am less familiar with.  I want to be as aware as possible of these settings.

I will take time to acknowledge the volunteers who make the race possible.  Without the volunteers who give their time, there would be no Knoxville Marathon.  I want to be sure that I acknowledge these hardworking folks who make it possible for me to be running the race.

I will be aware of my fellow runners.  Even though we are all running the same race, each runner is running their own race.  I want to be aware of those around me and what their race might be.

I will stay positive.  My body will hurt.  At times, I may doubt if I will finish.  But, this is a goal that I have set for myself.  It is something that I will see through til the end.

The most beautiful place on Earth...

On our first trip to Yellowstone National Park in June of 2010, we were too busy, too unprepared and too scared to hike.  We limited our walks to the boardwalks and a few short steps from the roads.  When we returned in June 2011, we had much more time, were much more prepared and at least a bit less scared.  In the months leading up to the trip we scoured the internet, park literature and multiple books to select hikes that would allow us to experience a different aspect of the park.  We chose several different hikes that we potentially wanted to do.  As we looked at our options, the Trout Lake Trail came up again and again.  It was a short trail which added to its appeal.  The round trip is less then two miles.  When we returned to the park in August 2012, the only trail that we repeated was the Trout Lake Trail.

On our first trip, there was still snow on the mountaintops and we could feel the cold in the valley.  We checked the information at the trailhead and started up the trail.

Up is certainly a good way to describe the start of this trail, though it is short, it climbs a fair bit in the first half mile.  Once at the top though, any doubt about whether the trail will be worth it are quickly erased.  The lake sits in what has to be one of the most beautiful spots on Earth.  Mountains are reflected in the still water as wildlife seem to enjoy the idyllic setting.

In June 2011, there was still much snow on the mountains.  There was only a bit of green ringing the lake.

In August 2012, the snow was all gone.  The areas surrounding the lake were covered in green.

A stream feeds the lake and then exits at lower end.  There is a long footbridge across the outlet from the lake allowing you to make a complete circuit around the lake.

At the inlet to the lake, there is a much shorter footbridge spanning the creek.  There was still some snow around the lake when we visited in 2011.

In 2012, the snow around the lake had been replaced by lush grass and greenery.

Climbing a small hill beside the lake gives long views into Lamar Valley.  Far away, in the middle ground, you can just make out Soda Butte Cone in the photo below.

Even though the lake is only a short hike away from the road, it is secluded enough that wildlife abounds.  In 2011 we were hoping to see otters, but had to make due with a Goldeneye instead.

In 2012, we were lucky enough to see two otters at the lake.  We watched them swim for several minutes before leaving the lake and heading down the outlet creek.

 The water is clear enough to see the namesake trout of the lake.

Heading back down the trail shows views of the upper reaches of Lamar Valley.

The combination of seclusion, setting and wildlife makes Trout Lake one of our favorite spots in one of our favorite spots.  If all goes as planned, we hope to have 2013 photos of the lake after our next visit to the park.  

Slacking?

The beginning of March brings another opportunity to check in on my 2013 goals.  February brought a bit of a slump to my work on my goals.  A new month brings me the chance to get back on track.  

The original post about my 2013 goals can be found here .

Dallas' 2013 Personal Goals

Goal 1: Complete Covenant Health Marathon.
I'm still chugging along on my training plan.  Saturday was a 19 mile run which I completed without too much difficulty.  The weather was less than ideal, but nothing I couldn't handle.  I have one more truly long run on my training plan, then I start to taper until the marathon.

Goal 2: Hike 150 new Smokies trail miles.
With weather issues and marathon training, I still haven't been able to work on this goal at all.  This summer will have to include multiple monster hikes to meet the goal.

Goal 3: Post a 5k time under 20 minutes.
My only progress on this goal has been to tentatively identify several 5k's that I would like to run after the marathon.

Goal 4: Maintain weight under 200 lbs.
So far, pretty good.  I've still been hovering at 202.  Girl scout cookies did this goal no favors.

Goal 5: Run 1300 miles.
I ran 114 miles in February bringing my total for the year to 235.  I will need to average 107 miles for each remaining month to meet this goal.

Goal 6: Lift weights 3 times per week.
I've been horrible on this goal lately.  I partially blame it on the marathon training, but I also think I use the training to justify not lifting as often.

Goal 7: Blog 2 times per week.
I've slacked off on this goal a bit, but it should be simple to get back on track.

Goal 8: Read ten books.
I'm currently reading a couple of books, but finished nothing in February.

Mutual goals

Goal 1: Keep credit cards paid off monthly.
February was a success!

Goal 2: Have 2X in savings.
We are on track to meet this goal.  Using an app on our phones makes it easier to track daily spending and then save money.

Goal 3: Try 5 new fruits.
Nothing new this month.

Goal 4: Visit one new place each month.
We didn't make any stunning new visits this month.  We did drive a few new roads and then tried a new restaurant.  The Green Tomato Grill got two big thumbs up.


Anything worth doing isn't going to be easy.  Using the goal board and then checking in on a monthly basis forces me to refocus on my goals as needed.  February was a bit of a slacker month, but March will be better!

The best trip is a free trip.

Thanks to the combination of two free day passes and a gift card from completing a survey, we enjoyed a free trip to Biltmore yesterday.  Spring will always be my favorite season to visit, but winter has a charm as well.

I seemed to be stuck on a statue-in-the-foreground, house-in-the-background series of shots today.  Someday I will get around to taking photography classes again and figuring out what the hell I'm doing.

Each time I visit Biltmore, I come home and eye the field behind our house imagining what a few grand and a few years could turn it into.  Someday...

The orchids in the Conservatory had little competition yesterday.  As if they aren't beautiful enough on their own, the lack of color elsewhere made them all the more outstanding. 

A trip down the the barnyard showed an explosion of chickens.  In the past there were only a dozen or so hens, but yesterday there were a few hundred chickens.  I assume the estate is now producing its own eggs.  We spent a lot of time looking at the hen below trying to figure out the genetics behind the coloration.  We never really came up with an answer, but we definitely liked the color.

Running Negative

A less than stellar run this morning (read that as 18 miles of suck) has me thinking about the negative side of my marathon training.  Pain is a given.  Exhaustion is to be expected.  But as I continue on with my training, the biggest negative to me is the time factor.  Nearly everything has to be planned around my training.  What to eat, when to eat it, which days do I have to run,  how far do I have to run today.  These are the questions that guide most of my life at the moment.

If I never run another marathon, barring an injury, it will be the time involved that causes me to make that decision.

 With all these negatives floating in my head, I just have to remind myself that my next run will be better.  Running, like life, is not a smooth upward progression.  There will always be dips along the way.

Simple lessons from running

Yesterday I did a seventeen mile run as part of my marathon training.  Last year at the same time, I was huffing my way through my first 10k.  I have learned a lot about running and myself in the past year.  

One lesson has been that your body is a liar.  Your legs are not going to fall off.  Keep picking them up and putting them down.  Your lungs are not going to explode.  Just keep breathing.  

The most important lesson is that I, nor likely you, are psychic.  But you can predict some self fulfilling prophecies.  I can't promise that you can run a 5k, a 10k, a half-marathon, a marathon or an ultra-marathon, but I can promise that if you don't run the first fifty feet you will never know.  

A digital hike

Due to marathon training and weather, I haven't been able to hike much this year so I'll have to settle for a digital hike.  

On November 11, 2011, I took my first solo hike.  I set out from the hiker parking lot below the Cosby Campground.  I made a loop using the Lower Mount Cammerer Trail, the AT, an out and back to Mount Cammerer and a portion of the Low Gap trail.  The total distance of the hike was 15.7 miles.  

There are several great examples of stone work completed by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) along the Lower Mount Cammer Trail.  

          

Near the intersection the the Lower Mount Cammerer trail is a small cemetery. Its always interesting to me to find these cemeteries in what is now the middle of nowhere.  It drives home the point that the area that is now the national park was once home to many people.

Someone had decorated the trail sign at the intersection of the Lower Mount Cammerer trail and the AT with a cap.  

The view from the Mount Cammerer fire lookout is quite impressive.

The Mount Cammerer Fire lookout is perched on a rocky outcrop providing excellent views.

Someone had left a libation for the god of the mountain.  I left it where it sat.

The Mount Cammerer fire tower is referred to as a western type lookout since it is a squat building on an outcrop opposed to a tower poking above the treeline.