Here Comes Autumn

Ah, we're now entering the best time of the year in Maine. The leaves are in the early stages of changing, and this morning the air was cool and crisp. More days like this will be in store for the next several weeks. Fortunately, this time of year coincides with my return to running. It was a great day to meet up with Jeff and Ian at the Lowell Preserve in Windham to explore some trails that were pretty new to all of us.

My goal was to get in around eight miles, but unfortunately that was cut short after my shin splints flared up wicked bad. I'll need to foam roll my calves aggressively for a while. I'll be taking it easy the next several days as well.

The nice thing is I don't have any races planned for a long while, and I can truly take my time easing back into things (if I can remain disciplined). That's a far cry from a couple of other big layoffs from injury in the past, where I had a big race coming up and had to scramble to get back into the things, which isn't a good idea.

But the mileage I did get in was decent at this stage, albeit pretty slow because of said shin splints and I still have a ways to go before I'm back in decent running shape. I think Ian and Jeff were holding back a little on my account, but I can take comfort in the fact that they had the chance to pick it up after I decided to call it a day, and plus Ian ran from his house and will probably be getting in over 25 miles for the day. As for the trails, they were nice. Ways were discussed to connect it to the Blackstrap routes, which would be fun.

On a somewhat separate note, been thinking of my plans for the next several months. My goal is to take my time getting back into running shape and work my mileage up to around 40-50 a week and hold that. Once winter rolls around, I plan on doing a lot of skate skiing. Emphasis on "a lot". This will be in addition to running 40-50 miles a week. Should be great cross training.

A winter goal I have is to enter a biathlon (Nordic skiing plus shooting... that kind of biathlon). I think I've heard that they hold them up in Rumford. Looks like a lot of fun.

Ran 5.4 miles @ 10:30/mile pace.
AHR/MHR - 145/165
Technical trails, some smoother sections of logging roads.
Very hilly.
Upper 40s to near 50, sunny.
Heelless Asics Trail Attacks, shorts, long sleeved shirt, cap.