Wanting to spend time in the city, but still enjoy the outdoors in the beautiful, sunny Charlotte, North Carolina weather, we opted for some urban hiking while visiting family during our Southeast trip last December.
Training for a Half Marathon Trail Run…in the Winter
As we all know, the New Year brings new goals, new ideas, new adventures, new endeavors, and even new challenges, and of course changes. One change, I’ve fully embraced this January is NOT taking a break from running.
In the past, my running routine has gone on hiatus during the winter months. A whole lot of excuses come to mind:
It’s too cold.
It’s too wet and rainy.
It’s too dark.
It’s too complicated.
I’m ignoring those excuses. Instead I’m relying on (and being encouraged by) the positives; those lovely benefits of putting one foot in front of the other and just going:
Exercise.
Time spent outdoors.
Stress relief.
More energy.
More exploring, more adventure.
Specifically, I’m all signed up and committed to the Squak Mountain Trail Run. Yes, one of my biggest motivators in addition to the above benefits is having a race or run on the calendar. It’s in writing, it’s paid for, I can’t quit.
The big event takes place in Issaquah, Washington (just a short 30 minute or so drive from Seattle) and has me running the obvious 13.1 miles on trail, but also includes a challenging 3,650 feet of elevation gain!
Have you set any exercise goals for the year? Any races or runs on your 2014 calendar? Please share!
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More on running:
An Easy Trash Pick-up Walk: Refocusing our Afternoon Walk to do Some Good
You might already know that we have a late afternoon routine of walking the dog (and ourselves) nearly every day. The reasons (and benefits) are many: exercise, visiting parks and playgrounds for Bergen, catching up on our days and making plans…we even have been known to throw in an errand or two at the post office or grocery store.
These days, depending on time and distance planned, sometimes Bergen walks on his own. However, most of the time, he rides in his stroller, with opportunities to walk & play built in, as we tent to log at least 3 miles on our outings.
When Bergen walks on his own, we can go several blocks at a decent pace, but after a while his speed slows and he’s more interested in interacting with the little things he sees on the grass, sidewalk and properties of our neighbors. He stalls, dilly-dallies, piddles, you name the technique for slowing down (and wasting time), he does it. It’s important to us though that he continues to build his walking stamina and endurance. The last thing we want as active adults is a kid who doesn’t want to walk anywhere.
Yesterday, we tried something new for our afternoon walk. I don’t know about your locale, but as city dwellers (at least in our neighborhood), we tent to get our share of trash that builds up along the sidewalk edges, curbs and intersections. We clean up our block and blocks close by every now and again, but we hadn’t done so in a while, and Bergen had never been a part of it.
So instead of our usual walk, we went on a trash pick-up walk. Bergen and I searched for pieces of trash while Slaed followed close by picking up all that we found and collecting it in a garbage bag. After just a couple of blocks, Bergen got pretty good at spotting garbage on the ground—and with all of the leaves that have fallen, it wasn’t exactly the easiest trash pick-up we’ve done!
A bonus to the while thing was that because pick-up takes time, we were actually going at Bergen’s ideal pace. We were able to focus him on sighting trash, but he also had extra time to explore and do his dawdling–checking out rocks, acorns, flowers, leaves and whatever else he could find. And without the pressure of speed and keeping up, he actually walked a whole lot further than he normally would!
Have you ever picked up trash in your neighborhood or another location? Do you volunteer with your kids? Tell us about it!
Come join the conversation! You can keep up to date with each and every post by subscribing to the blog via email. We’d also love to have you join us on all of our adventures by “liking” our facebook page and following us on twitter! If you enjoyed this post, please “like it”, “tweet it” or “pin it”!
More Walking Adventures:
5 Quick Tips for New Balance Bikers
Bergen (just over 2 years old) is a new balance biker. He received a balance bike for his 2nd birthday from our generous family and has been cruising around the neighborhood, in his own little way, ever since. It’s been fascinating to sit back and watch his interest and skills develop over just a short period of time. If you haven’t noticed already, our little guy is a big bundle of energy, so it’s nice to have one more tool in the box to channel it all, and wear him out for bedtime.
While we sit back (sort of) and watch his progress, we’ve noticed a few little things have helped move him into the direction of being a full on balance biker. He’s not quite zipping and whizzing up and down pathways, but he’s close, and certainly in a whole different category from where he started, which was not even being able to hold the bike up!
1. Consistent Opportunities for Practice.
If possible, offer balance biking as an activity choice everyday. The great thing about balance biking (and I’m sure other activities too) is that you don’t need tons of time for each session, if it’s practiced consistently. I’m talking even just 5 minutes. What worked for us was trying it out every evening when we returned from walking the dog. Sometimes Bergen would want to go for 15 minutes, sometimes he’d decline the offer to try, but at least we were getting out there.
The consistent practice also got Bergen into the routine of wearing his helmet every time we got the bike out. At first he would squirm, scream, cry, and laugh hysterically because the strap tickled his neck. Just to put the helmet on took more time than we were actually balance biking! Now he just sticks his chin out and lets me clip it on.
2. Huge Patience.
This is the hard part. I feel like the biggest nag and nit-picker that ever lived because I’m constantly saying, “keep your hands on the handle bars”, “look ahead”, “don’t ride in the neighbor’s lawn”, “peddle your feet faster” and on and on. I have to remember to sit back a bit, relax, and allow Bergen to figure out somethings on his own.
I also learned to be okay with stopping even if we only went out for 3 minutes. It’s actually harder for these little guys than it might look, which I didn’t realize at first. I noticed this when after just going 6 blocks or so, Bergen was starting to break a sweat!
3. Make it Fun!
I’m always reminding myself that riding a bike is supposed to be a source of joy, and I don’t need to take it so seriously. Just by accident, we came up with little games that help to motivate Bergen, get him to move along, and sometimes get him to ride faster.
- Race ahead and have your balance biker try to “catch” you. Kind of like tag, but one of you is on a bike!
- Ride to a special destination. There is a chestnut tree 2 blocks from our house that Bergen calls the “nut tree”. He likes to collect the nuts and throw them into the street. There is also a small park just 4 blocks or so away that we’ll make a goal of riding to.
- Think of fun obstacles to ride through. Bergen loves riding through rocks & big collections of leaves.
4. Continue (if possible) Family Bike Rides.
Nothing motivates Bergen to ride on his own more than after we’ve taken a bike ride together as a family. We’ve had some good success capitalizing on this (and he’s got his helmet on already, so why not?) and always give him a chance to ride when we return from our outing. Kids seem to want to copy what their parents do, so it’s also been really motivating for us to get out and ride more. Win/Win.
5. Parks.
We haven’t utilized this enough because it’s just so much easier to leave straight from our house, but when we take the bike to a big open park with pathways and trails, it’s so much less stressful! Trails and grass are a lot more forgiving on falls, we don’t have to worry about crossing streets, and “accidentally” riding on neighbor’s property isn’t an issue.
***Bonus Tip: You are never supposed to balance bike on hills, BUT once your tyke is comfortable with walking with the bike, if you happen to find a street or pathway that has just the slightest, slightest incline, it may just help speed them up a bit, and thus get practice with balance.***
Do you have a balance biker in your life?
What tips do you have to share?
Come join the conversation! You can keep up to date with each and every post by subscribing to the blog via email. We’d also love to have you join us on all of our adventures by “liking” our facebook page and following us on twitter! If you enjoyed this post, please “like it”, “tweet it” or “pin it”!
Next Running Adventure: Seattle Half Marathon
For the first time in 5 years, we are NOT traveling for Thanksgiving. With our Kauai trip coming up next week, and a trip to California for Christmas, and even more trips planned for 2013, adding a Thanksgiving trip would just be too much for our little family.
So instead of taking on the challenges of the airports and roadways, I’m relying on my own two feet, and running another half marathon: The Seattle Half Marathon on November 25th. This will be my fourth half marathon, so I’m feeling good about the race, however I’m nervous because this will be the latest I’ve ever planned to run. I decided to sign up just 6 weeks out instead of my usual 12 (or more) weeks. I ran the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in late June, and have continued to walk, run, hike, and even bike throughout the summer and fall, but until a couple of weeks ago, I hadn’t stuck to a strict plan.
After running 8 miles last Sunday, and yesterday as my long runs for the week, I’m more confident though, and looking forward to the challenge of 13.1!
I also feel lucky to be training in such a beautiful fall environment. I end up doing many of my long runs along Lake Washington Boulevard because of it’s proximity to my house. Plus, it’s an easy, flat trail with plenty of other runners and cyclists to keep me company and motivate me. No interruptions (i.e. stoplights or big, busy intersections to cross) either.
A glimpse at what I’ve enjoyed the last few weeks:
I also feel lucky because I have this great support team:
Do you have a race coming up?
How do you typically celebrate Thanksgiving?
Have you “liked” our facebook page? You’ll find more photos there, and you can keep track of ALL our adventures!
Running on the Road: Keeping up with Training while Traveling
While training for a half marathon this past spring and early summer, I realized that if I wanted to reach my goal of finishing around the 2 hour mark, I’d need to keep up with my training during our travels. This meant thinking ahead, and not always going out for a run at my ideal time. In the end though, I scored some (well-deserved?) alone time leaving me feeling refreshed and accomplished, and I also set a personal record for my half marathon time!
Here’s what helped me get going away from home:
- Bring your gear. You’ll be sure to skip out on a run if you don’t have proper equipment. You don’t need much for running, but the littlest things (like the right socks) can throw me off, so I go through a checklist of what I’ll need, and pack those first.
- Research places to run. Before you leave for your trip check out places that might work for the distance you need. This gives you a chance to explore somewhere new too. In Denver, it was Cherry Creek State Park. In Portland, I ran along the Willamette River. On the Washington coast, Norman and I sneaked away for a 4 mile run on the beach. If you are visiting family and friends, ask them for ideas. Sometimes I even use “Map My Run” to calculate the mileage.
- Plan ahead. Look at your trip itinerary and your training schedule, and determine the best days and times to fit in your run.
- Communicate with your travel companions. If I am traveling with Slaed, just before the trip or even on the plane or in the car, I go over my running intentions with him. That way, he’ll know when he’s on “Bergen duty” while I’m off on a run. I also make sure to plan the run around our activities. This also keeps me honest! Solo travel with the baby or kids can be trickier, but while I was visiting my cousin in Connecticut (without Slaed), she was nice enough to watch Bergen while I went on a quick run. I made it easy on her though, and went just after I put him down for a nap!
- Think about destination environment and weather. The clothes you wear in your hometown may not work for wherever you are traveling, so make sure to bring gear that works for the climate and weather. Being aware of humidity and altitude levels is also important. I prepped a lot by drinking tons of water before our trip to Denver, and lowered my mileage expectations because of the thin air, and high altitude.
- Consider waking up early. Sometimes you just can’t fit a run in any other way. In Portland, I woke up super early before Bergen was even awake, and got my run over with by 7:00 am. Certainly leaves you feeling accomplished for the rest of the day!
What helps you keep up with your training while traveling? Share your tips!
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