Positive Signs

 It's been a long winter and a colder spring then last year but this was definitely a welcome sign at the trail head today! Through the winter I get used to seeing a fairly consistent group of people hiking through the Dundas and Ancaster trails,an elderly woman with her German Shepard who counts down the weeks to my race and when I stop to chat in passing is always encouraging. She is definitely a hero of mine as I notice she covers no less than 5km no matter the weather or trail conditions. There is also a younger(mid to late 50's)couple with a brown collie,I swear that collie is part ultra runner,when he injured his paw this winter he carried a stick instead of his trusty orange ball "to slow him down a bit" his owner said. Now that the warm weather group has joined in and suddenly there are people with strollers,bikes,wrist weights,umbrellas and cameras all over. A friend said to me he dislikes it when the trails get crowded but i see it as just another sign of spring.
  Training is going well this year,the last several weeks mileage was higher than I have ever been to before and I could definitely start to feel the aches and pains.Last week I noticed the aches come to a point that everything hurt and there was little to no recovery from one days long run to the next.I was beginning to get that miserable feeling that comes with over training and decided since it was my weekend to work anyway it was time for a recovery break.Friday,Saturday and Sunday there was no running,by Sunday I had a craving to ride my bike to work but a quick look at the notes in my logbook reminded me to rest. This morning I went out for my first run in three days and it felt great,an easy paced 40k and nothing hurt,it was rainy but warm and I felt on top of the world.Hopefully with some careful attention in the next several weeks I can carry this feeling into the Sulphur springs 100 miler.Looking forward to the first week of slightly reduced distance and finding out how the winters work will pay off in the spring.

 As far as my shoe trials,after experimenting with several different ones for my longer runs I'm back in my tried and true Brooks Cascadia. The saucony shoes were amazing but once the weekly distance exceeded 160km they just didn't allow enough room in the toe box for my slightly swollen toes. I definitely plan on running a mix of both shoes in my shorter distance runs as the lighter feel and lower heel/toe was great. Other gear I've fallen in love with lately includes my Sugoi Titan 2in1 shorts and Titan short sleeve top,the shorts are great with a non chafing liner and the shirt has a nice fit and doesn't chafe even when wet. Also my mountain hardware plasmic jacket,I bought this jacket last year not even thinking about running in it,but with the weather this spring it became my go to jacket for wet snow,rain ,wind and everything else the days threw at me.It breathes well and performed flawlessly every run.