It has certainly been a rough February...
Here in Indiana, both the weather and the roads have been rough. It seems that the roads are falling apart worse that ever this month. What used to be some of my favorite routes are quickly turning into gravel roads! The weather has begun to moderate but that is leading to more freezing and thawing cycles which is obviously not good for the asphalt.While I am able to get more miles in on each run this month, I have tended to overdo it which has led to more "off" days. After being cooped up with snow and single digits through most of January and part of February it is just too tempting on a wet 40 degree day to go out and run 10 miles. The problem is the feet aren't conditioned to those mileages and I need to take it easy. Twice this month I have had great weather conditions and ended up running too much, too soon, and then had to take extra rest days. The first time was Valentine's Day two weeks ago, when I ran a nice 5 mile Monday, 10 mile Tuesday and 7 mile Wednesday, all with temps in the 30s but with wet and gravel strewed pavement. As a result, I was blessed with no fewer than 5 blood blisters which became very painful and sidelined me for the rest of the week.
And then again this week on Monday I ran 7 and Tuesday I ran 8 only to have to take off today on a perfect 50 degree day because the feet are still sore and recovering from the debacle two weeks ago. Hopefully, the feet will feel okay tomorrow and I can get March started off right.
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| "The Path" at Christ UMC |
This past couple of weeks at my church (Christ UMC Westfield IN) we have been studying Rev. Mark Batterson's book "Draw The Circle" and visioning a new fitness trail known as "The Path" which runs the perimeter of our 7+ Acre property. The Path is exactly 1Km (or 0.62 miles) and is currently undeveloped. Our vision is to develop or at least mark out the path within the next few weeks. Then, with the help of our "Honey Dudes" men's group and possibly an Eagle Scout Project we would begin to build the trail with gravel, railroad ties, or boardwalk. We would like to have an arched gateway off of Union Street which would welcome walkers, runners and hikers to The Path. Longer term we would like to have 6 or 7 "prayer stations" displaying favorite Bible verses of the congregation. We might even have "fitness stations" for chin-ups, push-ups, etc. We would love to have the Westfield Cross Country and Track teams incorporate this into their workouts. We see this as a great outreach to our community and neighbors, and a way to get everyone "moving" in the same direction at Christ UMC.
I've now completed 4 loops on The Path with a different group of friends each time. Want to join me? If you are interested, please feel free to contact me or just come take a hike and do a prayer walk on your own.
Looking forward to a warmer (and more dry) Spring!
Blessings,
Barefoot Dan
(February mileage = 72.0 miles)
