Running By Woods on a Snowy Morning

Halfway through the second of three loops, I'd been wallowing in self pity for quite some time as I made my way up the biggest hill on the course. Michael Valone and a few others sporting #TrailsRoc orange gazed down the slope as I meticulously inched my way forward and seriously considered calling it a day and hiking it back in with this crowd. Michael yelled something about looking strong I muttered back something about feeling awful.

It wasn't until I crested the ridge and exchanged high fives with Michael that it struck me what a selfish, grade A a-hole I was in that moment. Here I was, spending a couple hours exhausted and cold and sore, but doing something I genuinely love to do on almost any given day. And for the last hour and a half I was blind to it, practically begging for an ounce of sympathy while trying to maintain traction up that snowy singletrack. It wasn't until Michael and I high-fived that I was bitten with his always-present, infectious energy. Only then I remembered how lucky I was to even have the chance to be out there sauntering through the woods.

0 Degree Winter Trail Festival

At the end of 2017 I was able to squeeze in one last trail race to close out the year. #TrailRoc's 0 Degree WTF is a low-cost, low-key, no frills trail race, with a similar vibe to most of the FLRC trail races around Ithaca. The course snakes its way around Powder Mills County Park on a 5-ish mile loop, with options to hoof it for 5, 10, or 15 miles. #TrailsRoc holds the race annually to raise money for trail maintenance projects in the Rochester, NY, area, with all proceeds going back to the trails and landowners.

After plans to head up to Maine for the Millinocket Marathon fell through, I signed up for the WTF 15-Miler to run it as a workout. I figured I'd get some quality mileage in amidst a six-week training phase that involved a ton of uphill intervals at maximum effort. Halfway through the six-week phase, 15 miles on dry trails would be a welcome reprieve from shredding my calves on 12 percent road inclines.

December 9 came around—the same day I'd planned to run Millinocket—and thankfully the park was snow-free. It was quite a bit warmer than the advertised 0° Fahrenheit. In fact, it was pretty