Aesthete Runner

Instead of shopping for Black Friday deals, I was able to spend the day with my family exploring Moraine Valley State Park in PA. This happens to be the park where I'll be running a good portion of my 50k in May, so it was a great way to spend the day. How did you opt outside on Black Friday?

Saturday brought the first real snowfall this season and it was really amazing against a fall backdrop.

I am sure it comes as no surprise that I have selected a plan to follow over the next few weeks before I start ultramarathon training again. It's not that I don't like running whenever I feel like it, for whatever distance I feel on that day. But winters in Chicago are tough, and I find that a plan helps hold me accountable and gives me something to follow and continue to improve. I enjoy the structure that a plan brings and I also like that guesswork is taken out of the equation.

We had our first frost and many of the beautiful leaves dropped, blanketing the trails. I know there won't be too many more running days with amazing autumn color, so I am trying to soak as much time on the trails in as I can.

Yesterday I ran the Paleozoic Cambrian Fall Trail 25k, which was my first race post-Chicago marathon and the longest I have run since the race. Initially I was considering the 50k when I was signing up, and while I would definitely consider the 50k in the future, I'm glad I went "easy" on myself and stuck to the 25k.

Fall running is the absolute best time for running, and I think these trail pictures make that pretty clear!

It is hard to believe it has been 4 weeks since the Chicago marathon, and just this morning I was watching the NYC marathon. What an inspiring day, and it's been a good 4 weeks of recovery and easy runs for me to appreciate and reflect back on my own marathon experience.