Michelle Runs With It

Before I get into to this, I want to give a shout out to the woman I ran with at the very end of the race. Many may see it as though she sparked my competitive spirit, however, I was just happy to have someone to talk with the last 1/2 mile. She had seen a black snake at around the time I caught up to her and, thankfully, I had just missed it. Had I seen it, my heart rate probably would have spiked, and I would have slowed down. She scared it away and for that I am grateful. White Oak Running kicked off this new series on 4 Wednesdays in May (5/8,  5/15 ,  5/22 ,  5/29 ). It's a low key 10k through trails from a private part of Patapsco State Park. The Pickall area pavilions are only open to private parties who rent them, so it felt like quite a treat to be there. This inaugural event in the series was a 5k-loop that you ran twice. A nice aide station with the essential trail snacks was setup between loops.  Originally, I had reached out to Race Director Mario a...

This month, I am running in support of Mental Health Awareness Month! I run for my mental well-being and am very grateful to live in Columbia, Maryland with its 96+ miles of paved trails. My goal this month is to run all 96 of them and tracking them on the CA Pathway Map while raising money for the National Alliance of Mental Illness of Howard County. NAMI helps thousands of people all year long. Please consider donating to NAMI , a cause that supports you and/or your loved ones, or join me as I run/walk/explore the paths!  Below are some of the interesting things I've learned from exploring Columbia Association's paths. Lessons from Traversing the CA Paths Most paths that lead UP to streets, are incredibly steep. Great for hill repeats.  There are many hidden ponds in neighborhoods with lots of wildlife.  Since I am running up and down to cul-de-sacs (where the trail dead ends), many people think I’m lost.  I got 96 miles and a road doesn’t count as 1. Therefore, I’...