Gingerbread and Trails

Today's run club meeting was fairly interesting. We hit the trails for a good chunk of our run and I may well have trail fever now. What changed?
It must have been about halfway through our first segment when I noticed a lack of impact pressure in my hips--not sure I mentioned that I got a diagnosis of mild hip arthritis recently. I could have run all day on the trails.
*
I adhere to some fairly strict rules about nutrition. One major rule is that I don't eat foods that promote or cause inflammation (e.g. processed foods etc). Another is that I try to eat foods that reduce inflammation whenever possible (ginger, garlic, cayenne pepper, green tea).  I have yet to reach the point when I run without at least a little notice in my hips, but I'm pretty sure I've stopped things from getting any worse.  This is little comfort because I will eventually have to give up serious running at some point.
*
As it is now, any run over 21k has to be on a trail.
*
Saskatoon's notoriously short autumn is about to give way to early winter.
*
Brainsport just announced the 2016 Gingerbread Run.  I surprised myself by registering for the 5K. I'm eager to run a 5K with proper training (i.e. not one day removed from a 30k run... haha).

Autumn Rebound

Autumn has returned to Saskatoon. Since Autumn is not a particularly long season here it's probably a good idea to log those extra miles before we're all forced to wear spikes again. Thanks to the inevitable malaise, I have't been able to get anything done in the last two weeks, but I have a feeling that's about to change.
For starters, I've been able to determine from my Garmin that I have a 48 vo2 max. This is good news since I'm 190lbs, 40 years old and am not in shape (at least not by my standards).  So one of my goals this season is to see if I can raise that 48 to a 50.
I'm also eyeing the Brainsport Gingerbread Run 10K as an opportunity to get a 10K PR. Of course, the race goes off on November 20th, which is bound to be cold (and perhaps snowy as well).
Getting back to my fitness... I'm adding a new dimension to my fitness goals by making them public this time out. So here goes.

1. Lose up to 16lbs (but not less than 10lbs) by November 20th.
2. Raise my Vo2 Max to at least 50.
3. Run another 440k this year. (I'm currently at 872k for the year)
4. Perform at least 1 interval session per week.
5. Run up Andy's Hill (more on this in future posts).