I (trail) run because....
...walking takes too long
...I love the reaction I get when people say "how far do you run"
...those 26.2 stickers make me laugh
...there is too much to see in this life and not enough time to see it
...I find new things that make me smile every time I run
...I find new things that make me cuss every time I run
...running is the only time when I feel like I can actually slow my life down as one minute can feel like an hour whereas one month can feel like one hour in the rush of life...
...I can let me mind wander
...pavement sucks
...I can play Laserquest without getting winded...
...it makes my music sound that much better...
...the thought of being obese disgusts me....
...I see people sitting in traffic on Walnut Grove and think about how bad that must suck to be in their position....then I smile that I'm not
...I have solved the world's problems 10 times over
...I feel much better about sitting around doing nothing after a good run...
...the visitor center at Shelby Farms has pretty nice facilities
...I love to explore new places...
...passing a biker on the trail....
...I love to experience the transition from darkness to daylight on the trail
...I have yet to answer my question to myself of "how far can I go"
...post race pizza and beer...
...the good company I have met through running
...the solitude I sometimes find through running
...the dream of the Grand Slam
...the thought of being a good example to my students
...it helps bring meaning to my life...
...it helps define me as a person...
...my bike riding buddies wouldn't have anything to make fun of me about if I didn't...
...giving "the wave" to runners I see all the time yet don't know at all
...turning new people on to the trails...
...the continuing search for experiencing "a full range of life's emotions in one race"...
...I love the outdoors
...you really appreciate solid food after 5+ hours of gel
...it makes me a much more positive person
...a "singlet" is for wrestling
...it heavily influences my attitude in a positive manner in other realms of my life
...I couldn't imagine life without it...
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Saturday, October 13, 2007
How weird is this?
So apparently mother nature has it out for me during the month of October...
It all started 2 years ago (10/3/05 - I remember the date cause there was a Panic show the next day) when I was out riding my mountain bike on the Tour de Wolf...while I was cruising along I ran into a bee and it stung me in the forearm....no biggie for the rest of the day, but that night my arm swelled up big time...the sting was on the inside of my forearm about halfway down and it swelled all the way to right below my shoulder....made me look like I worked out...on one side at least...I went to the doctor as I had been stung a number of times before and never had a reaction like this one....he said everything was fine, that I am just a little more sensitive to stings than most, but it probably wouldn't hurt for me to carry an epi-pen just in case I got stung again I had a reaction that affected my breathing...
Almost a year to date later...I think the date was like 10/4/06 (the wednesday before I raced Stumpjump last year) and I was out running at Shelby Farms and somehow a bee got in my shoe and stung me....I was pretty freaked out as this was the first time I had been stung since the year before when I had that massive reaction....I rushed home and held off on poking myself with my epi-pen because I wasn't having any reaction to this one...turns out this one never really swelled up or anything
So yesterday I'm out cruising around the Buddy when I feel something smack me in the forehead....I thought it was probably a rock or something the car in front of me had thrown up...shortly thereafter I came to a red light and I noticed something crawling around inside my sunglasses....I ripped them off as fast as I could and right about that time I felt the sting in my eyelid....It hurt pretty bad but I was able to keep on riding...shortly after I stopped at Fleet Feet to take Lauren some lunch and looked at my eye for the first time in the mirror...it was starting to swell up....I rode from Fleet Feet to Outdoors and when I went in everyone's reaction was "what the hell happened to your eye?"....I could tell it was getting harder and harder to see so I called it a day on the buddy and went on home....by 6pm I could no longer open my eye due to the swelling...I was worried I was going to have to use the epi-pen but I wasn't going to as long as the swelling stayed local and did not spread from my eye....
so for the 3rd year in a row I got stung within the first 2 weeks of October...how weird is that...I woke up this morning and had to call in to work for the first time since I cracked my face open over 2 years ago because I could not open my eye at all...the swelling is still just around my eye, so I'm not gonna use the epi-pen...just poppin' the the benadryl and icing it....
here is what it looked like last night around 8pm..
note in this picture I am trying as hard as I can to open my eye as wide as possible.....
Also the first time I ever got stung when I was like 5 or 6 it was within the first couple of weeks of October because I remember my parents were getting the house ready for a Halloween party...strange...
As far as the rest of life is going...I did not run one time this week...I was planning on running today but needless to say that didn't happen...
I am super pumped about the Buddy....my mom was all about it, cruisin it up and down the street and what not...Lauren was a bit timid at first but she it is growing on her ...she still hasn't driven it yet....but then again we came from very different backgrounds..I grew up riding dirt bikes and my dad rides a Harley so I'm used to motorcycles....
check it out though....
rides like a dream....at 100 miles per gallon too!
happy running, share the road, and watch out for those bees...the are vicious in October...
It all started 2 years ago (10/3/05 - I remember the date cause there was a Panic show the next day) when I was out riding my mountain bike on the Tour de Wolf...while I was cruising along I ran into a bee and it stung me in the forearm....no biggie for the rest of the day, but that night my arm swelled up big time...the sting was on the inside of my forearm about halfway down and it swelled all the way to right below my shoulder....made me look like I worked out...on one side at least...I went to the doctor as I had been stung a number of times before and never had a reaction like this one....he said everything was fine, that I am just a little more sensitive to stings than most, but it probably wouldn't hurt for me to carry an epi-pen just in case I got stung again I had a reaction that affected my breathing...
Almost a year to date later...I think the date was like 10/4/06 (the wednesday before I raced Stumpjump last year) and I was out running at Shelby Farms and somehow a bee got in my shoe and stung me....I was pretty freaked out as this was the first time I had been stung since the year before when I had that massive reaction....I rushed home and held off on poking myself with my epi-pen because I wasn't having any reaction to this one...turns out this one never really swelled up or anything
So yesterday I'm out cruising around the Buddy when I feel something smack me in the forehead....I thought it was probably a rock or something the car in front of me had thrown up...shortly thereafter I came to a red light and I noticed something crawling around inside my sunglasses....I ripped them off as fast as I could and right about that time I felt the sting in my eyelid....It hurt pretty bad but I was able to keep on riding...shortly after I stopped at Fleet Feet to take Lauren some lunch and looked at my eye for the first time in the mirror...it was starting to swell up....I rode from Fleet Feet to Outdoors and when I went in everyone's reaction was "what the hell happened to your eye?"....I could tell it was getting harder and harder to see so I called it a day on the buddy and went on home....by 6pm I could no longer open my eye due to the swelling...I was worried I was going to have to use the epi-pen but I wasn't going to as long as the swelling stayed local and did not spread from my eye....
so for the 3rd year in a row I got stung within the first 2 weeks of October...how weird is that...I woke up this morning and had to call in to work for the first time since I cracked my face open over 2 years ago because I could not open my eye at all...the swelling is still just around my eye, so I'm not gonna use the epi-pen...just poppin' the the benadryl and icing it....
here is what it looked like last night around 8pm..
note in this picture I am trying as hard as I can to open my eye as wide as possible.....
Also the first time I ever got stung when I was like 5 or 6 it was within the first couple of weeks of October because I remember my parents were getting the house ready for a Halloween party...strange...
As far as the rest of life is going...I did not run one time this week...I was planning on running today but needless to say that didn't happen...
I am super pumped about the Buddy....my mom was all about it, cruisin it up and down the street and what not...Lauren was a bit timid at first but she it is growing on her ...she still hasn't driven it yet....but then again we came from very different backgrounds..I grew up riding dirt bikes and my dad rides a Harley so I'm used to motorcycles....
check it out though....
rides like a dream....at 100 miles per gallon too!
happy running, share the road, and watch out for those bees...the are vicious in October...
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Stumpjump...
I guess I'm a bit late on this post, as everyone else has already given their side of the story....
We arrived at our beautiful Marriot hotel just in time for the ladies to wait on me to pretty up so we could head over to Rock Creek for the pre race dinner and festivities...Rock Creek moved locations since the last time I have been to Chattanooga and I must say the new store is pretty awesome...very spread out and nothing is crammed on to the racks....they also support local teams (running, adventure racing, climbing....and more)...hmmm.....but anyways, great looking store with a true interest in the Chattanooga outdoor culture....
The dinner was good, I even got to get seconds....after the dinner we went back to the Marriot for the pre-race prep of filling gel flasks and all that kind of good stuff....
Arrived at the race about 6:30 for the 8am start...I'm kind of a freak about getting to races early as I want to make sure I have everything taken care of before the race starts....
When the RD got up to explain this years race he told us teh course was going to be a bit different than year's past, we were going to make an extra 2 mile loop on some non-technical gravel road on the way out before we hit the single track which I thought was a good thing as I remember the singletrack bottle necking hard last year....
The siren (or gun or whatever it was ) went off and I took off with the front 30 or so folks...The pace was fast right off and immediately my heart rate was up there and I was breathing pretty heavy....I wanted to slow it up a bit but I knew if I did I would get passed by a wave of people and then it would be really hard to pass once we got into the single track so I stuck with it, hoping the pace would chill out soon so I could fall into a groove....
We arrived at the aid station where the single track began (labeled mile 5.1) at 1:06...this is where I began to notice something was up with the distances....the guys I was running with were a bit stunned as well...1:06 and 5.1 miles...no way, we were rolling way faster than that...anyway, the singletrack began and it bombed us down a very steep hill which I was able to keep a good pace going down...that dropped us out on a road and another aid station not too far away where I refilled and kept on chugging...by this time the pack had spread out a bit and I was falling into a rhythm on the more runnable sections of trail but my rhythm was always disrupted by a climb within a few minutes of moving along...
I rolled through the drop bag aid station at mile 10 and got in my bag just long enough to grab some e-caps and switch out my gel flask...I was poppin e-caps like candy (2-3) an hour as it was really hot and I felt like i was on the verge of cramps all day, though thankfully they never struck...I got to the "mile 16" aid station at 3:06....I was getting frustrated at this point...3:06 at half is a 6:12 split on a good day...I was thinking there is no way I'm moving at this pace...the other guy I was running with said he ran a 5:11 last year and felt like he was in good enough shape to do it again and he was shocked at the time at 16 miles....
Whatever..I convinced myself that my time was going to be off from last year and that now my goal was to pass as many people as possible in the next 16 miles....after the race I learned that the 16 mile aid station ran out of water for later runners...I just want to say I'm sorry, if I had of known I would have only filled my bottle half way...In the next section I passed quite a few people that were beginning to feel the effects of the heat...I rolled into mile 20 where my drop bag was and picked up the ipod for some motivation to take it home...
I had a massive playlist set up so that I could just scroll through and leave it on whatever caught the mood but luckily I didn't have to mess with it too much as I fell into the groove with some Panic early on the playlist....the next 10 miles were all about passing....I would pass somebody, then run hard til I got someone in my sights to pass again.....I finally made it to the last aid station and I knew it was easy from here...I passed 2 more folks on the last 3 mile section before busting out of the woods and seeing the finish line...this was a huge relief as I was really starting to feel it....I ended up crossing the line in 5:44....good enough for 17th out of a hundred and seventy something finishers...I was very pleased with my effort...I felt like I had left everything I had out of the course...even though I started fast I didn't feel like I ever really gave out...I had energy throughout the entire race....I ran some hills that I would have ordinarily walked....
after finishing I found out the reason my times were off at the aid stations is that they were using the signs from last year and that this years course was actually 2 miles longer...I sat around and relaxed (and got sore) while waiting on the other Memphis crew to come in...Drew rolled in and we hung for a while and then Michael came rolling in...before too long Holly came rolling through followed very shortly by Lauren, then Elle, then Patrick and his mate....
Super pumped for all the 1st time Memphis finishers..you guys rocked it out and this was a very hard day on a very hard course!!! I'm pretty sure most of the Memphis crew has Sylamore on their minds now....for me I'm tossing Swampstomper in there in January and the aim for that one is to pick up some speed between then and now...
oh yeah..I bought a scooter today....a Genuine Scooter Company Buddy Italia....125cc that goes around 65 mph and gets 100mpg......but I'm pretty pumped..only thing is I have to drive to Chattanooga again this weekend to pick it up...
hope all is well...happy running and share the road (with bikes and scooters)!
We arrived at our beautiful Marriot hotel just in time for the ladies to wait on me to pretty up so we could head over to Rock Creek for the pre race dinner and festivities...Rock Creek moved locations since the last time I have been to Chattanooga and I must say the new store is pretty awesome...very spread out and nothing is crammed on to the racks....they also support local teams (running, adventure racing, climbing....and more)...hmmm.....but anyways, great looking store with a true interest in the Chattanooga outdoor culture....
The dinner was good, I even got to get seconds....after the dinner we went back to the Marriot for the pre-race prep of filling gel flasks and all that kind of good stuff....
Arrived at the race about 6:30 for the 8am start...I'm kind of a freak about getting to races early as I want to make sure I have everything taken care of before the race starts....
When the RD got up to explain this years race he told us teh course was going to be a bit different than year's past, we were going to make an extra 2 mile loop on some non-technical gravel road on the way out before we hit the single track which I thought was a good thing as I remember the singletrack bottle necking hard last year....
The siren (or gun or whatever it was ) went off and I took off with the front 30 or so folks...The pace was fast right off and immediately my heart rate was up there and I was breathing pretty heavy....I wanted to slow it up a bit but I knew if I did I would get passed by a wave of people and then it would be really hard to pass once we got into the single track so I stuck with it, hoping the pace would chill out soon so I could fall into a groove....
We arrived at the aid station where the single track began (labeled mile 5.1) at 1:06...this is where I began to notice something was up with the distances....the guys I was running with were a bit stunned as well...1:06 and 5.1 miles...no way, we were rolling way faster than that...anyway, the singletrack began and it bombed us down a very steep hill which I was able to keep a good pace going down...that dropped us out on a road and another aid station not too far away where I refilled and kept on chugging...by this time the pack had spread out a bit and I was falling into a rhythm on the more runnable sections of trail but my rhythm was always disrupted by a climb within a few minutes of moving along...
I rolled through the drop bag aid station at mile 10 and got in my bag just long enough to grab some e-caps and switch out my gel flask...I was poppin e-caps like candy (2-3) an hour as it was really hot and I felt like i was on the verge of cramps all day, though thankfully they never struck...I got to the "mile 16" aid station at 3:06....I was getting frustrated at this point...3:06 at half is a 6:12 split on a good day...I was thinking there is no way I'm moving at this pace...the other guy I was running with said he ran a 5:11 last year and felt like he was in good enough shape to do it again and he was shocked at the time at 16 miles....
Whatever..I convinced myself that my time was going to be off from last year and that now my goal was to pass as many people as possible in the next 16 miles....after the race I learned that the 16 mile aid station ran out of water for later runners...I just want to say I'm sorry, if I had of known I would have only filled my bottle half way...In the next section I passed quite a few people that were beginning to feel the effects of the heat...I rolled into mile 20 where my drop bag was and picked up the ipod for some motivation to take it home...
I had a massive playlist set up so that I could just scroll through and leave it on whatever caught the mood but luckily I didn't have to mess with it too much as I fell into the groove with some Panic early on the playlist....the next 10 miles were all about passing....I would pass somebody, then run hard til I got someone in my sights to pass again.....I finally made it to the last aid station and I knew it was easy from here...I passed 2 more folks on the last 3 mile section before busting out of the woods and seeing the finish line...this was a huge relief as I was really starting to feel it....I ended up crossing the line in 5:44....good enough for 17th out of a hundred and seventy something finishers...I was very pleased with my effort...I felt like I had left everything I had out of the course...even though I started fast I didn't feel like I ever really gave out...I had energy throughout the entire race....I ran some hills that I would have ordinarily walked....
after finishing I found out the reason my times were off at the aid stations is that they were using the signs from last year and that this years course was actually 2 miles longer...I sat around and relaxed (and got sore) while waiting on the other Memphis crew to come in...Drew rolled in and we hung for a while and then Michael came rolling in...before too long Holly came rolling through followed very shortly by Lauren, then Elle, then Patrick and his mate....
Super pumped for all the 1st time Memphis finishers..you guys rocked it out and this was a very hard day on a very hard course!!! I'm pretty sure most of the Memphis crew has Sylamore on their minds now....for me I'm tossing Swampstomper in there in January and the aim for that one is to pick up some speed between then and now...
oh yeah..I bought a scooter today....a Genuine Scooter Company Buddy Italia....125cc that goes around 65 mph and gets 100mpg......but I'm pretty pumped..only thing is I have to drive to Chattanooga again this weekend to pick it up...
hope all is well...happy running and share the road (with bikes and scooters)!
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
life...
Had a great time with my friends and my band this past weekend....hard to get back in the swing of things after a weekend outta the routine but I'm doing what I can....
Today I went to Youth Villages school for some observation hours for my class....wow...this was really hard to see these kids with such severe emotional and behavioral difficulties....the teachers and counselors who work here have my utmost respect as this seems like it would be a very difficult place to work....I witnessed a child have to be restrained by 2 adults and that's when it really hit me how much most of these kids of probably seen in their young lives...it was a pretty intense and moving experience....
Got out for a quick 6 miler today just to keep the legs loose...probably gonna get up and do the same in the morning....
I haven't been excited to see a movie in ages...I think I have only seen 3 movies in the theater in the past 3 or 4 years...just not really my thing, but I really want to see Into the Wild....I read this book about two years ago and loved it...I hope the movie does the story justice....do yourself a favor and read the book before the movie if you have the chance...its not a terribly long read and it reads really fast....I was checking out Youtube for the trailer and ran across the some of the music by Eddie Vedder...pretty cool I must say....check it out....
hope all is well....happy running and share the road!
Today I went to Youth Villages school for some observation hours for my class....wow...this was really hard to see these kids with such severe emotional and behavioral difficulties....the teachers and counselors who work here have my utmost respect as this seems like it would be a very difficult place to work....I witnessed a child have to be restrained by 2 adults and that's when it really hit me how much most of these kids of probably seen in their young lives...it was a pretty intense and moving experience....
Got out for a quick 6 miler today just to keep the legs loose...probably gonna get up and do the same in the morning....
I haven't been excited to see a movie in ages...I think I have only seen 3 movies in the theater in the past 3 or 4 years...just not really my thing, but I really want to see Into the Wild....I read this book about two years ago and loved it...I hope the movie does the story justice....do yourself a favor and read the book before the movie if you have the chance...its not a terribly long read and it reads really fast....I was checking out Youtube for the trailer and ran across the some of the music by Eddie Vedder...pretty cool I must say....check it out....
hope all is well....happy running and share the road!
Friday, September 21, 2007
Panic Day!!!!!!
Today is Panic day! Have been pretty pumped about this one for a while....two nites at Fedex forum to rock out...got some good friends that I don't get to see alot coming in from out of town so I'm excited about that too....
Running this week has gone decent...sittin on 27 right now....gonna try and get in a run tomorrow mid day...def not gonna hit the early morning Shelby Farms crew.....I'll take 40 for the week and be satisfied....still feelin really good about Stumpjump!
happy running and share the trails!
Running this week has gone decent...sittin on 27 right now....gonna try and get in a run tomorrow mid day...def not gonna hit the early morning Shelby Farms crew.....I'll take 40 for the week and be satisfied....still feelin really good about Stumpjump!
happy running and share the trails!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Still Alive...
haven't posted on the blogger in a while...been meaning to, but keep getting sidetracked...all is well in running land....feeling really confident about Stumpjump...especially after a great weekend of running, camping, and good company at Sylamore where I was able to put up a 16 and a 28 back to back....
With the Sylamore trip I was able to get in right at 50 miles for the week before last and then this past week I did two hard days of speed work with an easy 10 miler to recover on Thursday...woke up Friday feeling really fatigued and lethargic so I have taken the last couple of days off....
School has really kicked in to gear as I am midway through my first 8 week semester...pretty busy with that but trying to find time to fit in all the rest....planning on knocking out one more long run tomorrow...I was originally concerned with going out for a fast one but at this point in the game I think I am just looking forward to taking a break from school work for a few hours as that's all I will be doing tomorrow so I'm not goo concerned about pace....
After this week the taper really kicks into gear as I will be getting fully prepped for Stumpjump which I am really really excited about....
happy running and share the road....
With the Sylamore trip I was able to get in right at 50 miles for the week before last and then this past week I did two hard days of speed work with an easy 10 miler to recover on Thursday...woke up Friday feeling really fatigued and lethargic so I have taken the last couple of days off....
School has really kicked in to gear as I am midway through my first 8 week semester...pretty busy with that but trying to find time to fit in all the rest....planning on knocking out one more long run tomorrow...I was originally concerned with going out for a fast one but at this point in the game I think I am just looking forward to taking a break from school work for a few hours as that's all I will be doing tomorrow so I'm not goo concerned about pace....
After this week the taper really kicks into gear as I will be getting fully prepped for Stumpjump which I am really really excited about....
happy running and share the road....
Monday, September 3, 2007
Another week down....
wow...seems I have been really busy the past two weeks...school is really starting to pick up and I'm having to spend more and more time outside of the classroom getting all my work done...however, still managed to get in pretty good mileage this past week....
Monday I woke up and went for a six miler that included 3 x 5 minute lactate threshold efforts with 1 minute of recovery between each....I was hurting by the last effort but definitely glad I was able to push myself through it.....
Tuesday I had a few hours in between getting off work and going to class so I took the opportunity to get out to the Farms and knock out 10....I started running at about 3:30 in the afternoon and even though it has gotten a little bit cooler, it was still reallly hot....I struggled through ten, pacing a bit slower than I normally would...
Ended up taking Wednesday off from running and riding completely...Thursday I planned to try and knock out a run but things didn't work out before work...I did end up riding in to and from work from Lauren's house which is about 7 each way...kept a pretty good pace so I at least got in some workout....
Friday I was off work and scheduled to do a long run...I usually knock out my long runs on Saturday but I had to work Saturday this weekend and its no fun to to stand on your feet all day after knocking out 20+ miles....The alarm went off at 4 am and I reluctantly rolled out of bed to start the run...I was starting out with Lauren and Elle as they were shooting for 18 for the day...I didn't have an exact number I was going for but I wanted it to be somewhere in the 24 range....
We took off from Elle's apartment (she lives in the apartments that back up to Shelby Farms) headlamps and all and knocked out a loop of the tour de wolf with the Patriot Lake trail thrown in...stopped back at Elle's apartment to refill and refuel and then took off for another loop of the Tour....Elle had to go to work so she left Lauren and I around 12ish (I think)....We finished our second loop of the Tour and then had 4 more miles for Lauren to reach her goal and longest run to date...We ran the back side of the Tour to get the next four and I was super proud of how Lauren pushed herself through those last two miles, as it was definitely a battle for her....
I was at 18 at that point and feeling super fresh so I refilled and refueled, threw some Panic on the ipod and took out for some more...I ran from the backside of the Tour to the paved Chickisaw loop (concrete = lame, but at that point I was looking for some variety)...hit the Chick loop, stopped off at the visitor center to refill and hit the Patriot loop and the rest of the Tour for a grand total of 27.5....
The entire run felt really good...the temperature on Friday morning was amazing...super cool...even when I finished it was pretty cool outside....came home took a nap, knocked out some school work and then refueled with massive quantities of chips and salsa at Los Compadres....
Ended the week with a total of 43.5 miles....not quite 50 but I'm pretty pumped about the long run feeling as good as it did....
Finally got my full suspension mountain bike in working order....met up with some guys from work Saturday morning before work out at Shelby Farms and got in its maiden ride...it was nothing short of amazing....a bit overkill for the trails of Memphis but I'm planning ahead with this one...I can't wait to test it out on some real trails....
Sunday I got out on the mountain bike again before work...rocked a couple of quick laps at the Tour...gotta wear the new out...
I was planning on racing the Six Hours of Herb Parsons mountain bike race this coming Saturday but I am off work on Friday and Saturday and there might be an opportunity to get in a good 2 day training stint at Sylamore where I can go long and get in some good hills running and take the bike to test it out on some real trails....hopefully it will pan out....I would much rather spend two days in the hills of Arkansas than six hours riding in in a circle in Fisherville....until next time...happy running and share the road!
Monday I woke up and went for a six miler that included 3 x 5 minute lactate threshold efforts with 1 minute of recovery between each....I was hurting by the last effort but definitely glad I was able to push myself through it.....
Tuesday I had a few hours in between getting off work and going to class so I took the opportunity to get out to the Farms and knock out 10....I started running at about 3:30 in the afternoon and even though it has gotten a little bit cooler, it was still reallly hot....I struggled through ten, pacing a bit slower than I normally would...
Ended up taking Wednesday off from running and riding completely...Thursday I planned to try and knock out a run but things didn't work out before work...I did end up riding in to and from work from Lauren's house which is about 7 each way...kept a pretty good pace so I at least got in some workout....
Friday I was off work and scheduled to do a long run...I usually knock out my long runs on Saturday but I had to work Saturday this weekend and its no fun to to stand on your feet all day after knocking out 20+ miles....The alarm went off at 4 am and I reluctantly rolled out of bed to start the run...I was starting out with Lauren and Elle as they were shooting for 18 for the day...I didn't have an exact number I was going for but I wanted it to be somewhere in the 24 range....
We took off from Elle's apartment (she lives in the apartments that back up to Shelby Farms) headlamps and all and knocked out a loop of the tour de wolf with the Patriot Lake trail thrown in...stopped back at Elle's apartment to refill and refuel and then took off for another loop of the Tour....Elle had to go to work so she left Lauren and I around 12ish (I think)....We finished our second loop of the Tour and then had 4 more miles for Lauren to reach her goal and longest run to date...We ran the back side of the Tour to get the next four and I was super proud of how Lauren pushed herself through those last two miles, as it was definitely a battle for her....
I was at 18 at that point and feeling super fresh so I refilled and refueled, threw some Panic on the ipod and took out for some more...I ran from the backside of the Tour to the paved Chickisaw loop (concrete = lame, but at that point I was looking for some variety)...hit the Chick loop, stopped off at the visitor center to refill and hit the Patriot loop and the rest of the Tour for a grand total of 27.5....
The entire run felt really good...the temperature on Friday morning was amazing...super cool...even when I finished it was pretty cool outside....came home took a nap, knocked out some school work and then refueled with massive quantities of chips and salsa at Los Compadres....
Ended the week with a total of 43.5 miles....not quite 50 but I'm pretty pumped about the long run feeling as good as it did....
Finally got my full suspension mountain bike in working order....met up with some guys from work Saturday morning before work out at Shelby Farms and got in its maiden ride...it was nothing short of amazing....a bit overkill for the trails of Memphis but I'm planning ahead with this one...I can't wait to test it out on some real trails....
Sunday I got out on the mountain bike again before work...rocked a couple of quick laps at the Tour...gotta wear the new out...
I was planning on racing the Six Hours of Herb Parsons mountain bike race this coming Saturday but I am off work on Friday and Saturday and there might be an opportunity to get in a good 2 day training stint at Sylamore where I can go long and get in some good hills running and take the bike to test it out on some real trails....hopefully it will pan out....I would much rather spend two days in the hills of Arkansas than six hours riding in in a circle in Fisherville....until next time...happy running and share the road!
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