Monday, March 26, 2012

Big Creek Week XII

Mon - 46min/ 5.4m/ 500' - Fisher Farm - easy run

Tues - 0hr

Wed - 1hr58min/ 12.3m/ 2000' - Crowders - pretty good run with a Crinnacle Challenge in the middle (46:38).  Everything else easy.

Thurs - 50min/ 6m/ 400'

Fri - 0hr - driving up to Asheville

Sat - 3hr32min/ 19m/ 4000' - Big Creek Trail exploration - did a big loop with Jon that was Spencer Branch, Big Creek, MST, Trace Ridge, Spencer Branch.  The Big Creek trail was amazing and was the main reason for running this loop.  This is the ascent that we take on the Assault on Mt. Pisgah fun run and I hadn't been on it before.  Phenomenal trail!

Sun -  1st run - 69min/ 8.5m/ 500' - Warren Wilson - Phenomenal run with Adam and Mike out at the sweet trails of Warren Wilson.  Felt great and the creek soakage afterward was ideal!

         2nd run - 38min/ 4m/ 1000' - Kitsuma - impulsive dusk run on the Kitsuma trail.  Went to the second peak and back.  It was nice up on the ridge.

Totals =

Time - 8hrs47min
Miles - 54.7
Vert - 8400'

Great week!!!!  40 miles of the Bartram next week pacing Adam!!!!!!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Those Mean Sisters Week XI

Mon - 0hr - rest

Tues - 65min/ 7.5m / 700' - Fisher Farm - first run in a spring rain this year.  Felt good and took the Haitori's on there first trail run.  Surprisingly they did well, although my calves felt it.

Wed - 1hr50min/ 10m/ 2000' - Crowders Mt St Pk - super relaxed effort on the trails. Once I was done, I hadn't even felt like I had ran.  Which is a good thing a suppose.

Thurs - 62min/ 7.5m/ 500' - Hawk Loop - felt pretty sluggish today, and it took awhile for my muscles to loosen up.  Guess I am feeling yesterday's run after all, albeit a day later. haha

Fri - 0hr - driving to Asheville so no time to run

Sat - 2hr50min56sec/ 15m/ 4000' - Seven Sisters Summit Run - Set a PR!!!!  From the start I new I was going to break 3 hours on this beast.  My goal was to go 2:50 or better so, I guess you can say I did more or less.  I could have been several minutes quicker, but I was having some weird issues with my heart rate getting jacked on the climbs later in the run.  I think this came from a combination of the altitude, fatigue, heat, and taking two espresso gels!  Next time I'll stay away from the caffeine in runs with a lot of climbing.

Sun - 1hr46min/ 10.5m/ 2200' -  Bent Creek - beautiful loop in the experimental forest.  route was: explorer, chestnut cove, FS 479m, sleepy gap, mst, FS 479, lower sidehill, sidehill connector.  It was a bit humid, but other than that it was gorgeous.

Totals =

Time - 8hr33min
Miles - 50.5
Vert - 9400'

I had some really good runs this week and my PR at SSSR definitely shows how much I have improved since this point last year.  I shaved 18 minutes off of last year's time!  Granted I was having a pretty crappy day when I ran this run last year, but there is no way I would have went that low.  And what is even greater about this PR, is that I feel like I could definitely go lower on this amazingly beautiful, steep, and technical loop.  Hate that Mad A wasn't able to make it out this year.  Sunday's run was phenomenal and I felt surprisingly well after Saturday's super hard effort.  So glad I get to get up to Asheville so often.  Hopefully I will be a resident there one day.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

"Um, This is Your Pilot" Week X

Mon - 0hr - rest

Tues - 1hr/ 7.3m/ 800' - Lake Shore Trail - moderately hard effort on a sweet, sweet trail

Wed - 1hr/ 7.3m/ 800' - Lake Shore Trail - another moderately hard effort with Jon.  Actually it was more like moderate, easy, then really hard effort throughout the run

Thurs - 1hr/ 6.5/ 600' - Fisher Farm - felling pretty weak on this run.  finished with a half a mile barefoot.  Haven't done any of that in a long time.

Fri - 75min/ 7.5m/ 1800' - Bakers Mtn - typical Bakers Dozen loop with some exploration on the private property side of the mountain.

Sat - 70min/ 7.5m/ 500' - Hawk Loop - easy effort out at LNSP in the morning.  Looking forward to my Pilot Mtn run tomorrow!

Sun - 2hr49min/ 17m/ 3000' - Pilot Mtn St Pk - Beautiful day on a sweet foothills peak.  A pretty big one at that.   The route was pretty much an abbreviated version of my friend Abran's Pilot Mt Payback marathon course.  I love the Sauratowns!

Totals =

Time - 8hrs7mins
Miles - 53.1
Vert - 7500'

Really happy with this weeks worth of running.  Got solid miles and solid vert in only 8hrs.  My body seemed to handle it really well and I can tell that a solid foundation has been laid going into some really sweet runs coming up the next few months.  Really wished I could have gotten out with Matt Kirk for the Grand Loop but the run in Pilot was definitely a great one and one that I don't get to do often.  Heard some goods news that another trail was being added in the park as well, which is very cool.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Up Through the Woods Week IX

Mon - 0hr - rest day

Tues - 45min/ 5m/ 400' - Laurel Loop - Was going for the full 10 miles of this trail, but my toe caught a root, well really a little overhanging stump and I thought I may have broken my middle toe.  The pain was getting worse as I ran longer so I decided to cut it short and was pretty mad about.

Wed - 62min/ 7m/ 800' - Lake Shore Trail - Came back to the park to test the toe and I'm glad to say that it isn't broken.  Just bruised the toenail.  This trail was awesome and was similar to Uwharrie.  A bunch of steep climbs one after the other.  It will wear you out!

Thurs - 73min/ 7.5m/ 1500' - Crowders Mt St Pk - lolly pop loop up and over Crowders Mt and back again. Rocktop trail is steep and gnarly!

Fri - 1hr/ 3m/ 1000' - Bakers Mt - A nice little recovery hike with Hannah.  Legs were not feeling another big mountain run the day before a really big mountain run.

Sat - 4hr53min/ 24m/ 6000' - MST - up to Woods Mtn out and back, then out and back to the North Fork of the Catawba river.  Actually supposed to go the the top of Bald Knob and back.  More on this run below.

Woods outnback

Bald outnback


Sun - 0hr - resting after the cold symptoms of yesterday

Totals =

Time - 8.9hrs
Miles - 46.5
Vert - 9700'


Saturday's run was originally supposed to be an initial attempt at the Grand Loop with Matt, but since the weather was looking less than ideal we decided to run something a bit more tame.  The plan had now changed to running out and back to Woods Mtn and then an out and back to Bald Knob.  The first out and back was great and the climb up to Woods was beautiful with views of the Blacks to the west.   Everything felt pretty well  after finished the first out and back and I was ready to tackle the scenic summit of Bald Knob.  About a mile into this section I was getting dropped often by Matt and my body was beginning to feel odd.  I had woken up in the morning with a stuffy nose, but didn't think much about it.  Now my joints were beginning to get real achy in a weird way.  I made it to the Catawba River and realized that I probably didn't have another 9-10 miles left in me.  I told Matt and we decided to walk a bit and see if I began to feel any better.  After a little less than a mile of walking I threw in the towel and told Matt to head on without me and I would walk/shuffle back to the car 5 miles away.  Even though I missed out on the summit of Bald Knob, I still had a very good run with a lot of elevation gain.  I did miss out on getting my marathon or more run in for the month, but two weeks from now a double Seven Sisters Summit Run seems like a good choice.  I might be making a trip back to Marion next week to hit up an out and back to Bald Knob.  Happy trails!