Quick Check-in

It has been really hard in the recent weeks to find the time to sit down and right a new post.  I just started a new job at Hanging Rock State Park and I have no internet were I am living at in the park, so you can see why things have been a laging a bit.  Even today, I am busy visiting family and friends on my day off, but I at least thought I could give a quick update on what has been going on in the past 3 weeks. 

1.  I am really enjoying the new job and have great co-workers.  I've been swimming and getting a sweet sun tan pretty much everyday.  Plus, I've got great trails to run in the park, with plenty of vertical.  My runs have been inconsistent and of shorter length because of the heat lately, but I can defintely tell an improvement in my running just because of how tough everything is at the park.  It's pretty hard to run easy runs when almost every trail is straight up or straight down on some of the most technical terrain you've ever seen.  It has been a blast though!

2.  I finally ran RAM (Roan Adventure Marathon) this year with the good folks of WNC Trail Runner.  This is the run that caught my attention and made me want to join the group and it provided everything I expected and bit more too.  The plan was to run this 28-29 milish run in around 6 hours.  On the way out, I ran 2:36 and never felt like I was pushing myself as I was chating with Scott Williams almost the entire way.  The scenery was outstainding as it always is though my favorite section of trail I've ran to date.  I pushed myself back up Hump Mtn to try and catch up with Adam and Jeremy and that is where things started to turn downhill.  I'm pretty positive that consuming two gels that had been sitting in my car for three weeks, being reheated on a daily basis, were the colprit to my feeling of illness the last 10 miles of the run.  I was forced to walk everything from that point on because my stomach would cramp up something fierce and my kidneys were screaming in pain.  It ended up taking my 5 hours to return back to the start.   I stuck with Damian on most of the return, as we were both having some issues.  At one point, I even began to get scared for my life, but I filthy water source and the sight of round bald 2 miles ahead rejuvinated me just enough to push it to the finish.  It took me a good 30 minutes of laying in the parking lot with a cold wet towel drapped across my body while Hannah hand fed my salty chips before I came back to life.  I'm glad I survived this one and I can't wait to take the lessons I learned from this years race and come back next year and get that sub-6 hour finish!

3.  I got to help out the Grand Kirk (Matt Kirk) on his MST thru hike journey as he stayed at my place in the park a hundred yards of the trail.  The Grand Kirk was looking strong and had pushed 49 miles through the last mountain range on the trail to get to my place for some brews, food, and shelter.  I woke up early the next morning to join him for the last 5 miles out of the Sauratown mountains.  Like, I said, he is looking strong and there is no doubt that he will be finsishing ahead of schedule and enjoying his break from the mounatins for at least a little while.  Check out this page to see daily updates on how his progress is going: http://runthemst.wikispaces.com/

Until next time...

Art Loeb Trail Run Vid

Like I mentioned in my previous post, I made a video of my Art Loeb Trail run from Black Balsam to Cold Mountain.  I have it posted below.  And a quick report on my Iron Mountain run, I got sick and only had the energy to make it 20 miles and not even all at once.  So there isn't really anything to report on it other than I felt horrible and I am really upset that I didn't get to complete the run.  Anyway, enjoy the video!

In an Appalachia Coma

Without a doubt the past 5 days have been the most memorable and jubilant Appalachia experience of my life so far.  To say that I took advantage of my two week summer break before my job starts is a understatement.  I'll have to break this post down into daily sections just to keep everything from becoming a blur. 

Friday - Day 1 - Warren Wilson
On Friday I headed down to Asheville to get a head start on the amazing few days I had planned ahead to meet up with Adam "Mad A" Hill around noon.  Upon arrival in Asheville the temps were approaching 85 and a run around Warren Wilson College along the Swannanoa River was a must.  Mad A and I tackled an absolutely beautiful 9 mile loop and ended the run with a a quarter mile drift down the river.  This was the first time this year that I had gotten completely in one of the cold mountain rivers of NC and it was perfect.  As we floated down the river we were greeted with the improvisation of a hippie's guitar and he even threw out some lyrics about us drifting by.  Quintesential Warren Wilson!  A trip to Highlands Brewing followed that evening and wrapped up a great Spring day in the mountains.

Saturday - Day 2 - May Mountain Mama's Half
Hannah made it in late Friday night to join us on Saturday for Mad A's May Mountain Mama's Half marathon out of the Turkey Pen Trailhead.  Eight others from WNC Trail Runner made it out for this super sweet loop in the Turkey Pen Area.  Hannah and I stayed together the entire run and I had decided to just chill and run super easy, especailly after making a wrong turn a quarter mile into the run.  When I say easy, I mean a trot.  The easy 13 mile loop ended up taking us 2 hours and 40 minutes.  I never run that slow, but I knew it would be wise considering the next couple of days that were planned.  I still really enjoyed myself and the trails were fantastic.  I love exploring unknown trails and this was just awesome.  Hannah and I had a blast crossing multiple creeks and strolling down beautiful singletrack.  Later that day, Hannah and I went over to Jeremy's home and had a good time hanging out playing some corn hole, corquet, and conversing with new aquintances.

Sunday - Day 3 - Art Loeb Trail Run
This was the main trail run I wanted to get in while I was in town.  Hannah and I had lost the trail the last time I was out here and I wanted to make sure I summited Cold Mtn this time around.  Mad A and his kids joined me on the hike up to Black Balsam Knob and then we parted and it was time to run to Cold Mtn and back.  The trail through Black Balsam and Tennent Mtn is phenomenal with 360 degree views the whole way.  Running through this section of trail, you do not even feel like you are in North Carolina anymore.  Its a different world on this section of the Art Loeb.  Running through Flower Gap, Stairs Mountain, the Narrows was awesome.  I was completely in love with the path in front of me no matter how challenging it was.  The climb up the trail to Cold Mtn might have been some of the sweetest mountain path I have ever set foot on.  Although the view from the top wasn't superb because of some typical smokey mountain fog it, was quite rewarding finally reaching the summit.  The return trip back to the car was quite slow, but I had the opportunity to do some trail discovering on some proposed section of a 100 mile route I would like to put together.  Although it was longer, the amount of climb was minimal and the trail was awesome and will be a must in the route. 

Monday - Day 4 - High Windy
It was now time to check out the Splashdown 15k route up to the top of High Windy with Mad A.  The climb up such an eclectic mix of trail was amazing.  The plan was to run the whole route, but the 42 miles of running the past three days were starting to catch up with me and I tweaked my calf crossing a flimsy bridge which sent me into walk mode for a bit.  After running for about 5 miles of 2500 ft of gain, it was time to return back to the car.  But both Mad A's and my energy levels had plummeted because of a lack of nutrition and fatique, and I was practically stumbling down the mountain feeling like I was about to pass out.  It was slow going, but we made it back and I got another amazing mountain run in.  Later that day we hung out at William's mountain house below High Windy and had a blast drinking some brews, splitting wood, eating a delicious vegetarian meal, and singing songs around the fire with many new and old friends.  This was definitely the highlight of the whole trip and I had tickets to see Amos Lee the next night.

Tuesday - Day 5 - Amos Lee Show
The weather today was horrible after 4 days of phenomenal weather, so i decided not run and I was extremely fatiqued from 52 miles in 4 straight days.  Rest was in order while I waited for Hannah to arrive for the show later that night.  The show was amazing and Amos ending up playing for about 2.5 hours, which is unheard of.  It was an exellent treat and was a great way to wrap up the trip.

Passing Thoughts
Huge thanks to the Hill family for housing me during my stay.  I always felt welcomed and had a great time hanging out with them.  I ended up running the biggest week of my running life last week with 73 miles.  Granted, I ran almost every single bit of this remarkably slow as to avoid injury and it worked.  I've built a huge base for training and after this coming weekends 43 mile excursion in the Iron Mountains it will be time to start getting some speed in the legs so I can tear up races later this summer.  I'll be putting up a video of the Art Loeb run once I get a chance so stay tuned for that.