Trail Run at Falls Lake

Up at 4:30am this morning to get out for a trail run. New trails and new friends made the trip worthwhile!! After watching the sun come up during our 45 minute drive to the trailhead, we met up with some awesome folks from daily mile. We set foot on the trail at 6am and got in a solid 12 miles. The weather was good, with the heat and humidity not as bad as it was earlier in the week.
I am still trying to break in my New Balance minimus Trail shoes, or should I say break my feet into the shoes! They have a thinner sole than my GoLite shoes, so technical trails with lots of rocks and roots have been rather hard on the bottom of my feet!! Of course, on today's run I managed to find every pointy rock and gnarly root on the trail, so needless to say my feet are sore!
The trail was beautiful, not that hilly, and we did six miles out and six back.

Early morning view of the lake.

Some new trail running buddies!!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!!!

Father's Day

I began Father's Day in a rather non traditional way by getting up at the ass crack of dawn. This was by design, since I wanted to head out to Troy, NC to scout out the course for the Uwharrie Rumble half on July 9th. It is about two hours to Troy from my house, so at 5:15am, coffee in hand, I headed out on the road.
The ride out was nice, no traffic, and the rising sun was behind me as I headed west.

As a Father's Day gift to myself, I had purchased a pair of New Balance Minimus Trail shoes on Friday, and this run would be their maiden voyage. They got quite a good break in!!! ROCKS! lots of 'em. Pointy rocks, that my right foot seemed to have a knack for finding at a continuous rate. There had also been a storm that passed through the area the night before, scattering branches about the trail as well. Since it appeared that I was the first one out on the trails that morning, I also ran through about 200 spider webs! Combine that with 3900+ feet of elevation gain over 10.5 miles, and you've got the Father's Day gift that keeps on giving.

   The ride back home was not as enjoyable. (Imagine!) Drove back in my bare feet, cursing the fact that my Suzuki does not have cruise control, and dodging church traffic along the highway.

Upon returning home, I received  another gift. The wife and kids were headed out to watch a B-Ball tournament, then going to visit their uncle. I had the house to myself. I celebrated with an "Afternoon of Sloth", re hydrating, refueling and napping on the couch.....glorious!!
I did manage to get a quick shot of me and two of my girls when I got back from the run.

Overall, a great Father's Day!!

PS: I will be wearing my GoLite trails shoes (with their sturdy soles) on July 9th!!

It always helps to be prepared out on the trails!

 http://running.competitor.com/2011/06/news/pair-of-lost-trail-runners-walk-out-on-their-own_29954

Article on some lost trail runners. Be prepared out there!!!

Graduation Day!

Congratulations to my oldest daughter Kaitlin! Graduated with honors, NC Academic Scholar, ranked 20th in her class with a GPA of 4.5!
Celebrating today, back to running tomorrow!

Hanging Rock Trail Run

Road trip this morning to Hanging Rock State Park for some trail running. Got in a very nice, hot, technical run.

Total elevation gain over seven miles: 3,217 ft.

Several creek crossings along the way......

The turn around point at the Dan River.

Single Track!

Indian Creek/Mountains to Sea Trail.

several waterfalls along the way.

A post run stop at Priddy's General Store to pick up some locally produced honey and their famous Stokes Purple Sweet Potato Butter!!

August in June

Eight miles+ 88 degrees+ probably 88% humidity= One soggy runner.
 After a long night at work, a power nap and some coffee, I made it out to the Tobacco Trail. I would have liked to hit the trail earlier in the morning, but sleep was needed!
I wound up draining my entire bottle of sports drink during the run, and celebrated the 4 mile turn around with a Mandarin orange GU. The ATT does not have water available along the trail, so after my run I stopped in at Harris Lake Park. I knew they had water there, plus a soda machine, since I was craving a diet coke bad!
Chilled out lakeside. Nice breeze, cold soda, good view.

A Feast of Friends

Ran the "Quay 5K" this morning, which is held in my hometown of Fuquay Varina, NC. It is nice not to have to travel to an event, and the 8:30am start meant I could sleep in for a bit. It was also great to see a lot of my running friends and folks from my gym out there at the start line!
 My friend Ian picked up his race packet this morning and discovered his bib number was 666! How rock n' roll!!
It was also nice to see a large number of kids in the race as well. There was over 700 folks running this morning, not bad for a small town race.
I had run the course a few times beforehand, so I knew what to expect. A nice mix of hills and flats, with a couple of deceiving "false flats" in there to keep us honest! I was figuring on running it around 26-27 mins, depending on if the oppressive heat would still be with us on race day. I was psyched to wake up to relatively cooler temps this morning, and ran it in 25:26. Not a PR, but I will take it.
Now I will be heading back to the trails, and try to decide which race to enter next.

Heading to the finish..........

Hangin' with friends post race.

National Running Day

Happy National Running Day! I celebrated by running a quick three miles on the treadmill after teaching spin class this morning. I am not a huge fan of the "dreadmill", but since it is so freakin' hot here in NC I thought it would be a better option today.  It is 96 degrees out as I type this......fantastic.
I am running 5k Thursday morning @ 5:45 with some friends in an effort to beat the heat. We will be running the course for the local 5k here in town on Saturday.
I will probably get in some road cycling on Friday as cross training, then get ready to toe the line at 8:30am Saturday morning!

As much as I like the old dude in the Dos Equis commercials, don't stay thirsty my friends......Hydrate!!!