A Look Back: September

September marks the end of training camp and the beginning of the NFL regular season, which means a slightly more normal work schedule. With that, training becomes easier and the possibility of racing returns. Surprisingly, I managed more miles (207) in August than in September (170), but I chalk that up to having road trips to Baltimore and Nashville that allowed me to run 10+ miles and the fact that I took a few more days off in September.

 

September was definitely successful for me. My mileage may be down substantially since the summer, but I still ran nearly every day (I take a day off either on game day or the day after depending on schedule, travel, etc.) and ran two solid races.

 

The first race was a road 5k down in the city, the Back to Football 5k presented by the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta Track Club. I got a free entry for this race through work so I figured why not go down and run it. It was a pretty standard 5k, except for the fact that it finished inside the Georgia Dome at the 50-yard line. Amanda and I headed down the Dome early for the 8 am start, grabbed my number and set out for a short warm up. I warmed up about two miles, a little shorter than I would have liked, but enough to loosen up a little bit. I caught up with a few people from the office who also came down for the race before hand, stretched and then made my way to the start.

 

We started at Falcons Landing between the Dome and Phillips Arena, then ran around the Omni Hotel and CNN Center out towards Castleberry Hill and Morehouse College then back down Northside drive to and into the Dome for the finish. At the start, I surged to the front. I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of competition, so I just planned to go out and try to run between 5:05 and 5:15 in the hopes of trying to run under 16:30 and maybe make a run at sub 16. I had control of the race pretty early on and as we climbed the slight rise past the CNN Center and Phillips Arena I started to stretch things out. By the mile mark I had gapped the rest of the field, coming through in 5:05.

 

At this point, I felt like I was going to be able to cruise to the win, but I really wanted to try to get under 16. I tried to keep pressing the pace, but slowed down a little on the second mile, running 10:14 (5:09) through two. I relaxed too much during the last mile and slowed down to 5:18, hitting three miles in 15:32 then crossing the line in 16:01 on my watch, 16:03 officially. Damn! So close. I miscalculated the finish a little bit, not realizing how close the 50 yard line is to the service entrance of the Dome. I held just a little bit back, wanting to really rip coming onto the field, but what I thought was a good 400 meters was really only about 200. Once I hit the loading dock ramp I started sprinting. I knew I was close to getting under 16, so I didn’t really take in much of the fanfare except for the fact that I knew I had to make sure the mascot, Freddie the Falcon, didn’t out kick me in the final sprint. On second thought, for the sake of the story, let’s say I got distracted by the cheerleaders and let off the gas too much and that’s why I didn’t get under.

 

After crossing the finishing line, I got a few high fives and cheers from co-workers that were helping to run the event on the field. I cooled down with a couple of laps on the turf then walked up to the stands to meet Amanda. We waited for the majority of Falcons employees to finish before heading out to Falcons Landing for the awards. Amanda was quick to correct someone that said “The Falcons president ran and none of his staff beat him.” Her response was, “that’s not exactly true.” We hung around for the awards, four tickets to the Falcons-Rams game and a Julio Jones signed ball. Amanda took the ball as a birthday present for herself and I was able to give the tickets to a friend, since I work every game, so overall it was a pretty good haul for a Saturday morning trip to the city. We headed home, stopping at Whole Foods for some pumpkin and apple spice treats, because I was ready for Fall to officially start.

 

Here’s the Strava data from the race:
 

 

I was impressed my Garmin worked inside the Dome. Kudos to Garmin on that one.

The next weekend it was back to the trails for the first race of the XTERRA Georgia Trail Series, my de facto cross country season. I roped a few friends from work into doing this one since it was on the relatively easy trails at Harbins Park. I conveniently “forgot about” the half mile climb in the middle of the race and that the second half was steadily uphill when I told them about it, but they still had a blast and are now hooked.

 

Once again Amanda and I set out early, getting to Harbins about an hour before the race. I warmed up on the first mile of the course then met up with our group for a bit before the start. I ran into Jesse Rappole, Brennan Pratt, Matt Shechtman, and Woody Dover at various points before the race, so I knew it was going to be a battle. All of those guys have the ability to win on any given day and that led to everyone being on the gas from the gun.

 

My plan was to stay relaxed and see how the race panned out, so early on I settled in behind Woody and Jesse. Once we started making our way downhill towards the main trail I moved to the front. I hit the trail with a small lead over Matt, but Jesse made a big move early to get up on my shoulder. The two of us ran together trading the lead and working together to stretch the race out. We were able to string things out a little bit because the wide track allowed us to run a little more compact, similar to a road race. That helped with trading off the lead and kept us from running into each other in some of the turns.

 

I tried a couple of short accelerations out of turns to see if I could stretch the lead at all, but Jesse was up for the challenge and stayed right with for most of the first half. Once we had gotten away from the other leaders, I wanted to make sure we stayed on the pace to try and make it a two person race. I wasn’t 100 percent confident in my fitness going in, so I was hoping that the fact that we strung the race out would give us a better chance at surviving until the end. We hit the main climb in the middle of the race together, but as we started to crest the hill Jesse let a small gap open up and I decided to try and use that to jump away. I was able to get clear at the top of the hill and that move ended up propelling me to the win. I probably went a little too early and the fact that I didn’t allow myself much time to recover at the top of the hill came back to bite me later in the race, but I was able to build up a big enough lead to hold on for the win. I kept repeating the Jens Voigt mantra in my head for the last 2.5 miles “Shut Up Legs!”

 

I think that the fast early pace probably helped as much as it hurt because no one really seemed like they had much left in the tank at the end of the race. Brennan ended up catching and passing Jesse, so I was definitely trying to keep an eye out for him over the last two miles. I had this grand plan of really hammering the final paved section, but by the time I got there I was just on a mission to get to the finish first. I was fortunate to hold on for a really exciting win. Going into the race I wasn’t sure how well I could run because my training has been mostly maintenance miles. Once I got into the race I just went for it. Anytime I am fortunate enough to win its special, but to be able to win against such a deep field was really exciting and it was a great confidence booster. Also the 12 pack of Terrapin Recreation Ale and the Rudy Project gift certificate were pretty sweet. 

 

Huge win for me and a big confidence booster for the rest of the series this fall. However, it was a little rugged the last few miles. With the next race being 8.75 miles, I’m definitely going to have to run a little smarter.

 

Here’s the race video, featuring a sweet commercial for Saucony for the first minute or two of race action.
 

 

I also was interviewed by XTERRA for getting the win. Here is a link to XTERRA’s race coverage:
http://www.xterraplanet.com/news/dsp_content.cfm?id=3705

 

September wrapped up nicely with two solid races coming off of training camp will hopefully lead to a successful fall season. On the upcoming calendar, I’ve got XTERRA Georgia races at Ft. Yargo, Big Creek and Little Mulberry parks and I’m toying with the idea of running the Peachtree City 15k, and possibly the Georgia Cyclocross race in Marietta in November.

Training Camp Training Log - Week Three: The Adventure Continues

Monday, August 5 – Flowery Branch Roads – 7 miles – I hustled out the door and hit the road by 7:15 so I had enough time to get in seven. It wasn’t anything special and my legs were actually pretty dead, but it’s another day.

Meals
Pre run: Honey stinger waffle & tea
Post run: English muffin with maple almond butter & oatmeal with walnuts, brown sugar, and maple syrup (we have some from Brattleboro, VT at work)
Lunch: Turkey on multigrain with spinach, cucumbers. Carrots. PBJ Trail mix.
Snack: Bunny Grahams
Dinner: Flank steak with a ton of scalloped potatoes
Another super long day. In the office by 7 and out at 9:30.

Tuesday, August 6 – Flowery Branch Roads – 7 miles – Woof. This morning was a straight up death march. I probably should have cut it short and gone five, but today is going to be another long day, so I wanted to be try and get seven in since I was running by 7:15 again. Who knows what tomorrow will bring with an early practice.

Meals
Pre run: Vanilla Honey Stinger waffle with tea
Post run: English muffin with maple almond butter & a bowl of smart start with vanilla almond milk (I was starving)
Lunch: Tuna on multigrain with spinach and sun chips (I caved and had chips today instead of carrots)
Snack: Annie’s organic ‘cheese-its’ and a chunk of granola bar
Dinner: Chicken & mashed potatoes

Wednesday, August 7 – Flowery Branch Roads – 5 miles – I had to wait until later in the day to run. It was super humid, so the run was a little miz.

Don’t remember the meals, but I had pizza for dinner. Little bit of a fat kid day.

Thursday, August 8 – Mall Roads – 5 miles – I didn’t have long to run because I slept in, so I rolled five before heading out to get a few errands done before the game. I got the car taken care of to the tune of 500+ dollars to get the plate changed WTF…not cool.

My eating was terrible today. I started out good with a myoplex shake, English muffin with maple almond butter, then before the game I had a PB&J smoothie. At the game is where it went south. I was starving so I had Caesar salad, cliff bar, popcorn (twice) a small ham sandwich and a Justin’s almond snickers.

Friday, August 9 – Day off – Zero – My first day off since April 27, every other day I’ve run at least three (probably more like at least 5) or ridden my road or mountain bike. After getting home from the game at 2 am and having to be back in the office by 8:30 was a little rough. I was completely exhausted by the time I got home and took the zero.

I was hoping to sneak in a trail run at Little Mulberry as a birthday present to myself, no dice, long ass day at work after a late night at work. Awesome.

Saturday, August 10 – Flowery Branch Roads – 7 miles – Big time birthday run of seven miles on the Flowery Branch roads. This was a little bit depressing as I didn’t get any time to myself yesterday or today. Amanda made me a kick ass Captain America cake but I was too tired to even eat any of it when I got home. Oh well, at least I got in a solid seven in the morning.

One of the positives of the day was that we announced that we are going a Back to Football/Play 60 5k before our first home game. It might be a month away but now I’ve got something that I can definitively put on my race calendar for the fall.

Sunday, August 11 – Flowery Branch Roads – 7 miles – Training camp is officially starting to wear me the funk out. My legs feel like R. Kelly’s doo doo butter but, again a silver lining, I was able to eat some of my Captain America cake and that was delicious.

Weekly Totals - 38 miles on six runs - Like I said before, training camp is starting to wear on me. I need a day to sleep in bad. I've also kind of gone off the rails with the diet, at least in terms of tracking it. I've got to try and get back on that track.

Training Log: #CampLife Part II

Monday, July 29: Flowery Branch Roads – 5 miles – I had a chance to get in early and run seven this morning but I slacked and took my sweet time getting moving in the morning. Not happy about that, but I still got in a solid five this morning.

Meals
Pre run: Half an English muffin w/ maple almond butter & tea
Post run: Honey nut cheerios with vanilla almond milk and a banana
Lunch: Turkey on multigrain with spinach, cucumbers and honey mustard, a vanilla greek yogurt, and a pack of bunnies.
Snack: Cheddar bunnies
Dinner: Baked pasta (one of Amanda’s specialties)

Tuesday, July 30: Flowery Branch Roads – 7 miles - I snuck out a couple minutes early to get in seven this morning, which was really nice. The weather was amazing. High 60s with low humidity, it was absolutely awesome…except for the fact that I was running the Flowery Branch roads loop and not some sweet trail.

Meals
Pre run: Chocolate honey stinger waffle & tea
Post run: Smart start with vanilla almond milk
Lunch: Turkey on multigrain with spinach, cucumbers, and honey mustard. Carrot sticks and a greek yogurt.
Snack: Cheddar bunnies
Dinner: Leftover baked shells and a piece of Amanda’s Swedish tea ring

Wednesday, July 31 – Flowery Branch Roads – 5 miles – I wanted to go seven but I was dragging ass this morning. I also stopped and talked to Brian for 20 minutes about the softball game that I skipped last night. I was hoping to either ride into work today or get a mountain bike ride in after, but it’s looking like a full day for us. Maybe Amanda will want to go for a spin later. I tweeted at Red Bull this morning and they were awesome and swung by the office to drop of some Red Bull for us. They gave us Red, Blue and Silver editions. I’m super pumped about that. Phase 2 of my master plan to someday get sponsored by Red Bull is underway. It would be way easier if I was just faster though.

Meals:
Pre run: Chocolate honey stinger waffle & tea
Post run: Smart start with vanilla almond milk & an apple
Lunch: Turkey on multigrain with spinach, bacon, and sweet baby rays. Bunny grahams
Dinner: Chicken (w/ cashew crust from Fresh Market) and Rice. Pirate Booty
 
Thursday, August 1 – Flowery Branch Roads – 5 miles – This is starting to get familiar. I was hoping to make it to trivia tonight, but I only made it for the last question. I need a beer.

Meals
Pre run: Chocolate honey stinger waffle (last one NO!) & tea w/ honey
Post run: Smart Start w/ vanilla almond milk
Lunch: Turkey on multigrain with spinach, cucumbers and honey mustard. Carrots & a greek yogurt.
Snack: Cheddar bunnies
Dinner: Small piece of pork w/ a ton of rice and corn. Strawberry greek yogurt

Friday, August 2 – Flowery Branch Roads – 7 miles – Got my a$$ in gear this morning to fit in seven. Felt okay to start but I’m tired from training camp. My whole body is just gassed. Today was the toughest run to get through that I’ve had in a while. It’s probably a cumulative fatigue thing. Hopefully tomorrow I can get in a bike ride before or after work. Maybe that will help. I’m definitely dipping into the Red Bull stash before Friday Night Lights tonight.

Meals
Pre run: Half (err…3/4) of a PowerBar harvest bar and tea with honey
Post run: Honey nut cheerios with vanilla almond milk and a banana
Snack: A few handfuls of PB&J trail mix (I was freaking starving at 11)
Lunch: Three soft tacos (two chicken, rice, spinach & cheese and one just rice & cheese), greek yogurt
Snack: PB&J Trail mix & red bull
Dinner: two 100 calorie greek yogurts w/ granola & a bag of pirate booty at 11 p.m.

Friday Night Lights…woof

Saturday, August 3 – Chicopee Woods – 8 miles – Mountain Bike Ride – After work I headed up to Chicopee Woods to roll on the mountain bike for a bit. I am not a good mountain biker. I fell a couple times and being tired it was a little bit rough, but I just tried to enjoy being outside and doing something different. I did beast Granny’s climb, for me anyway, and I actually caught a guy that started at least 3 second before me, so that was positive.

Here is my Strava data from the ride - see I'm not good at this stuff.

Meals
Breakfast: I caved a little and hit Dunkin Donuts for a corn muffin and tea
Lunch: Almond butter and strawberry jelly sandwich with chips
Snack: Greek yogurt
Dinner: Homemade pizza with homemade organic dough.

Sunday, August 4 – Flowery Branch Roads – 7 miles – Got moving early today, so I could get in seven before work. Good choice, but I was starving all day long, not really good for my camp “diet” My legs are definitely feeling some cumulative fatigue. I am eyeing Thursday as a possible day to sleep in and I’m really excited about that.

Meals
Pre run: Vanilla honey stinger w/ green tea
Post run: Smart start w/ vanilla almond milk & a little bit of scrambled eggs
Lunch: Turkey on multigrain with cucumbers, spinach and honey mustard. Carrots. Snack size (small) peanut M&Ms
Snack: PB&J trail mix
Dinner: Small cup of chili and a greek yogurt. Amanda made burritos but I didn’t get out of work until after 9 so good thing I ate something at 7.

It was a super long day and it’s not going to get any better the next few, but at least it started off well with a seven mile run. If I can do that and get through camp I’ll be in good shape.

Weekly Total: 36 miles on six runs with one hour-plus mountain bike ride. Another training camp week in the books. Woof. I am tired, but I'm managing to keep running. It's going to be difficult to keep this up with how long our days are. I think I need to find a way to take a day off that is a real day off, not just a day that I didn't run.

p.s. - Big congratulations to @WildFerenc for placing 15th at worlds.

Training Log: Training Camp Week 1

Monday, July 22: Mall Roads Loop – 5 miles – I thought long and hard about taking today off.

Tuesday, July 23: Gravel Springs – 7 miles - This will probably be the last time I do this run for a while with training camp starting up on Thursday. It’s been a solid little loop for me during the spring and even though I got bored with it occasionally, I am sure I will miss it once I get back to running the Flowery Branch loops every day during the season.

Wednesday, July 24: Flowery Branch Roads – 7 miles – Today was most likely my last shot to run seven for a little bit. I’m only going to have about 30-35 minutes to run during camp for the next few weeks. On some of the off day’s I might be able to squeeze in an hour run or ride my bike to the office, but that remains to be seen. For now it’s back to the roads in the Branch and it’s back to maintenance miles for the foreseeable future. That’s a little depressing, but it’s also why I doubled up on the races last weekend.

Thursday, July 25: Flowery Branch Roads – 5 miles – Normal five mile route, out to McEver Road then down to Flowery Branch, past the post office and back up by the Wrigley plant to the facility. Took it fairly easy as my legs are starting to feel the last few days of standing up a lot.
Friday, July 26: Flowery Branch Roads – 5 miles – I want to be mindful of what I eat during training camp because it can get out of hand quickly, so I’m going to start trying to log it here to try and keep myself honest.

I woke up at 6 and had a chocolate honey stinger waffle with organic green tea (w/ honey) then hit the roads for five around Flowery Branch. This will probably be my standard run during training camp. Hopefully I can get few seven milers in and a bike ride or two, but the majority of my running will be five in the morning.

Pre run: Chocolate honey stinger waffle & tea
Post run: Bowl of smart start cereal w/ vanilla almond milk & a banana
Lunch: Roast Beef on multigrain bread w/ lettuce and some sweet baby ray’s (a little fat kid to start), carrots and a small bowl of black bean chili w/ quinoa (not chili weather but I wanted to try it).
Snack: Small cup of PB&J trail mix and a handful of gummy bears before practice.
Snack 2: Greek yogurt w/ granola after practice
Dinner: Small bowl of three cheese tortellini and some pirate booty

Wow. I feel like I eat a lot.

Saturday, July 27: Flowery Branch Roads – 5 miles – Back on the grind. Flowery Branch five. The good thing is I am still excited to run each day and I’m making sure I get out the door with enough time to get a run in. I’m trying to make sure I have time to run five as many days as possible during camp and it’s going well so far.
Pre run: Chocolate honey stinger waffle & tea
Post run: English muffin with maple almond butter and a small bowl of smart start w/ almond milk
Lunch: Turkey, spinach & cucumbers on multigrain w/ some carrots and a smoothie
Snack: Cheddar bunnies
Dinner: Chicken, mashed potatoes, carrots, peas & broccoli and a greek yogurt

Sunday, July 28: Flowery Branch Roads – 5 miles – S.S.D.D. I did have to get myself going a little earlier because we had a lot going on this morning. Up at 6 and out the door before 6:30 to have time to run for 35 minutes. Got it in and generally felt better about my day than I would have otherwise.

Pre run: Vanilla honey stinger waffle & tea
Post run: Honey nut cheerios with vanilla almond milk & a small serving of scrabbled eats (I needed some protein)
Lunch: Tuna fish on multigrain with spinach, carrots, and greek yogurt. Mixed bag of bunnies
Snack: Cheddar bunnies
Dinner: Blackened chicken, red beans & rice, and green beans. Greek yogurt for dessert.

I think I’m doing okay with my training camp meals.

Weekly Total: 39 miles on seven runs – That’s a rather drastic drop in mileage, but the key thing is that I ran every day. During camp that’s my biggest goal, run as many days as possible. I may try to work in a bike ride on a couple of the players off days, but for the most part I just want to run as much as I can. It’s probably only going to be about 30 or 35 miles a week, but it is was it is.

Rad Run: Avalonian Ridge Run

Vacation. Finally. Amanda and I had a little bit of a rough start after our flight was delayed three hours, but we made it home for our annual New England summer trip. I originally planned on racing at Pingree in the North Shore Trail Series race, but after getting in so late I decided to bag it and just get some extra rest. After we woke up and took the obligatory trip to Honey Dew, Amanda’s dad picked her up at my house to take her down to Rhode Island for the week, while I hopped in the car and headed up to Vermont to spend a couple days in the mountains with Josh Ferenc (aka @wildFerenc…aka the Last Hero & Only Hope).

 

When I got to Vermont, Josh and I headed out for 12 on the power line trails a short drive from his house, a nice little warm up for Sunday’s quest; a run from Josh’s house over to Putney Mountain some 16-18 miles away.

 

We woke up early Sunday and loaded up with a big breakfast, I went with two English muffins, one with Maple almond butter and one with nutella, while Josh did the same plus two fried eggs. I also downed half a Red Bull, knowing at some point I was going to be suffering for energy. Gregg Hammett met us around 8:30 and we set out on the trails behind Josh’s house.

 

The beginning of the run wasn’t too bad because it was so early, but things start off with an asphyxiating climb before things start to level out…a little. After what felt like an hour of running up we hit Athens Look out, a small clearing with amazing views of the surrounding mountains. In the distance you could clearly see Stratton Mountain and it’s wide cut skiing trails, which was really neat. From the lookout when ran down to a ridge trail called the Jamie Latham Trail over to the Pinnacle, another small summit lookout with a really cool lean-to shelter that looks like a log cabin that someone cut in half.

 

When we reached the Pinnacle, we met up with Justin Fyffe and stopped to take a gel (peanut butter GU) and have some water. I was carrying a 20 oz Salomon bottle, while Gregg also had a small hand held. The gel helped for about 30 minutes, but being 90+ minutes into the run already I was feeling pretty tired. We hopped onto the Pinnacle trail and started making out way to Putney Mountain. I took the lead for this section and tried to keep the pace solid, we weren’t running fast but I didn’t want to dog it either. After about 20 or 30 minutes in front I missed a turn and Gregg and Josh corrected the course while I settled in behind. This is where things started to go south.

 

Just short of the two hour mark things were going great. We were running conversationally, even on all the climbs, laughing about a bunch of dumb stuff and talking about different ideas for training runs and races. Once we’d passed the two hour mark and with all the climbing we’d done I started to run out of gas very rapidly. I was doing okay keeping up on the flatter and downhill sections but I dropped way back on even the slightest climb. I know how Richie Porte must have felt when he was struggling in the Pyrenees. Every up hill, even if it was only 20 or 30 meters was miserable. I put my head down and tried to grind up and when I’d pick my head back up I’d be 20 feet back. For all the excitement I felt at how well I ran the hills during the Peachtree, the mountains of Vermont quickly reminded me of why I said I wanted to spend more time in the north Georgia mountains next spring. I went from running to riding the struggle bus in a very short period of time.

 

We made it to the “Five Corners” trail intersection, where Josh originally wanted to take the West Cliff trail down then back up a tough switchback climb to the summit, but because he could see that I had cracked from the climbing and he could sense Gregg was starting to struggle due to the fact that he ran a 10 mile race the day before, Josh had us stick to the Ridge line trail that only included a short .3 mile climb to the top of Putney Mountain.

 

I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t hang, but told everyone that if they wanted to do the full 18 I would be all for it, but they’d just have to wait for me at the top. I knew that mentally I was still in it and still enjoying the idea of running, but physically it was going to be rough. I felt like I could do it, but it was going to be a battle for every step. Gregg and Josh both settled on being okay running 2.5 hours (16 miles) instead of 3 (18) and we went on our way.

 

We ran the ridgeline trail to where it met with Banning road then jumped back into the woods for the final climb up to the Putney Mountain summit. This wasn’t a long climb but as soon as we starting going up the wheels came off. I was instantly dropped and my left hamstring began to cramp up. After about 45 second, I thought I was going to be reduced to walking. At this point, I didn’t know we were only about a quarter mile from the summit, so I had to have a little personal Pow Wow to try and figure out how I was going to keep going. One minute into the climb and it was over for me. Josh, Gregg and Justin were all out of sight and I was battling to put one foot in front of the other. I tried to walk a little but that didn’t help my hamstring so I started shuffling up the mountain and just kept telling myself to get through it and if I could make it where they eventually stopped to wait for me then I could take a minute to stretch out. I took a few pulls from the water bottle, put my head down, and started grinding, but honestly, walking probably would have been faster.

 

After a few minutes, I came to a trail intersection and to my right I could see what would turn out to be the summit of Putney Mountain. Once I came out of the woods and realized it was the summit I was instantly happy to be out there running again. We stopped for a minute while I tried to loosen my hamstring then made the short half mile jaunt down to Fyffe’s car. It was an awesome idea by him to leave his car at Putney Mountain and I am eternally grateful to his wife for dropping him off at the Pinnalce, otherwise it would have been five miles down the mountain to his house.

 

When we reached his car, bingo bango, he brought gatorades! That was the best Gatorade I’ve ever tasted. According to my GPS the run was a little over 14 miles but since it was all trails and mostly pretty rugged I’m calling it 16. That’s what the map says, so that’s what I’m calling it.

 

We all piled into Fyffe’s car and hit the culvert, a swimming hole that was gloriously cold. Gregg had been talking about it since the first few miles of the run and it definitely, lived up to the hype. We also hit a natural spring on the way back to Josh’s house, which I thought was really cool. I don’t get a chance to do that much in the suburban sprawl of Gwinnett County. We all rode back to Josh’s to change then headed into Bellows Falls to the Shona Grill for some much needed caloric intake. I went with a VT cheddar bacon burger with maple mayo and sweet potato fries. It was amazing. I wish I’d ordered two burgers and went without the fries.

 

After pigging out we headed back to Josh’s to chill for a bit before we rode bikes down to the river for another swim, then hit up a local farm for some fresh maple walnut ice cream. Yes I had maple sugar on pretty much everything I ate. When in Rome right? It could be worse, a few years ago when I was living in Philly Josh came down and had cheez wiz on literally everything he ate for two days. See, maple sugar is looking a little healthier isn’t it.

 

Over all this was an awesome run. It was a real adventure for me. Despite the fact that I had some serious struggles I really enjoyed exploring some new dirt and running with good friends. Runs like this and the one I did the week before in Unicoi are all steps towards me trying to become a better trail runner and runner in general. I’m going to need more and more like this if I want to run some of the Rock/Creek races I’m eyeing for next year.

16 miles – 2:26 minutes – 3,086+ feet climbed.

Strava Data:

 

 

Now I need to find another Red Bull and some Vermont Peanut Butter Company peanut Butter.

Race Recap: Dirty Spokes Haw Creek 5.5 Mile Trail Race

Saturday I headed out to Haw Creek for the sixth race of the Dirty Spokes trail series. Amanda and I headed out a little bit early to make sure we got a parking spot since there is limited parking. I warmed up with lap around the course then did some stretching and caught up with a few of the usual suspects to talk about the course and race plans. Also, today was my first race in my new Saucony kit. It's sweet. My shorts are a tad big but it's a sweet looking uni.

 

My plan for the day was to run to win, but I also knew that Haw Creek was likely to be the fastest course of the series. At 5.5 miles it’s one of the shortest, but it’s also double track and not very hilly so I figured it would be a good course to get out and roll on. I also figured it would be a good tune up for Peachtree. As I made my way to the start I ran into Mitch Novy and Jesse Rapole. I talked to them for a bit and found out Mitch was running the short course, which was one lap and 2.75 miles. I decided to relax at the beginning and let Mitch do a little bit of the work before taking over and trying to put some distance on Jesse during the second lap.

 

At the gun, Mitch and one of the youngsters, Alec, took the race out really hard which was perfect for my plan of letting the guys running the short course do some of the work on the first lap. Unfortunately, this didn’t last very long. Once we hit the trail I passed Mitch, who had dropped back, and closed a 20 or so yard gap on Alec. I ran with him up until about the half or three quarter mile then I took the lead with a strong acceleration out of one of the tight corners. I tried to maintain my acceleration as long as possible which effectively broke the field, Jesse was caught too far back to cover while Alec and Mitch had no interest in running with me since they were running the short course.

 

I kept pressing every section that was open while pulling back on the reigns a little in some of the corners. Around two miles I ran into Tim who was checking the course on his mountain bike. He gave me a quick time check on the guys behind me and I tried to use him as a pacer as he rode a head. I came thought the first lap with sizable lead and really rolled the first mile of the second loop trying to stretch things out the best I could. When I saw Tim, he said I was about 20 seconds up, but I didn’t know if that was on Jesse of the short course guys. Turns out it was the short course guys because when I crossed the finish Amanda told me I was about 90 seconds up on Jesse and the guy in third from the ATC.

 

I finished in 31:22 (5:42 pace), which was pretty solid considering I ran most of the race solo and I still haven’t had the workouts that I feel like I need. At the end of the day it was another win and 15 points for me, which means all I’ve got to do is show up to the finale at Sawnee Mountain to claim my third straight Dirty Spokes title. Also, despite the venue change I won for the third time in a row on the penultimate race of the series, with two wins at Central Park and now the win at Haw Creek. I’ve been gearing up for the tour and British people love saying penultimate.

Rad Run: Easy's Running Currahee

On Memorial Day and all, I decided to take a ride up to Toccoa and run up the mountain made famous by the men of Easy Company (check out the first episode of Band of Brothers). The run starts at the Col. Robert Sink trail at the site of Camp Toccoa, which was where the US Army trained paratroopers prior to and during WWII. The trail follows what used to be Currahee mountain road roughly three miles up to the summit. I say roughly because it most likely does not begin at the same spot where the paratroopers began their “three miles up, three miles down” training runs, and according to my Garmin it was a shade short from the parking lot.

 

The trail starts out fairly moderate for the first two miles. It’s more rolling hills than mountain run, but just before you get to two miles you run down to the base of the mountain and arrive at a small cabin, from then on it is straight up to the summit. I set out with a plan to run the final mile climb three times. I didn’t really have a goal time set in my mind. I just wanted to get up it.

 

I’ve run up Currahee once before and I took Amanda and her sister up it last spring, so going into the workout I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. It’s a long grueling climb to the top, according to Strava it is 11.2% average grade, but the final quarter mile or so the grade ratchets up to nearly 30%...like I said rugged. It gains 602 feet over the mile and it’s rated as a category 3 climb.

 

When you reach the top there are a couple of radio towers, but no marker like it is portrayed in Band of Brothers. It seems like the land was sold off right after the camp was closed and no one really thought about the fact that the summit would carry such cultural and historical significance. However it still provides a really nice view of the surrounding areas.