Friday afternoon would serve as the starting point for my biggest weekend of running in a while. I began with 8 miles of what was supposed to be just easy running, but ended up being one of the faster runs I have had since beginning regular training again last month. Friday night I met up with the guys(Kelly, Mitch, Brandon, Gary, John, Darryl, and Dan) for a night hike on part of the Duncan Ridge 50K course. What I discovered is that this course is no joke and that I think the key to doing well will be restraint in the first half. I was using the navigation mode on my watch for the first time and in doing so failed to record the first 2 miles but the rest of the hike is detailed at this link. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/113141557 I will be very interested in doing more reconnaissance and trying to run the trail in order to get a better feel for what of the course is runnable and what is not. We covered 14 miles total, running about the last 6miles or so.
Next was Saturday afternoon. I was supposed to meet up with some college buddies saturday night and just hang-out, but they bailed on me and I was stuck at home with only my kitchen cabinets that needed painting. So I put it off a little longer and went running. For the record I did get them painted on Sunday. Now where to run? I decided to on Yonah as a suitable option for this outing. It provides plenty of elevation gain, single-track, and a short drive. I thought the run went really well on pretty tired and a little sore legs. This was the first time I had done 2 laps on the single-track. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/113365618 The weather was nice and cool and clear and was perfect for running. On this run I took my Camelbak handheld with water, one GU, and the MountainSmith Dart waist pack packed with a light and a jacket. I also swung by the truck on one lap to get a bit of First Endurance gel, which is now my go to gel. On my second lap I was startled out of any rhythm I had obtained by a four foot very dark colored Timber Rattlesnake traveling down the trail as I went up. This wouldn't have been too much of a problem had I seen him before my foot was six inches from him. Luckily the cool weather and the pace I was travelling helped me avoid any real altercation and we both continued onto our destinations. Needless to say when I came back down the mountain I found a little extra spring in my step while traversing the snake area.
My last run of the weekend was Sunday afternoon. I took Gina(the dog) for the first 2.5 miles of the run. It was a pretty easy and uneventful run on the dirt roads around the house. I ran 8 miles total and averaged somewhere around an 8 min/mile. I don't know for sure because my garmin battery went dead at mile 2.5. All in all it was a good weekend of running but I was ready to see Em and Rush who had gone to Pigeon Forge for the weekend with her Aunts and Mom. This was my first night not being with Rush since he was born.
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