Training Log - Monday, July 11, 2011

I unofficially started my 100 mile race training today. I am planning on running a 100 miler in September and one in November of this year, so it's time to start some serious training again. In an effort to support my fiance's half marathon training, I took her on a nice 8 mile trail run at Monte Sano State Park today.

Since she hadn't run on any trails since last year, I selected a fairly flat loop at an easy pace. Since she was supposed to run an easy 10 miler (as was I) on the road, I shortened the distance to 8 miles, considering the tougher trail terrain. We kept a steady pace, which wasn't entirely easy considering the humidity that greeted us from the start.

In addition to reintroducing my better half to trail running, she also got to experience everything that goes with trail running in her first time out. The only experience I kept from her was the clearing of the trails from spiderwebs. Being the gentleman that I am, I obviously took care of that. However, I could not keep her from having to run through mud, rolling her ankle twice or following nature's call. Hey, you're not a real trail runner until you've experienced all of the above, so I think she's ready.

As we pulled out of the hiker's parking lot, we saw a Hawk just sitting there on the side of the road. I've seen hawks fly overhead many times, but I've never seen one just standing there on the side of the road. Unfortunately, he took off just before I gor my camera ready. Tomorrow's schedule calls for a serious hill workout. Let's see how that goes.