Training Log - Wednesday, October 3, 2012

It was time to say hello to the local mountain again. Richard and Mike kicked off their annual 500 mile bike from the gulf coast back to Huntsville, AL and James was out of town as well. Thankfully, Ed was still in town and rearing to go for a run as well. We met up outside Richard's house just after 5AM to run our usual Ranger Station out & back run. Since I was still in full recovery mode from the 100 miler just 10 days ago and Ed was dealing with an ankle injury and plantar fasciitis, we decided on an easy pace. For this purpose, it actually helped that Ed forgot his headlamp as it kept us from going to fast. We did, however, discover another use for the Samsung Galaxy phone as Ed used its video camera light as his trail light. It got him all the way to the top of the mountain. Yet another reason never to leave your home without your cell phone when going on a trail run;-)

The temps were almost a little chilly to start, but I quickly started sweating in my half-zip top that I chose to wear over a short sleeve tech short. Still, I kept it on. Temps never got above the high 50s or low 60s on this run and when it was all said and done, Ed and I had completed close to 10 miles in just over 2 hours. Slow and leisurely, but fun. I have the StumpJump 50K on the agenda for this weekend, but it will be a mere recovery/tapering effort for me with the Georgia Jewel 100 just behind me and the Pinhoti 100 just ahead of me. It's going to suck not to be able to push, but I have to be smart about and keep my eyes on the big prize.