It was a great Memorial Day weekend for training. Sat-Dolly Sods; Sun-Rich Mtn; Mon-Spruce Knob. It was a gorgeous day on the Sods Saturday. All the water coming off the mountain came in handy since it got a little hot and muggy on the Highlands Sky course. Sunday was a more impromtu run where I had Kadra drop me off late in the evening to run an old ridge road/trail on Rich Mtn home while she went to visit some friends. Less than five minutes into the run I made a wrong turn that added 45 minutes of running once I confirmed my mistake- something I couldn't afford with darkness approaching and no light. I quickly assessed the situation, ran down a side trail that I knew of and ran roads toward where Kadra was heading. Good call-when I got there they had a full spread of food. One of the people said, "You need to get yourself a gps." My answer was something I often say in such situations, "You just have to make sure that you're fit enough to outrun your own stupidity."
I had a fun day wrapping up the weekend running at Spruce Knob yesterday scoping out some of the trail conditions for the WV Trilogy. Kadra and her sister Karly came along since Karly had never been up there before. They dropped me off up top and met me down lower after three or so hours and did some trail running themselves. The only thing I love better than trail running myself is seeing other peoples' eyes light up when they experience it for the first time. I think Karly might be hooked. Here are a few shots from the day:
(My first bear of the year)
(Upper Falls of Seneca Creek)
(Kadra and Karly finishing their run on the Horton Trail)
Bears! oh my!!! I would be so amazed and/or freaked out to spot a bear on my runs. Glad to see your running is getting back out there. Been thinking really hard about CMMM-good training for MMT, with the big uphill? Will see you at least at Cooper's Rock, the first weekend of August!
ReplyDeleteKim, You need to not only think harder about Cheat Mountain, but you need to just bit the bullet and do it. Great race. It will not dissapoint.
ReplyDeleteAdam, Glad to see you are expanding your horizons and introducing more family to the love of trail running. From the video, it looks like Karly had a great time.
Ahh bears won't hurt you. I love seeing them. I've only had a couple tense moments with mommas that I came up on too fast and treed the cubs. . . that is not fun.
ReplyDelete@Rick: thanks- hey not too long until Highlands. I'll see you in a couple weeks.
funny, i read that as "beer" and thought that it was a little late in the season for your first "beer." hope you're well. you ever consider racing in Oregon? it's lovely.... there are a couple of good ones coming up in august and september...
ReplyDeleteHighland Sky is just a couple of weeks away. I was glad to see your name on the entrants list. I guess Dan gave you permission to run. I imagine that your slave labor will take place before the race. As you have posted, I know some of it has already taken place (eg. the saw bigger than Kadra). In all seriousness though, I do appreciate your's and Dan's involvement and leadership in our little sport. Nothing like coming to West Virginia for a little fun!!!
ReplyDeleteAmy- even though you moved west, you're still thinkin' like a true VHTRC'r. . . Yes I would love to come out to OR to run. I've never been there and I think I would love it. I've definitely got a few of those races on my "list".
ReplyDeleteRick-I'm excited to race Highlands this year. It was my first "real" ultra in '05 and then I also ran it easy having mono in '07- so I'm excited to try to be in the mix up front and see what I can do. I'm helping Lehmann all day Friday, then I'm on the relief crew for AS8 after I finish. When you direct races, reciprocation can be one of the most difficult tasks; 100% worth it all though!