the wind and I

Today I managed to get over to Bowie for a steady 6.5 miles. My wife and son joined me beforehand. She's the photographer of the family and we couldn't pass up the chance to capture the heavy snow blanket that covered Fairview the night before.

I then hit Perimeter Trail and Loblolly Upper. I caught sight of a large owl but it was far after he had seen me. Ashen wings dressed with black tipped feathers. He was in flight and half gone by the time I was close, sending showers of snow to the ground as he brushed through the trees. Sounds are gobbled up by the snow and leave a silence, a deep peace. The youngest pines bowed in submission across the trail from the weight of the snow, while the old gentlemen, the big pines, stood as if in fine white suits.

Lookout Mtn. 26+

This past Saturday I headed down to Chattanooga to run Lookout Mountain with Mash for some mountain training- I left my house at 3:30 am. To prep for the Tahoe 100, we're gonna have to spend lots of time on mind numbing, lung burning climbs... until they become a place of relative peace. Long distance mountain running is the ultimate running experience in my opinion.

Some Notes From the Day...
-I ran with a camelbak for the first time and really liked it- it will take some getting used to but I think this is the only way to go far, sans aid.

frozen in the pack

-Surprised as how warm my feet were in my Swiftwick Olefin 2s... I had been wearing 2 pairs of regular socks for really cold days and this was one- teens to single digits on top of the mtn for sure. Ran the whole day blister free- I rub sportslick on my feet for anything over 15m.
-Mash's water pack tubing froze early in the day, which took a bit of finagling.
-We were chased by a dog that was either insane or just really didn't like that we were running.
-We ran a few sections extra and had to back track due to the complexity of the trail system and limited signage.
-I somehow- left most of my major nutrition in the truck- thus running in a state of caloric depletion for some of the later miles (all climbs).
-We went off piste (off trail) after 26+ m, charging up the final ridge through thorn, thicket and snow. We could hear cars so it was a calculated gamble to make it back to Covenant College, where we had parked in the early dawn. We emerged from the woods, not 100 yards from the parking lot. Whew.
-Mojo Burritos was our reward - excellent!

-This was a pretty epic trainer. The scenery was just amazing and as we descended, ascended and circumnavigated around the mountain, we could really feel the massive and wild nature of Lookout. The trail was totally new to me so every turn was like a new scene in a movie, just amazing, thanks be to God!

2011 Tahoe Rim Trail 100 Mile

This is the year I run the Tahoe Rim 100 Mile Race. It will be my first 100 Miler and I will be tackling it with my partner in crazy- Mash who has recently moved from Iron Man competitive athlete to long distance ultra running. Setting his new journey off with a Nashville Ultra Course Record and win in 2010.

I have Land Between the Lakes 50 Miler on tap on March 12 and will race it, then my focus will be primarily upon the TRT 100 which will happen July 16th and 17th.

This weekend- Mash and I will head to Lookout Mtn for a 22 mile mountain trainer. It will be on the heals of a pretty good week as I begin to ramp it up training wise.

last 12

I ran the final 12 miles Saturday at Mont Bell state park. Beautiful and cool in the early am.

Thanks to Damon for running with me.

100 miles done.