Lookout Mountain Part Deux!

Well you know your in trouble when you start a mountain run and your hydration freezes...  Yesterday Jadyn and I took a short road trip down to Lookout Mountain TN to run the first half of the Lookout MTN 50 Miler as a great pre-season base training effort.  For me, I was there in 2010 where I DNF'd mid way through due to a achilles strain.  I was very intent and nervous to see how my "newly" rehabed right achilles would hold up as many of us locals know the Lookout course is very demanding, with a ton of climbing, for this region of TN.  Apart from being chased by a dog that wanted to rip our faces off, getting lost multiple times turning a 22.5 mile run into 26.5, and not being allowed to "picnic" per regulations that were prominently posted in multiple places on the trails, things went very well for the two of us.  The pace we ran was a very relaxed 10:30ish.  Not until the last four or five miles did my right ankle object.  BUT, it held up great with yesterdays performance being a great confidence builder.  Oh, I must give a shout-out to Mojo Burrito on Saint Elmo Avenue for having the dopest post workout food!  J and I put the smack-down on some Burritos as we very much needed the calories after the mountain put the beat-down on us.

Fist Pump, Blow It Up; Know Call Me And Tell Me About It.
http://www.trainingpeaks.com/sw/CLVJJHP3Q3BL2XMSR4WFAY76SM

1st "B" Race of 2011 Now on the Books!

So, I'm really stoked to announce a very important "B" race for 2011!  As all of you know, or maybe not, TRT 100M falls on the weekend of July 16-17th.  For me, a focus for 2011 has been one of  logistics in terms of picking the right races that will prepare me for a solid 100miler.  And that's where Chattanooga Mountain Stage Race (CMSR) fits the bill.  This prep race could not fall at a better time.  CMSR falls four weeks prior to TRT, and is a multi day stage race.  We're talking three days, three mountains, 60 miles.  Dude, can it get any better logistically speaking?  What is; no it can't Alex.  The game plan for this "B" race will be to fully incorporate it into my training as a crescendo to a three week block of graduating intensity with no taper.  One early goal for this race will be nutritional prep focused, along with really stretching my aerobic system. 
That's all I have to say about this.

http://www.rockcreek.com/stagerace/#results

A Motley Crew

Here are a few of the Highland Ring Ultrarunning Club studs chilling after a Saturday am trail beating  http://hrurc.wall.fm/index.  Looks like Matty V got the shaft on the terrain elevation getting cut of at the knees.  Most notably missing are Roy, who is the architect of this Motley Crew, and the Hawk, who had to have a quick discussion with a tree abit up the trail.  Did I mention that Hawk works for Swiftwick; a company that makes the best sock you will ever put on your feet? http://www.swiftwick.com/ ?  Like me I assume everyone is thinking; screw the pictures, where's the nearest Starbucks? 

So, How Cold is Cold?

This morning I had my first post injury run with my trail brother and partner-in-crime for the Tahoe Rim 100 J to the Dog (J-Dog).  Ok, that was my feeble attempt at being hip.  I'm reminded of a great video interview Tony Krupicka did not too long ago.  The topic of  "what is cold" came up at some point.  Well, to paraphrase Krupicka, "anywhere at or below zero is cold." It wasn't zero or below at roll out this morning but it was 8 or 9 degreezzzzzzzz.  J-Dog and I did around 10 very easy trail miles out at Bowie Nature Reserve in Fairview Tennessee.  Our goal was two fold: check the legs after several weeks off, and for me to evaluate the effectiveness of rehab as I tweaked my right achilles weeks back.  Both goals were met with great excitement.  The legs weren't too out of shape so to speak, and my right ankle felt great!  So I ask anyone board enough to actually read this post...  How cold is cold?

Well Here We Go...

As mentioned before, information on races, training, products, etc, will soon come as I put together my 2011 calendar.  So, with no delay dot dot dot  I along with one of my homeboys (J-Dog) put in for the Tahoe Rim Trail 100M Endurance Run late last night.  This race will be epic in so many ways.  For starters, for both myself and Coon Dog... I mean J-Dog, this will be our first 100 miler.  Another aspect is that the entire trail will range between 6500 and 9000 feet above see level.  Did I mention I live in middle TN???  And there is always the small fact that it IS a 100 miler.  But maybe I'm just splitting hairs on this one.  I'm really stoked about this and welcome the challenge.  There will be much more to come on this bright idea as we will be putting our game plan together this weekend and I'll also be deciding on other races.  Oh, and one last thing...  there will be blood

http://www.tahoemtnmilers.org/trter/TRTindex.html

Moving Forward Through The Exit Of 2010

So, lets get the ground rules straight. I have purposely chosen to not speak to any degree about my previous racing seasons or epic adventures. Much like being re-born, or any other transcendental, philosophical big-word ways of describing what I've just said. In the next few weeks I'll have lots of great news about sponsors, training, races etc.

WORD