The Ultra season is among us and hopefully everyone is enjoying it as much as I am. One of the things I love about living in the South is significant seasonal changes and what happens to the vegetation. I get really excited about trail running during the winter months. Every year I seem to notice things in the woods that I've never seen. It could be the remains of an old homestead or an old moonshine still down by the creek or maybe a new patch of cedar trees clinging to the rocky outcrops. These things, hidden by the thick summer growth are suddenly visible and I relish in the discovery of them.
This weekend I have the opportunity to discover yet another great area I haven't run in before. A bunch of the R/C Team are headed down to the Bankhead National Forest for the 4th annual Black Warrior 50k http://www.blackwarrior50k.com/. Keeping their streak alive, the Whortons (Randy and Kris) will be there along with the Sims (Matt and Natalie) and Wendi and I. This will mark my 3rd 50k in 7 weeks and while my legs are generally a little tweaked, I feel surprisingly well given the efforts.
For many of us, the new year represents a time to set goals. While I would continue to enjoy running and probably compete without specific goals in mind, I find them very helpful in terms of planning my season and gaining momentum for something big. This year I'm very excited about sharing the beautiful mountains around Lake Tahoe with my wife and wonderful running friends from here in Tennessee. Several of us just signed up for the Tahoe Rim Trail 100 in July http://www.tahoemtnmilers.org/trt50/index.html, an event I did in 2007. The day after the race 2 years ago I knew I wanted to run another 100 miler, I just didn't think it would be the TRT. After agonizing (there are so many great races now) about what big event I wanted to do this year, I settled on the TRT. Ease of logistics, the great course and spectacular views ultimately won out and I couldn't be more excited. More importantly I get to share the course this year with some really great folks.
Until then I have lots to do in preparation including the Black Warrior tomorrow and the LBL (Land Between The Lakes) 60k in Ky in 3 weeks. The LBL race will mark the end of a 10 week training and racing cycle that was designed to help me "race" myself back into shape. It's also helped me figure out how my body is recovering from longer more intense efforts. While I love to race, I'm actually looking forward to a more consistent training regimen. Right now it looks something like this- RACE, recovery week, training week, taper week, RACE. After that I will focus more on training for the next few months, building a monster base of high mileage weeks and long trail runs before a short sharpening phase in June.
Besides getting to race this weekend I am super fired up to see our new ROCK CREEK RACE TEAM "kits". Patagonia http://www.rockcreek.com/patagonia/ is once again sponsoring the team and we couldn't ask for anything better. Patagonia has the lead the way for years in the production of best adventure clothing out there all while commanding a deep respect for the world in which we live. In addition, I am continually impressed with the amazing efforts ROCK CREEK and their staff http://www.rockcreek.com/ have put forth to increase awareness of local and regional environmental issues. These guys actually make it fun to be green. If you haven't checked out the RC race series, do so. You will not be disappointed! The folks that put these races on are passionate about trail running and really go the extra mile to make sure you have a great time and get the most bang for your buck.
Happy Trails,
JD
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
It should be considered mild to say that the Rock/Creek Race Team ran well this weekend. The Black Warrior 50K on Sat met the runners with fantastic weather and a sloppy course due to recent rain and what appeared to be many herds of horses shortly thereafter. The mud should have led to some slower times than previous years, but previous years have not seen the likes of the Dials and Matt Sims. Jamie won and broke the old coarse record set by Dewayne Satterfield who has won over 50 ultras, and Windi broke Kris Whorton's record by nearly 9 minutes (Kris placed second). The remaining R/C team members that ran the 50K, Natalie Sims and Randy Whorton also placed well. The 25K was dominated by Matt Simms, also breaking the old record.
ReplyDeleteOn Sun the first ever Southern 6 was run. Sheridan Ames dominated the men's masters division, and for some unknown reason, Randy and Kris and a few other Sat 50K'ers, Lee and Brenda Simiril decided to give it a go. Kris won the woman's masters division and Randy placed third master. This race should prove to be a most popular event in years to come. Fantastic organization and course.