Best Intentions...

I will admit I had good intentions yesterday.  Originally, I was going to travel down to Red River Gorge and run with some friends, but when Mark mentioned that he'd like to run locally, I bowed out.  As much as I love my running friends, I love running with Mark even more.

However, sometimes, we play off each other and never make it out of the house.  So at 4:30 pm, I was still sitting there in my pajamas.  Oh-well.  It was a down week, and I needed to rest.

Well, today after church we made it out for our missed run.  A bit colder than last week, so we had to bundle up.

Mark likes the new Ruhn.co tights, except that we bought the wrong size.  They are a bit short on him.  (to be fair, the website does mention that longer than 30" inseam should use a large.  He was right at the edge, so we stuck with a medium).  I ordered a new pair for him.  Hopefully the old pair will fit me (I have about the same inseam as he does).  He does like the compression, especially around the knees.  I'd recommend the company, as the tights are of good quality and even better...no seams in wrong places.

Totals for this week:
Miles: 34.8
Hours: 6:50
Elevation: 3822

I did some hill runs on Thurs as well a incline treadmill session (not in the elevation count).  I plan on hitting those hills at least once a week.  There's also a dam that I need to visit in the same location.  GDR is in 8 weeks...

Running Date with My Best Friend

What beautiful weather we had today in Ohio.  Low 60's and the sun even came out for a few minutes.  Mark and I had planned to go to Great Seal Park, but it was tempting to play a round of golf instead.  I graciously offered up the option, but to my surprise, he wanted to go running.  (I was good with either choice, as a round of golf in Jan is a luxury when living in Ohio).

We went out to Great Seal State Park.  I like going here, although it's a bit of a drive for everyday running.  There are a couple of really good climbs that will kick you in the arse.  The first one, Sugarloaf, is within the first mile of the run, so your legs and lungs start out burning.  The rest is a lot of rollers that keep you enjoying the run.  While I had hoped to get closer to 16 miles, the route we ran was right about 14, but with approximately 2600' elevation gain.

Mark didn't want to get his shoes wet...

Trail Art

The last climb

Mark got a hold of the camera

Tomorrow is a rest day, and hopefully a round of golf is in the cards.

Overall this was a good week of running: 4 Days, 48.9 miles, with 5700' elevation gain.

New Journeys Await

I've decided to separate my photo blog from my running.  For the last 3 years, I've included race reports and other run related posts on 5-By Photo.  As I was out and about today, I decided that maybe I should go a different route.  I have started my journey to my first 100 mile race at the end of Sept and decided that I should document the fun getting there and beyond.  This new blog will still include photos, but will be more focused on my running and racing (and flying N28GM).

I want this to become a logbook of my journeys, not only for me, but for you as well.  I don't plan on posting daily, only when I want to document something for posterity sake.

On that note...I am winding down the first of my 3 week training block in preparation for Georgia Death Race on 1 April.  I am beat up.  I tried to do a Logik cycling session today, but couldn't get my heart rate high enough, even on a high resistance.  My legs were too sore to move the pedals.   Tomorrow, Mark and I will go for a 16 mile run at Great Seal State Park.  That will be 50 miles of running this week, a record for a week that didn't include a race. I'm over 100 miles this month and there's still a week to go!

I have this nagging worry that I'm over-training. I've never consistently done 40 mile weeks like this.  However, I am not forcing anything.  If I don't want to run, I don't.  I take rest days where I do only yoga or hiking.  (Being 'retired' has it's advantages right now). Yesterday's 12 mile run was a blast.  The first 6 were with Mark, then the next 6 just goofing off and running different combination of trails.  I am trying to add speed and hills, but have not been successful.  I enjoy running the trails at my pace and stopping to watch for birds.

Well, that's it for this first post.  Have a great night, it's time for some Salted Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies and Town Branch Bourbon.