The Returning Long Run Legs

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It has been a long time since I have run a distance that I would previously call a long run.  My running has recently been cut back so much that I affectionately referred to even a three mile run as a “Long Run” not too long ago. 

It doesn’t seem too long ago that I would talk about 10 miles like it was no big deal, even priding myself that I was perpetually in half marathon fitness – but then life happened.  Work and then ultimately injury stepped into the picture and I found myself sitting instead of running, even to the point that I went more than just a few days or weeks without lacing up for a single run.

The North Face Endurance Challenge is in Atlanta

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The much anticipated weekend for many Atlanta runners has arrived as The North Face Endurance Challenge arrives with it’s flurry of races.  Since this is only the second year the challenge will make it’s way to Atlanta I am sure there will be many who will be running it for the first time.  F.D Roosevelt State Park in Pine Mountain will no doubt be the place to be for Trail Runners and Ultra Distance Runners from more than just the surrounding area.

This race was on my list for some time, but with my recent injury and lack of mileage lately I dropped it from my calendar.  A recent email prompted me to rethink that, but unfortunately I was not quick enough to get registered in time to join in the excitement.

A Weekend of Roads and Trails

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A weekend like this past one doesn't come around very often.  The sun was shining all weekend long, unlike the rain that is coming down as I write this.  Sure it was Super Bowl Sunday, but since I am not a hugh sports fan, that wasn't the highlight of my weekend.  However, just so we are on the same page, hanging out with friends while the Super Bowl was on, was one of the highlights of my weekend.

Saturday was a little cool and I had the opportunity to head out for a Family Running time with my daughter Payton. We set out to run just 3 miles together and she ended up having to call it quits after a couple miles because her foot was hurting. She did however help me set a good pace so I continued at the same pace speeding it up only a little. It turned out to be a great 6 mile tempo run, and an unplanned one at that. I ran in my Saucony Grid Raiders which I don't run in much because they have somewhat of a ridged feel to them, but they felt good for this run. :)

Ten Mile Trail Run at Tribble Mill Park

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I usually like to get my long runs in around the house.  I know there are many other better places to run, and some very nice trails within just a short drive, but when it comes to a long run I like to run from home because I know it is already going to take me 90 minutes or longer to complete the run, and I don't want to add the drive time on top of that.

Since I really don't like to travel for my long runs, I wasn't too excited when my daughter Payton told me right before church on Sunday that she and her friend were going to go to Tribble Mill Park in Grayson to do their long run.  Whenever she tells me this, I know that this means I am going to make a trip to the park.  Since I had a long run scheduled that day already, I knew it would be crazy for me to not take advantage of being at the park to get the long run in.  When I asked her, she told me that they were planning on running 10 miles, so this put pretty much anything over 10 miles out of the question for me.  I don't mind asking them to wait five or ten minutes, but anything more than that I won't make them wait alone for me.

Running The Trails & Win a Pair of YurBuds!

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It won't be long before we will be BURIED under 2 inches of snow in the Atlanta area.  That being the case, and from what 2 inches of snow will do to the south I am glad I had the opportunity to hit the trials earlier this afternoon.  I run with my daughter a lot, but today she had a friend to run with so I was just the taxi driver, but while I was there why not get a good trail run in?  Do you run with your family?  If so, why not join me in a new community I am starting on Facebook - Family Running

Another trail run

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This morning my daughters were planning to get together with many from their Cross Country team and do their long run on the trails at Yellow River Park in Stone Mountain.  Since I was going to be taking them anyway I decided I would run the trails once again.

Since I ran my 17 mile long run yesterday my legs are pretty trashed, however I had taken the previous 3 days off because of my incident with the speedy driver on Wednesday morning and I didn't feel like I would be over training to hit the trails for Tuesday's scheduled 9 miles.  Yes, I am aware it is Monday, but today only called for 3 miles and I really didn't want to waste the great opportunity to put in a few miles while I was there.  Tomorrow would be very difficult to get 9 miles in anyway so considering the circumstances I just did a little switcheroo.

Our Trail Run - Podcasted

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You will recall that I went for my first trail run this past Monday morning.  It was not only a trail run but was also a Tweetup with a few twitter friends.  One of the twitter runners that went was Ron aka:@losttrailrunner.  You may know Ron from the podcast called Lost Trail Runner.

Ron has been running since before many of today's runners were born, as he likes to put it, and has been podcasting for a while since he is up to episode 53 as of today.  If you haven't stopped by and given him a listen I recommend that you do.

The last two podcasts are of special importance to me.  The first one, episode 52, was recorded during our trail run on Monday morning, while in the second one, episode 53, Ron talks about his possible broken toe (from Monday's run) while he is giving it a test run. Why is this second one important to me you ask?  Why because my blog gets a mention and it makes me feel all special and everything.

My First Trail Run - A Tweetup

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Today was a day for firsts.  My first trail run, and my first Tweetup.  As I mentioned yesterday, @Bamarunner contacted me some time ago saying that he was going to be in the Gwinnett area around Memorial day and was wondering if I would want to get together for a run. Next thing I knew a few other local Tweeting Runners were joining us as well.

This morning at 7:00 am @Bamarunner, @SamanthaUF, @LostTrailRunner, and @virtual4now (thats me) were lead through some trails at Stone Mountain Park by @aReyoUiN. Like I said this morning was my first ever trail run and I absolutely loved it.  I know what you are saying, if you didn't go down and eat some dirt it was not officially a trail run, but what I reply with is that 2 of the 5 did go down so I am still counting it :)  You can even see the proof that Samantha posted of the trail rash that occurred while the trail also tried to take out her Garmin.

We arrived just before 7:00 am and the others were shortly behind.  One of the runners tweeted us that she was they were running a few minutes late because she they left the house in flip flops and needed to head back to get her their shoes :)  This didn't put us behind at all so it was no problem.... just kinda funny.