Getting started...

Shhh...don't tell anyone that I'm doing this at work and avoiding working on use cases. Yeah, I'm not completely sure what they are either, but I'm supposed to know.

In any case, my dear freind, Deeann started up a blog to track her adventures in training for the Danskin Triathlon we're doing down in Austin in June. That inspired me to start up my own, which is something I've been wanting to do for a while. As an added bonus, I'm also hoping to do some race write-ups as I go through them. Should be fun, right?

In a nutshell, I do enjoy trail running, though there are some days that it's a struggle to get out and just do it. Everyone goes through that from time to time, but I tend to fight it more when it chilly outside. Fortunately I live in TX and the heat will be kicking in any day now.

I'm training right now for a 50K race up near Minneapolis later this summer. I figure I can enjoy a holiday weekend with Deeann and her hubby, Greg, as well as get a little exercise in. Afton is right on the St Croix river on the border of MN and WI. The trail looks like it can be hilly at times, but not too hilly. There are very few long straightaways which is a good thing. I tend to bore quickly and love all the twists and turns. This race has plenty of twists if you look at the map.

I've attempted 2 50k's in the past. My first attempt was down in Hunstville TX for my birthday 2 years ago. It was a good effort, I felt great, but somehow got to chatting with the folks at an aid station on the 2nd loop and missed doing a 3 mile portion of the trail. Needless to say, I wasn't a happy camper once I figured this out and reached a lake about 1/2 hour sooner than I was supposed to. I 'fessed up to the RD and took my DQ.

The second attempt really wasn't a true attempt. Dianna, Maribel and I went out to CA to do the Shadow of the Giants 50k which is near Yosemite NP and Sequoia NP. In actuality, we signed up for the 15k, but found out all the beautiful parts of the race only through the giant sequoias on the 50k. We devised a plan to just run what we could and drop at the end of a loop that would take us back to the start. We joggled a good portion of it, but stopped to take pictures along the way like the tourists that we were. We ended up doing about 26 miles, untrained mind you, but still enjoyed the race. Maybe next year I'll go out again and make a true attempt at it.

I'm running a 25k tomorrow at the Rocky Hill Ranch in Smithville, mainly as a training run for Afton. I'll update you later with a race report.

Gotta run! KK