Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Fundraising the last week
The last week has been amazing as far as fundraising goes. Last week, I sent out a mass email with information about raising money in memory of my dad for the American Cancer Society. I also contacted the HR manager at my work, who also helped spread the word. Since then, people have donated almost $1000, bringing the total to $1235, which is only $65 dollars short of the goal. I really can't say enough about how generous people have been, and how proud I am that people are donating to such a great cause to honor my dad.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Flat Rock Loop
Yesterday, we were scheduled to run 15, but we decided to run 13 on trails instead. I wouldn't want to do all of my long runs on trails since the race is on the road, but the run that we call the "Flat Rock Loop" is hard to resist. There are only a couple of times per year that you can run all of the Flat Rock Trail on Monte Sano. The "flat rock" part of the trail is actually on private land and is closed to the public Nov-Jan, because the landowner hunts on it during that time. It's open the rest of the year, but the trails aren't frequently traveled, so they are grown up in warm weather, so you're likely to run into snakes and poison oak.
It was the second time that I've ran this loop. We drop one car at the Land Trust parking lot and then drive up to the hiker's parking lot in the state park and leave from there. We take the Bucca Family Trail, Warpath Ridge trail, Power Line trail, and then the Flat Rock trail around the mountain. The Flat Rock trail winds along the northern side of the mountain and stays mostly flat, with gently rolling hills. It was pretty muddy out there, which was actually pretty fun once I got used to having wet feet.
There are alot of things that make this a neat run. About 2.5 miles in, you reach O'Shaughnessy point, which has a nice southern view of Huntsville. Going down Warpath Ridge trail, you run through a boulder field with a few sinkholes scattered around. Around 5 miles into the run, you go up Power Line trail which has been cleared, and you get a view looking down in the valley east of the mountain. The final 8 miles of the run is on the Flat Rock trail which crosses several small creeks and streams, runs along several steep rock walls, and takes you out to the ~2 acre flat rock on the northeastern point of the mountain, which also has a nice view.
It was the second time that I've ran this loop. We drop one car at the Land Trust parking lot and then drive up to the hiker's parking lot in the state park and leave from there. We take the Bucca Family Trail, Warpath Ridge trail, Power Line trail, and then the Flat Rock trail around the mountain. The Flat Rock trail winds along the northern side of the mountain and stays mostly flat, with gently rolling hills. It was pretty muddy out there, which was actually pretty fun once I got used to having wet feet.
There are alot of things that make this a neat run. About 2.5 miles in, you reach O'Shaughnessy point, which has a nice southern view of Huntsville. Going down Warpath Ridge trail, you run through a boulder field with a few sinkholes scattered around. Around 5 miles into the run, you go up Power Line trail which has been cleared, and you get a view looking down in the valley east of the mountain. The final 8 miles of the run is on the Flat Rock trail which crosses several small creeks and streams, runs along several steep rock walls, and takes you out to the ~2 acre flat rock on the northeastern point of the mountain, which also has a nice view.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Coyote's Don't Bite (Humans)
Monday was President's Day, and so there weren't very many people around work. I went for a 5 mile run that evening. About 4 miles in, a coyote popped out of the trees about 50 feet in front of me. That's the first time I'd ever been that close that I'd been to a coyote other than in a car or hunting, so I was kinda scared for a minute. Usually, that path is covered with runners and cyclists, but now it's just this coyote and me. At first, we both stopped and stared at each other for a few seconds. I didn't want to run away from it, because I didn't want it to chase me. After a few seconds, I started to run towards the coyote, it actually ran away from me. It was pretty funny. Whenever I got close to it, it would run away and then just stop and stare. I eventually started running away from it, but kept looking back to make sure it wasn't following me. I'm not really sure what I could have done if it decided to chase me, but thankfully, it didn't try.
After I got home, I did some research and found that they rarely attack humans, but do sometimes chase them. According to Wikipedia, there have only been 2 fatalities from coyotes.
After I got home, I did some research and found that they rarely attack humans, but do sometimes chase them. According to Wikipedia, there have only been 2 fatalities from coyotes.
Training, 2/12 - 2/18
Training last week went well. Monday, I ran 5 miles ... Tuesday, 6 miles ... and Thursday, 5 miles ... and Saturday 8 miles. All of the mid-week runs were pretty standard runs, either during my lunch break or after work, but my Saturday run was unique and worth writing about.
I was in Nashville over the weekend for a wedding shower and making final arrangements for the rehearsal dinner, so I had to find somewhere to run there. I found some information on the Nashville Striders website and got in touch with them regarding their local training runs. So Saturday morning, I met up with them at Shelby Park in E. Nashville. I ran the "Shelby Bottoms Loop", which is a scenic 8 mile out & back along the Cumberland River. The weather was perfect, roughly 50 degrees and there were about 200 runners out there. I met a few people out there and chatted about different races around the Nashville area. I always enjoy running new places and will definitely run out there again.
I was in Nashville over the weekend for a wedding shower and making final arrangements for the rehearsal dinner, so I had to find somewhere to run there. I found some information on the Nashville Striders website and got in touch with them regarding their local training runs. So Saturday morning, I met up with them at Shelby Park in E. Nashville. I ran the "Shelby Bottoms Loop", which is a scenic 8 mile out & back along the Cumberland River. The weather was perfect, roughly 50 degrees and there were about 200 runners out there. I met a few people out there and chatted about different races around the Nashville area. I always enjoy running new places and will definitely run out there again.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Training, 2/5 - 2/12
Training for the week of 2/5 - 2/12 was different than most, due to the fact that 3 out of the 4 runs were trail runs. Usually, I only trail run a couple of times per month, but this week it worked out where trail running was the best option.
On Monday, I took off work, and since I had time, I went up to Monte Sano and ran the S. Plateau loop. I parked about a half mile away from the hiker's parking lot, so that run ended up being 4.5 miles.
On Tuesday, I ran 7 miles on my lunch break.
On Thursday, I met up with a friend after work the cross country park in Huntsville, we ran the 3 mile loop and the 2 mile loop for a total of 5 miles. It was a perfect evening to run.
This Saturday, we had a long run scheduled, but since it was supposed to be in the 20's with a 20mph wind, we decided to run on the trails on Monte Sano to stay out of the wind. We were scheduled to run 13 miles, but did a 11 mile trail run instead. We parked at the barricades on Bankhead, took Mt. Mist Trail out to Goat Trail, took Goat Trail back to Keith Trail, went up through Super Cuts and Stone Cuts, and took Sinks Trail/Mt.Mist Trail back to the cars. It was FREEZING, but luckily we stayed out of most of the wind by staying in the woods. It sleeted and snowed while we were running, and when I got back to the car at 9:30, it was still only 26 degrees. This is one of my favorite runs, even though it's very exhausting with steep climbs and rocky terrain.
On Monday, I took off work, and since I had time, I went up to Monte Sano and ran the S. Plateau loop. I parked about a half mile away from the hiker's parking lot, so that run ended up being 4.5 miles.
On Tuesday, I ran 7 miles on my lunch break.
On Thursday, I met up with a friend after work the cross country park in Huntsville, we ran the 3 mile loop and the 2 mile loop for a total of 5 miles. It was a perfect evening to run.
This Saturday, we had a long run scheduled, but since it was supposed to be in the 20's with a 20mph wind, we decided to run on the trails on Monte Sano to stay out of the wind. We were scheduled to run 13 miles, but did a 11 mile trail run instead. We parked at the barricades on Bankhead, took Mt. Mist Trail out to Goat Trail, took Goat Trail back to Keith Trail, went up through Super Cuts and Stone Cuts, and took Sinks Trail/Mt.Mist Trail back to the cars. It was FREEZING, but luckily we stayed out of most of the wind by staying in the woods. It sleeted and snowed while we were running, and when I got back to the car at 9:30, it was still only 26 degrees. This is one of my favorite runs, even though it's very exhausting with steep climbs and rocky terrain.
The plan
On April 28th, I'm running the Country Music Marathon in memory of my father, who passed away after a short battle with stomach cancer. For this race, I've joined the American Cancer Society's DetermiNation program in order to raise money to fight cancer in my dad's name.
Even though I'd like to run the race in a respectable time, my only goal for this race to finish. I'm using a slightly modified version of the training plan that I used to train for my first marathon last year. The plan consists of 4 runs per week, with a long run every other weekend. The final long run is 21 miles and takes place 2 weeks before the marathon.
Even though I'd like to run the race in a respectable time, my only goal for this race to finish. I'm using a slightly modified version of the training plan that I used to train for my first marathon last year. The plan consists of 4 runs per week, with a long run every other weekend. The final long run is 21 miles and takes place 2 weeks before the marathon.
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