Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Mountain Masochist Report

What fantastic weather we had for the 27th running of this event. I, unfortunately was not in my best shape and suffered for most of the day. I still got it done and ran really well at the end - just too much damage was done the previous 10 hours. Still, with an 11:38 it was not even my worst time here. For starting basically "off the couch", I suppose that is not so bad. I got to run with a lot of good folks including Rebecca Phalen, Ed Marsh, Ashley Funderburk, John Teed, Melinda Yelton and DC Lucchesi. I wasn't with DC or Melinda long as they ran great races. DC posted a 9:37 and Melinda got 10th female! I also spent a good amount of time towards the end with Tom Green - the only person to start all 27 editions of this race.

I really did have a good time even though the ego took a hit with my performance. The road trip up with John was a blast with a stop at Lexington BBQ and lots of old school country music and southern rock blaring the whole way. The trip up is usually as much fun as the run. The trip back however, is no fun at all. Now, I have to decide if I am still game for Hellgate...

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Mountain Masochist Preview

Tomorrow I head up to Virginia to run the Mountain Masochist Trail Run. This will be my third start and I am really excited because the temperature looks to be near perfect. Lows in the 40s with highs in the 60s and sunny! It will be cooler at the higher elevations but looks to be a fabulous day in the mountains. Many of my running friends from all over will be there so it will no doubt be a fun time all the way around. I have no real goal for the race other than to do my best. Hopefully that will mean a PR for the course but who knows. With Hellgate looming in just over a month, this is going to be more of a training run. Sure a 50 mile one, but a training run nonetheless. I will post a report as soon as I can. Wish me luck.