37th Chamber

Wind in the sails and the ship feels righted in the direction it needs to be. With that said, still a ways away from the competitive level I forsaw in December, but the enjoyment of running of late has been great. This weekend was no different. The weather was amazing, the company was stellar and the routes were great.

I was fortunate to be able to hit the trails on Saturday and then the roads on Sunday. Saturday was a Voltron to Pisgah for 12 miles on the hard packed snowmobile trails with Greg and the girls. Sunday was going to be epic and wanted to get the girls their fitness in. It's also my favorite thing about running. 

The trail was 85% hard packed and was softening up the last 20 min which lead to quite a bit of small slipping. At the time I didn't really notice it. I really noticed it the next day when I woke up. 

Sunday was going to be the Marathon Road with the Simpson Brk add on to make it 24 miles. Eric MacKnight and Jeff Goupil made the trek out to team up with Greg and myself. I was excited to have a group and was looking forward to the run itself. 

We started off nicely, and eased into a nice relaxing pace. At around an hour we hit a 2.5 mile long hill that is very gradual until the last 1200 which is steep.

I didn't notice or hear it but I guess Greg and Goupil made a pact to chill while Eric and I kept the pace and effort a click up. I started to feel very good at this point in the run.

Once at the top we all regrouped and kept rolling down the backside before intersecting the Marathon Road. Once we hit the MR again we started to get honest with the rolling and by Grafton village Eric and I were in a rhythm and kept hustling. There was a stop at a store for a quick fueling, while Eric and I added on about 5 min. We then continues rolling the rest of the way. I could tell our effort was solid and had Eric take a mile split and hit 5:58 for our 20th mile and then 5:45 for the 21st mile and contined this pace tha last 2 miles. Once back at the start we added on another 4-5 min to get an extra mile and 25 for the day. 

I'm very happy with the effort and stoked to share an awesome day with my Owl Brethren.