My next race

                Well since I started writing this a few days ago it seems to really be helping with my motivation.  I have started setting up a training plan to get ready for my next race. (Speaking of which, I will hit on shortly.)  When I sat down to figure out a training plan that would fit me I tried to look at areas where I could improve the most.   Personally I felt like walking was an area where I had a lot to gain.  Looking back on my past two races I think that I lost the most time in two places, walking and at the aid stations.  With that in mind I have started putting my paid gym time (1.5 hours every morning at work) to work by hopping onto my nemesis the tread mill.  Unfortunately there are no good hills close enough to get outside and work on so the treadmill will have to do for now.  Trying to improve my walking, most of which takes place on hills I have been spending 45-60 mins each morning going back and forth between running slow miles (10-12 min/mile) and walking (16 min/mile) on the steepest incline the treadmill will go to.  I plan on using this during my morning workouts along with lifting in addition to my other runs and long weekend runs.  I’ll give it a couple weeks and see how the progress is coming along and then make adjustments.

                As I mentioned in the start of this, I also found myself motivated to go ahead and register for my next race.  I was looking for something within a fairly short drive and a little more low key that I could enjoy.  What I found was the Rosaryville Veterans Day 50K.  http://annapolisstriders.org/2012/Rosaryville50K.html

The race is only on its third year I believe but it has good reviews and seems to be a 2 loop course.   I think starting with another 50k will help with my confidence after my DNF and give me a good idea where I’m at moving forward.  Also I have a bunch of time to get ready for the race as it doesn’t take place until the second week in November.

Hopefully is I feel good at this race I will be able to continue training and get in a good 50K race in February at the Holiday Lake 50K++ before my goal 50 Miler the Bel Monte Endurance Run in March.  We will see how it goes, but I’m optimistic.

    Completely unrelated to the races I have fallen in love with my new training area.  I recently  bought a house in the Northern Virginia area with my wife and have started running in the Area of Great Falls National Park.  For those of you who think the D.C. area is all urban, you would never imagine that your only 30 mins away from D.C. and  right on the Potomac River.  I have no idea how many trails there are in the park total, but I know its where the majority of the North Face Endurance Challenge D.C. takes place and every time I go I discover more great running.  Here are a few pictures I took on a recent run:

Catching Up and North Face Endurance DC results

Well since I am trying to get this blog up and running...lame pun intended...I guess I should catch up on things.  In my first post I mentioned that in April I ran, and finished, the American River 50 out in California.  After returning home form the run I expected to be able to ride the high from finishing that race and keep up with my training as I moved forward towards my next race.  Prior to even finishing the AR50 I had signed up for the North Face Endurance Challenge DC event.  It seemed like a great idea because it was close to home (as in a 15 min drive) and having finished a 50 miler a 50k should be a breeze.  To make it even better my wife agreed to run the race with me and it was the weekend after my 31st birthday.  Well, we did train but I feel like I really didn't give it my all and kinda slacked.  However the morning of the race I was still feeling pretty good and my only real concern was the weather.  Unfortunatly it had been raining for the previous 3 days and by rain I mean get out your hammers and start building an ark sort of rain.  Never-the-less, the race started and off we went.

Prior to the race my wife and I had agreed to run seperatly as with distance races I feel like you really have to run at your own pace and she agreed.  The first few miles were ok with the one exception being the EPIC mud.

This picture pretty much sums up what the first 8-9 miles of the course consisted of.  Even in this mud I was making really good time (for me) averaging around a 9 min/mile pace.  However that would quickly catch up with me.  I made it through the mud and into Great Falls National Park but was suddenly reduced to a very slow death march.  Somewhere around the 13 mile mark my wife caught back up to me, and I was thrilled to see she was looking great and felt good.  I told her to go ahead as I was struggling.  The next 7-8 miles are all a blur as dehydration started to kick my ass and I just sort of stumbled along.  I vaugly remember putting my headphones in at some point thinking music might help and about an hour later realizing I had forgotten to turn the music on...not a good sign.  With all this in mind, I reached the 20 mile Aid Station back at the beginning of the Great Flass loop and called it a day.  My first DNF!!!  Well I guess it had to happen at some point and I really wasnt that upset given the conditions and my current physical state I feel like I made the right decision.  I caught a ride to the finish line where I grabbed something to eat and drink and waited for my wife to finish.  A few hours later I saw her pink top come running out of the woods and I waited for her to cross the line.  She was hurting pretty bad, but had just finished a very tough and very muddy 50K for her first ultra.  I couldnt have been more happy and proud.

Well, here are a few more pictures from the race including pre and post race.

Since the DNF at the NFEC I have been doing my best to keep up with running.  It hasnt been a huge success but I'm working my way back into it.  Also I did take the time to have some fun and ran the RUN AMUK at Quantico with a bunch of my co-workers.  It was a 5k mud run and a great time

Now Im just getting back into the groove and picking out races for the upcoming year.

You have to start somewhere...

Well, here we go.  Im just geting started on this, and although I'm prone to slacking I hope to use this to track my attempts when it comes to trail running.  A little background on me; I'm 31 years old married and currently live in Ashburn, VA.  After spending 10 years in the Army I became a civilian in Feb 2010.

 (on my 28th B-Day in Iraq)

After I left the Army I really lost all motivation to keep in shape and really let myself go.  At my worst I was about 270 lbs. and really doing no exercise at all.

 (at around 275 in 2010)

It felt there there was always a good reason to put off getting started for one reason or another.  Luckely my amazing wife finally managed to get me back into running about a year ago now.  Running was something that I hated at first but slowely but surely grew on me.  The biggest step would come right around Christmas in 2011 when my Sister-in-law mentioned that she had decided that for her 30th birthday she was going to be running the American River 50 Ultra Marathon.  For some crazy reason this sounded like a great idea to me so I agreed to join her and the training began.  I spent the next 5 months training as much as possible and on April 7th I completed the my first 50 miler in 12:29.

 (Pam and I showing off our finishers jackets)

I hope that this was only the begining and we will see how it goes from here.