Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Spring is here!

You know what...trail running is a lot easier than road running. A few weeks ago I ran a road 50K and it sucked. Pavement is boring and way more taxing on the body than dirt. What was I thinking when I signed up for that race? I'm an idiot.

Ok, I should back up a little bit. Yes, I still think I'm an idiot, but Cowtown (the 50K I mentioned above) wasn't all bad. The course was pretty and I got to explore some cool parts of Fort Worth I hadn't seen. Even though I crashed and burned pretty hard at the end, I was happy to sneak in just under 5 hours, which is nothing to pout about. But damn, pounding the pavement for 31 miles is just brutal. I love running ultras, but I think from now on I'll stick to the more forgiving trails if I want to go beyond the marathon. 

This feeling was further solidified when I ran my first 50 miler in about two years over the weekend. It was the absolute perfect race to get my endurance feet wet again. The trails were not technical and the course was super flat. (Thanks North Texas!) Fitness wise, I felt great during the first half of the race. The last 20 miles were a bit trying for me, but these things aren't suppose to be easy. I was able to snatch up a monster PR (9:11:51) which gave me a big confidence boost as I press on into the heart of my spring season.

Following Easter, I've got lots of running/traveling to do and I'm so stoked! I'm heading to DC the first weekend of April to run what has become a bit of a spring tradition for my friends and I, the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile. I can't wait to get out there and see all my friends! Gonna be a good time. The weekend after Cherry Blossom I'm off to Oregon to run the Peterson Ridge Rumble 40 Mile that a buddy of mine is the race director for. I've been wanting to run his race for awhile and I'm so excited to get the chance to run it this year. Then, the following weekend I'm running the Leona Divide 50K in California. While visiting some of my friends in Arizona back in February, they told me about this race (they are running the 50 miler) and I couldn't pass on the opportunity to hang with them again and run on some left coast trails. I heard part of the course is on the Pacific Crest Trail, which is a trail I've always wanted to check out. It's like the Appalachian Trail of the west. 

Damn, I miss the AT.