Happy National Running Day!

It is super convenient that National Running Day falls on Wednesday which is the one day of the week I pretty much always run on : ) my weekday running tends to be nonexistent at times, so I like to be consistent on Wednesdays. I know I've said it before but I love heading to Damascus once a week to run with the IMTR gang. Our little figure 8 route on the Iron Mtn and AT just never gets old. This spring the mountain laurel have been especially spectacular. I wish I had a picture to share, but this one from a couple years ago will have to suffice. I charged the camera up last week and forgot to carry it which means I also missed the opportunity to capture Eric Grossman in all his heat training glory, pants, jacket, and all....

Mountain Laurel - AT Damascus

So a lot has gone down since my last post.... Lots of great running fun to celebrate on this "holiday" lets see...



Trestle #7 - Virginia Creeper Trail 2009

 JJ and I volunteered at the Creeper Marathon the day after Terrapin which is always fun, but on a not so fun note I should mention that a month after that weekend our area was hit by several tornado's (very odd) the bridge that is located at the 11/16 mile mark of the Creeper Marathon is where we have volunteered for the past 3 years. It was destroyed on April 28th. It was built in the 1800's, was 650 feet long and 50 feet high. I have gone over this trestle countless times and it will never be the same. RIP Trestle #7 you will be greatly missed. More pictures of the trail 2010 and the trestle after the storm. There are plans to reconstruct the trestle in some fashion TBD. https://picasaweb.google.com/Iron.Mtn.Trail.Runners/Creeper2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCNad1sHaiOHxAw&feat=directlink

Trestle #7 after the tornado April 28th 2011

4/2- Jenny and I did a loop a Steeles Creek Park- nice change of scenery
4/3- JJ and I did a new loop from FS832- Saunders Trl, AT, creeper, Taylors Valley Trl. Great new training route and always fun to explore something new, around 14 miles.
4/9- Trip to Louisville KY- ran with a local group from the Trail Store.
4/16- Cross Mountain Run - Rick, Dana, Clifton, Tammy.
4/17- Martha and Doug came over from Todd, NC to run with JJ, Jenny and I. Dam8 in reverse.
4/23- PROMISE LAND 50K - love this race. had so much fun. such a beautiful course.

Got to finish within a couple minutes of some of my favorite people

5/1- Rush Creek Loop w/ Jenny, JJ, Joey, and Mike with a great fried chicken lunch by the river afterwards.

Enjoying one of the many steam crossing going up Wrights Hollow

5/14- Massanutten 100 miler. Paced and crewed for Rick. https://picasaweb.google.com/Iron.Mtn.Trail.Runners/MMT?authkey=Gv1sRgCIvFl7mk-9HdlgE&feat=directlink

5/21- Ran from Cross Mtn to Damascus on the IMTR w/ Dennis. Mike Day and Brandon Thrower were in town running also.
5/28- Government Road Loop w/ Rick- always humbles me. thought it would be good training for Grandfather Marathon with all of the gravel road. my legs could certainly feel it on Sunday.

We are heading to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky this weekend to do some exploring so I hope to get a run in there, if you've ever been and have suggestions of trails let me know.
 I'm sad I'm going to miss the Varmint 1/2 Marathon on June 11th. It's such a special and incredibly tough race, with the coolest "trophy" around. I highly recommend it.

Jenny and I with our sheep 2010

Highland Sky 40 miler is right around the corner on June 18th!