faithrunner

Got up this morning and met Kyle Knighton at the family cabin in the Upper Valley of Red River. Kyle is new to trail running but he is truly hooked on it. He has run trails in Italy and Switzerland, but has not finished a sanctioned run yet. He and his wife Emily live in Waco, and he got the bug while running in Cameron Park. He signed up for his first ultra, The Rough Creek Trail Run (40 miles), September 19 in Glen Rose, TX. He will do great.  We headed to the East Fork trail head and walk/ran for an hour on the East Fork, Sawmill Creek, and part of the Sawmill Park trail. We reversed our run and got back to the car in half the time. 1.5 hr run at altitude.  It rained, and the trail had several washouts and fallen trees. Altitude was a problem going out (Ditch Cabin is 9,730) but coming back was ideal. Cool, soft trails, and my breathing fell back in pace.  Kyle ran ahead and turned back to check on me a couple of times. I soon learned I have not trained adequately for ...

Park at the Redwood Shelter Cross the street to the trail along the river Run to end of River Trail and the Highlander Trailhead Run Highlander to Outback to Powder Monkey back down to River Trail Run at pace to Jacob's Ladder One ascent and one descent Jog back to Redwood Shelter Took me about 1h 30m. You'll be faster. Add climbs on Jacobs Ladder for climbing strength. Cameron Park Trail Map

The three worst letters in the alphabet for a runner are: DNF , which mean, "did not finish." There are a variety of reasons why runners don't finish races but, if you train to finish and enter to finish, DNF is not what you want to read on the final result list. You also don't want these three letters on your spiritual epitaph, but I'll get to that in a moment. This past Saturday, I entered the 20-mile length of what Tim Neckar calls, The Toughest n' Texas trail run . I completed the first two 50K runs Tim hosted on this course, and I thought I'd take on a shorter distance in the sixth running of the event. I love the run because it winds through Cameron Park in Waco . I believe these trails are the best kept secret in Texas . Multiple elevations, terrain, and different stands of trees (and bamboo) make it a trail runners delight. It is, however, a butt-kicking combination of rocks, roots, climbs, and washes. The course begins at Redwood Pavilion ,...