Commitment

I finally committed to the Guana 50k and put my money in the mail. No turning back now. I ran this event two years ago as a relay and loved it. This year I feel like I've got the miles in my legs to go for the whole thing. I'm hoping a couple of my buddies will be out there as well. It's a four lap event, each lap being a little over 7.5 miles. That fourth lap is gonna be a bear. I'm planning on starting really slow and trying to conserve as much as possible for the last lap. Honestly- I can't wait for the race. I love running trails and Guana is beautiful. This weekend Shelby and I are heading out to the ranch to hang out for my birthday. Should be a relaxing weekend. I'm gonna take the hiking backpack to put Audrey in and get out on the Florida Trail some. Should get in a good run a ride out there as well. I'll try and take some pictures.

Morning Peddle, Afternoon Paddle

Yesterday was awesome. I got a great ride in before work and went out in the kayak after work. Got in about an 1:40 of paddling which is pretty good for a weekday. Here are a few pics from the paddle.

River Run

This past weekend Shelby and I did the Gate River Run 15k. This was our 4th one and it's always a good time. Shelby and I decided to run together this year and had a blast. She did awesome, 1:37:47. The weather was perfect, cool and overcast. Only bad part was how foggy it was. Saw a lot of people we knew along the road which is always a great distraction. My buddy Daniel ran a great time this year, 1:12:00. On Sunday I took some friends out canoeing and gave them some pointers. They are training for the Blue Ridge AR coming up as well. I need to spend more time in the Sundowner before Blue Ridge. I'm still not completely comfortable in it. I'm hoping to take it out to the ranch this weekend and paddle it on the Suwannee. In all, we had a great weekend with beautiful weather. 

Good Weekend

Had another pretty good weekend for training. Saturday I rode an hour and a half on the road bike and Sunday I ran 19 miles, a little over three hours. The only time I had to run was right after church so the heat played a big factor- it was about 75-80 degrees. I filled up my water bottle twice during the run, had two gels, and five endurolytes. That seemed to keep me going and got me through it. The best part of the run was having no muscle cramping, even with the heat. I can definitely tell that I've gotten stronger since the marathon in January. Not necessarily faster, but my endurance has improved. This weekend is the River Run 15k, the largest road race in Jacksonville. Shelby and I will be doing it as well as her brother and a ton of our friends so it'll be a great time. The course has a montrous bridge at mile 8 that really kills you before the finish so maybe the treadmill and stairmaster work will pay off.

Feeling better

What started out as a pretty crappy weekend for training (I had been sick all last week), ended up being pretty good. Saturday was a absolutley beautiful day and despite feeling like crap in the morning I ended up getting in a solid 10 mile run (8 with Shelby and Audrey). Later that day we brought Audrey and Reese out to Julington Durbin Preserve for a short hike so that Reese could run around some. We tried out a hiking back pack with Audrey that my mom had gotten us before she was born. It worked really well and was reasonably comfortable. I think Audrey will like it better when she can see over the top instead of just out the sides. I woke up feeling crappy again on Sunday but again, things got better as the day went on. A buddy of mine called me a couple weeks ago about doing a relay off-road tri with him. They needed a kayak guy. The race was extremely short- one lap around a small lake. I came in first off the water and got us about a 20 sec. lead going into the bike. It was fun hanging out but sure would have been nicer if it had been a longer paddle. I'm really hoping to get out to Guana this week at night with Dave to do some more scouting and to experience the area at night.