On Christmas Day I ran from Old Man's Cave to Cedar Falls to Ash Cave along the Buckeye Trail in the Hocking Hills. It was a cold day (32 degrees), with lots of icicles hanging from the rock formations. The trail section between Old Man's Cave and Cedar Falls is technical with rocks, roots, and stone stairways to navigate. I was glad to have my Altra Superior trail running shoes. The section between Cedar Falls and Ash Cave is not technical but has some serious hills leading up to the fire tower. The fire tower is open for climbing, and after reaching the top there is a very nice 360 degree view of the surrounding Hocking Hills region.

I didn't carry a GPS so I'm not exactly sure how far I ran, but the round trip is somewhere between 10 and 12 miles. The Buckeye Trail is well-marked here, just "Follow the Blue Blazes...".

Pictures from the Old Man's Cave section:





Pictures from the Cedar Falls section:

I'm a little behind on posting my last few race reports. I ran the Tom Walker Memorial Half Marathon on December 1, 2012, just a few weeks before attempting my first marathon.

This race was a Florida Track Club event and this year the FTC provided pace groups. The two ladies leading the 1:30 pace group (Meredith DeFranco and Stephanie McGrail) are some of my training buddies, so my plan was to stick with the pace group for the first half of the race and then push it in to see how far under 1:30 I could get.

Here is the 1:30 pace group early in the race:


Photo by Florida Track Club

I followed my race plan and came through with a nice personal best!

Coming through the finish line:

I recently ran the Gainesville Fisher House Veterans Day 5k race. I was pleased to participate in this event that was well-organized and for a good cause.

Martin McCrory's Race Pace Photos took pictures of the event and as always they did an awesome job. I have purchased a number of digital images from him through SmugMug in the past and he has always been responsive and open to feedback. Here is a link to the Race Pace Photos gallery for this event:
http://www.racepacephotos.com/Events/...r-House-5k

The Florida Track Club also has a photo site at SmugMug with pictures of the event:
http://florida-track-club.smugmug.com...r-House-5K

It was a beautiful morning for a race, with blue skies and a huge American flag.


Photo copyright Race Pace Photos

I have a tendency to go out too fast so my race plan focused mainly on keeping the first mile under control. I executed the plan well, hitting my first mile split at 5:55. The second mile was 5:55.55 (all fives!). Even though the first two miles were spot-on, my third mile just didn't come together (third mile split was 6:14).

This is a photo of me approaching the last turn before the finish, probably less than 100 meters to go:


Photo copyright Race Pace Photos

Here I am making the last turn towards the finish line:

I was recently accused of being an Altramaniac by one of the sales folks at a local running store. When I look at my collection of Altra Zero Drop shoes, it is kind of hard to argue. I do own at least one pair of every model of Altra Zero Drop footwear currently available (I'm trying to get this blog post out the door before the Altra Superior lightweight trail shoe hits the shelves). Just call me "the man with many left shoes"...


Pictured (from left to right): Lone Peak, Provision, Samson, Adam, Instinct 1.5, Instinct black, Instinct original

In case you hadn't heard, Altra is a young shoe company that makes Zero Drop footwear. Zero Drop means there is no difference between the height of the shoe sole at the heel and the height of the shoe sole under the forefoot. This is also known as having a low (or no) ramp angle since the footbed lies flat rather than sloping downward towards the front of the shoe.

The true Altramaniacs make silly videos and show their love of Zero Drop footwear by dressing up in costume.

While I am not (yet) an extreme Altra nut like these two guys:



I am definitely a fan of Altra Zero Drop footwear.

A few weeks ago my family was out of town. I took the opportunity to run... a lot... and managed to hit my first 50+ mile week. It helped that I could take naps when needed and was able to go to bed early.

Here is a screenshot of my dailymile weekly mileage with the 50+ mile peak:



Following this high mileage week I had some "hint" pains in a lot of places, such as along the shin bone, in my foot, and around the knees. This was in addition to sore muscles. I listed to my body, backed off, and did not develop any injuries. Now I'm into high intensity training (hills and intervals on the track) and back into the 20-40 mile per week range.

I think that rest and recovery is likely a limiting factor for me so with a full-time job and busy family life you won't be seeing any more of these crazy mileage weeks for a while. However, I'm feeling very fit now and I am excited about the upcoming fall racing season.