Trail Race Report: Wanderer's Trail Race 1/20/2013

I've been a road runner for most of my running life. That was until this year. Actually, back in late November of last year I started my training to run the Dark Hollow Wallow (an 11 mile trail race) at our "home" park Big Ridge State Park. The Dark Hollow Wallow is put on by The Knoxville Track Club and is part of their Treadin' Trodden' Trail series. Last year was the first year of the race and I would have loved to run it then but was in no shape to run 11 miles on tough trails. So I made it my goal to run it this year.

As mentioned, I started my training towards the end of November. I had run a couple trails prior to this point but I didn't dare call myself a trail runner as it wasn't my normal mode of running. Of course if you run and run on a trail then you're a trail runner. Up until this point I usually ran on the roads and on tracks to train for 5k's, 10k's and a couple of half marathons. During my training, I thought it would be a good idea to get some trail racing experience prior to the Dark Hollow Wallow before I bit off more than I could chew. The Treadin' Trodden' Trail series starts off every year with the Wanderer's Trail Race on the Maryville College campus. It's a 4 mile trail race and I thought with where my training was already, this would be the perfect opportunity to find out what it's like to run in a trail race.

Living Under a Rock?

We're pretty certain most of you have given up on us and figured we've caved in and took solace under a rock with having a new member of the family. That really couldn't be further from the truth. While taxing, raising our wee-little one hasn't completely kept us from getting out and about. It has however, really limited us from having any quality "sit down in front of a computer to get something done other than bills" time. Also considering work, regular run of the mill household tasks and upkeep, and a nagging an all out painful back issue, we have been somewhat limited in what we've been able to do in the out of doors arena.

So what have we been up to other than wrangling babies, playing taxi driver, and battling a fiery hip/back/leg due to a herniated disk impinging on a nerve? Long story short, a little bit of this and a little bit of that. We've been on some walks, playing on playgrounds here and there when the weather permits it, a short hike, plenty of scenic drives, and for Tim, quite a bit of running including two trail races as he converts from a road runner to a trail runner. There's also been a couple impromptu trips to Mississippi to visit Tim's father in the hospital. He's suffered a couple heart attacks back in February and Cardiac arrest while in the hospital. We ask that y'all keep his dad and family in your prayers.

So as time rolls and my goodness does it, we can't believe that March is already almost half way over, you can look forward to more posts of what we've done in the past few months. We have some gear reviews that are long over due, a couple of race reports, a failed hike and lesson in risk management on the trail, among several others. What's more is Tim is now also a proud member of the Terramar Tribe so you can be certain to see some reviews on some Terramar gear. Tim can honestly say that the base layers he currently has from Terramar are awesome. He's in love with them.