Race Report: War at Windrock Stage 2: 10K

As many of you know, especially if you read the last post, that I recently completed two trail races in one day thanks to the War at Windrock Trail Running Festival hosted by Dirty Bird Events. After successfully completing Stage 1 of War at Windrock Move Fast 4 miler, it was time to rest up and get myself ready to run Stage 2: Get High 10K.  Honestly, I had no clue what lied ahead of me in the afternoon, all I knew was that it was a 10K and there was over 2000 feet of elevation gain.

So after stage one, I walked back to the events area of Windrock OHV Park where the race weekend was staged from and proceeded to the vehicle in order to start recovering and getting ready for stage 2. I had packed my self a couple of PB&J sandwiches, a banana, and a couple of granola bars. After getting my wet shoes and socks of me from the few run off spots of the previous race and changing shirts, I sat in the tailgate of our SUV and started to chow down on some food. It was around 11 am and I still had 4 hours before the next race.

Race Report: War at Windrock Stage 1: 4 Miler

I took about 2 weeks off following the Dark Hollow Wallow trail race I ran back in February. One reason for this was it was the longest race I've run in a very long time. The other reason, and main reason, was because Robin was having back surgery two days after the race and I was on tap to take care of her and Dinah Bug.  Little did I know at the time, that not only was I taking 2 weeks off from running, but I was also going to be off from work for about a month and a half. At Robin's 2 week follow-up appointment, her doctor put her on a lifting restriction of no more than 10 pounds for 4 weeks.

It was during this 4 week stretch that I got back to training, and this time my sights were set on the Panther Creek Challenge trail race, an 11 mile trail race at Panther Creek State Park (another in the Treadin' Troddin' Trails series by the Knoxville Track Club). Of course with Robin's restriction, I was limited to doing my training runs when Bug was napping, or when the teenager was home to help Robin with Bug. That would allow me to get my long runs in.

Race Report: Dark Hollow Wallow - 2/17/2013

Last year the Knoxville Track Club added a couple new trail races to their Treadin' Trodden Trail series. Of these races, one was in our own backyard, figuratively speaking. I remember having wanted to do the Dark Hollow Wallow last year, but I was in no way ready or in shape for it. Fast forward to the end of November and it dawned on me that the race was coming up again in February and if I was going to represent, I had better get on the ball with training.

I had been running off and on since July of last year but now I was ready to commit and begin training. Besides I had been running on the roads and was ready for a change. I just had this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that trail running would be so much better for me and way more adventurous. For three months, well almost three months, I was logging miles at least 3 days a week. Unfortunately, two of those days were on the roads as I was running those two days during the week and before work. Why roads at that time? Well it was too dark in the mornings so I opted for the safe route as I didn't have any experience running trails in the dark. Needless to say, I looked forward to my weekend long runs. I started out with 3 mile long runs and worked my self to about 7 miles as my longest run before race day got here. I wasn't sure going into it if it was enough, but nevertheless, I persevered and went with it.

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.

Guest Gear Review For Brian's Backpacking Blog

We somehow managed to score another Guest Post on a very prominent outdoor blog. You guys know of Brian's Backpacking Blog right? We'll he asked if we'd like to do a guest gear review post for his blog and right away we said yes, cause that's what we outdoorsy folks do, we help each other out. Anyway, considering we've got back into the running scene, we've reviewed the Camelbak Marathoner's Vest for Brian and you can check it out on his blog: Brian's Backpacking Blog.

Happy Trails,
Tim and Robin