Last Saturday I ran my first half marathon and it was a blast! I felt pretty good in the morning, despite having eaten terribly on Friday. I had a burger topped with BBQ pulled pork…I would have never even thought of that haha.

Anyway..I had my KSO Treks on and was getting some interesting looks. One other guy that I saw had the Treks and three others had the KSO’s. I decided not to carry any water for the race because there were supposedly eight aid stations scattered throughout the course. There really were eight, but man were they spread all over the place. We didn’t hit the first one until 3 miles in.

I felt pretty good coming into the little over halfway point (where we had started). At this point I had gone close to three miles without water though and I was starting to feel it. The uphills out there were absolutely insane. I had zero training on that kind of terrain so it was tough for me. I had to use tree branches on several uphills to pull myself up.

I struggled big time on the last three miles. My calves were starting to cramp because of all of the damn uphill action. When I finally came out of the woods about 1/3 mile from the finish, I was SO relieved. I came in as fast as possible with badly cramping calves, got my time and sat my ass down with some Gatorade.

My time was 2:10:20 and I averaged 9:56/mile. This is WAY slower than I run in training but I also run on pretty level ground. I was just happy to finish honestly and I was told that wasn’t a bad time for a beginner on this course. I finished 3rd in my age group and 30th overall out of 97.

During the awards, I got to talk with a guy that gave me some good advice about carrying water and such and told me about a good race in Dallas in November. Needless to say, I’ll be there.

Unfortunately, the title is something that I try so hard to do, but rarely actually accomplish. I decided to cancel my bikepacking trip last minute. Why? Because it hadn’t even occurred to me that even though the pain in my foot was barely there, biking 50 miles might just push it back over the edge and negate the two weeks of rest I had given it.

For once, I took the smart path and decided to push the trip back until late May or early June. It’s as simple as this – the half marathon is more important to me right now. I want to be able to run it.

As for my remaining runs before I head to Waco…6 mile run this Wednesday, 10 mile run on Saturday, and then another 6 mile run next Wednesday. Hopefully those runs are spaced far enough apart to allow my foot to recover. And before I forget…

My brown Fivefingers KSO Treks shipped last night! If I’m lucky, I might just have them in time for my 10 miler on Saturday. I will be running the 21K in them and damn am I excited!

I’ve been a bit out of it the past 2 weeks..I made the tough decision to give my foot a full week and a half off from any activity..and damn, I think it worked.

I ran today for the first time in about 2 weeks – an easy 3.5 miles out in the state park. I had barely any pain during the run and barely any after. I’ve only got 13 days until the half 21K so I’m going to try to get in two more 6 milers and either an 8 or 10 miler.

Tomorrow, however, is where the real fun is. I’m going out on my first solo bikepacking trip. In fact, this will be my first bikepacking trip and my first solo trip, period. I’ll try to get a map of the trip posted and a write-up first thing Wednesday morning. I plan on covering about 50 miles total, but it may end up being slightly more or slightly less. We’ll see!

This past week (almost) has been full of ups and downs. After an easy 6 mile run on Thursday, I felt some pretty sharp pain on the top of my left foot. I didn’t think much of it at the time…

Fast forward to Saturday and Sunday..backpacking the 4C Trail. For whatever reason, Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area was closed. We ended up parking at a gas station in Ratcliff. After a bit of road walking, we started the trail at mile 1.7. My total pack load was about 21 pounds – a number that I was pretty satisfied with considering that 13 of those pounds were water. We hiked to mile 12.5ish on Saturday and set up camp around 6pm. I got to test out the JetBoil Flash for the first time and it’s pretty damn impressive. Under 30 seconds to boil water! It’s a little heavy and bulky, but totally worth it considering its spectacular performance.

This was my first time sleeping in a hammock (Hennessey) and I liked it, mostly. I didn’t like the feeling of hanging above the ground because it made me feel a bit exposed. As far as comfort, though, it’s a definite winner. Next weekend I’m going on a shopping spree at REI. I’ll either come out with the REI Quarter Dome 1 or the Hennessey Ultralight…we’ll see.

We got moving Sunday morning around 8:45am. Before that, my breakfast consisted of a rice burrito and coffee. We made it back to my truck around noon. I was pretty impressed with the Neches Bluff Overlook..not an amazing view, but not bad at all.

Back in Huntsville, my roommate and I binged on IHOP. I had a monster cheeseburger with an extra side of fries and a mocha iced coffee. I learned something very tantalizing here – they give free refills on iced coffee. I think I’m in love.

All in all, the trip was a good time. My Talon 22 performed well and was very comfortable. My foot, however, is not having such a good time. More on that soon…

I’ve always liked to push my limits – mentally and physically. It’s almost a tradition for me at this point. Thousands of challenges await us in this world, yet most run from them. I prefer to embrace them.

Two weeks ago, I had never run more than five miles in a single go in my life. I hadn’t even thought about it. Yet on Tuesday, I ran 13. With a 10-pound pack. This isn’t a big deal for runners, sure; I’m not exactly a runner.

The first few miles were a breeze even though my pace was entirely too fast. By mile 5, I felt terrible. And then a mile into my second lap on the Chinquapin Trail everything came together. I’ve heard runners talk about “runner’s high” but I had never experienced it before Tuesday. It was quite a feeling and I didn’t wanna lose it. I blazed from mile 8 to 10.5, feeling wonderful and jamming out to The Rolling Stones after finishing Bryson’s A Walk In The Woods.

But just as quickly as the pieces melded together and propelled me through the woods, they broke apart and spread along the dirt path like fire ants on a mission. The last 2.5 miles of the run was absolute hell. I was probably walking as much as I was running, at least during the last mile.

That’s not the important part, though. I finished the 13 miles in 2:00:00 (my original goal) exactly. That comes out to 9:15/mile and I’ll happily take it. I learned a couple things over these 13 miles. First, I need to learn to hold a steady pace. I’m sure this is a skill that will come in time. Second, I might need to consider wearing my Injini socks with the Five Fingers because I finally developed a blister that bled through the stretchy material of my barefoot shoes and left a rather large red stain.

Off to run another 6.