In March 2013, I ran my first trail half marathon on Racoon Mountain in East TN at the Rock/Creek Scenic City Trail Marathon & Half Marathon (http://www.rockcreek.com/trailmarathon.rco). It was my second trail race (my first was the Rock/Creek River Gorge Trail Race 10.2 miler: http://www.rockcreek.com/rivergorge.rco.) and my second half marathon (first: 4 Bridges Half Marathon: http://www.7bridgesmarathon.com/). I managed to PR on this trail half with a time of 2:11 (7 minutes faster than the flat road half I completed 6 months earlier), despite the 1100+ ft of elevation gain, which made me happy. I still haven't reached my target time of <2:00 a="" but="" eventually="" font="" get="" half="" i="" in="" nbsp="" there.="" will="">
I was prepared for this race despite the fact that I had missed several training runs leading up to the event. I started out around the middle of the pack and just ran my race the whole way. Other than a few steep hills near the end, I managed to run the whole thing which was a first for me on a distance that long.
I now have my sights set on my first full marathon in December at the St. Jude Memphis Marathon where I hope to raise $1000 for the hospital's research and cancer treatment. You can find my personal fundraising page here: http://heroes.stjude.org/Stephen-wren if you wish to help me raise money. You can also read a number of factoids on the hospital, the research they do, and the children and families they help.
I have a hard week of training ahead of me with 14 miles between now and Friday and then 18 miles on Saturday and another 8 on Sunday (40 total). I have never run that far before (for a weekly total or a daily total), but I know I will get there. I may have to stage some water along the way though just so I can stay hydrated throughout. I will post more updates as I feel they are warranted.
BTW: Happy Runners Day. Go out and log some miles. See you on the roads/trails.
No comments:
Post a Comment