Change of Scenery

As much as I really do love to run at Hyland, I think it’s gotten to the point here late in the summer where that 7.5 mile loop is starting to wear on me a bit. It’s all the more reason to be excited about some change of scenery and a couple good adventures here in August!

First up was some quality time at Afton this past Saturday, which I think I enjoy more every time I'm there. That park is just far enough away that I always feel like its a little field trip going out there...waking up early, packing up my bag, and hitting the road while the rest of the world is still asleep. John Storkamp and I met up around 4:30 or so and he had 4 hours to run before heading out of town for a road trip to Milwaukee. I'm sure anyone who has ever run with John would agree that he sure helps the time go by fast. We both got in a real steady 27 miles in 4:00 with some good hills and good conversation along the way, and I tacked on a handful more to get to 35. He definitely left me with some really good advice to ponder in those last eight miles...just learning more every time out. 

I’m super excited for heading up north tomorrow for the Superior Trail with Helen, Val, Dee, Kami, Chris Scotch who I have yet to meet, and maybe a couple others. It'll be just the first and sadly I think the only camping trip of the summer, but it’ll come with some adventure and good stories for sure! Planning on running the first half of the Sawtooth course on Saturday and some more on Sunday. After Saturday I will have run on the whole course which will be encouraging, although I have a funny feeling the second half might seem just a bit different at night on tired legs than it has in the 50 miler the past couple years. 

Overall it’s been a good stretch of training since Voyageur. I'm definitely not getting any faster, but putting in a lot of steady miles which should hopefully serve me well in four weeks. I guess I'll find out soon enough...