After a long day at a track meet, I went up to Raleigh to pace Kevin in his first 100. I wasn't sure when I'd get there, but I'd planned on running around 40 miles with him. As it turned out, I got there late and he was doing remarkably well, so I just ended up running about the last 22 with him. He finished in 20:14 & 19th place overall. Not bad for a first timer, huh?? Wow! He had no leg problems, no blister problems, mildly upset stomach for a little while- really a perfect day.
This was the first time I'd run the the Umstead course & it's not the type of course I think I'd like. That said, I may try to get in the marathon there next year. It's a very smooth, wide path with zero roots, rocks or ruts. It was more rolling than I expected. You do eight 12.5 loops & by the time I got there, Kevin had memorized every tree on the course (even in the dark). I considered sticking around & running another loop with a stranger after Kevin finished at 2:15 AM, but decided against it.
March was a rough training month for me. Outdoor track season is always hard for me to find time to run, but I've also lacked some motivation. Last real long run was 5 weeks ago at Black Mountain Marathon. I decided to enter a couple of races before summer to get my training in gear. I'll be running Buncombe Trail 34 Miler, a low key event in SC & SweetH2O 50K near Atlanta which looks pretty challenging with a couple of waist-deep stream crossings. I knew just pacing at Umstead would get the juices flowing.
Spring Break starts Friday & I'll be in the mountains for a few days & plan on getting some nice runs in. Haven't decided where yet. Thought about north from Watauga Lake on the Appalachian Trail.
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