I had my first outing of the year yesterday and it went well. I walked a good proportion of it of course, its going to take me a few weeks to get back up to speed. The trail was muddy, therre was a lot of deadfall from the winter and the stream were swollen from the recent downpours. I made one slightly dodgy stream jump, thought i was going i, just about made it though. The ferns are just pushing through the forest floor and i didnt see a soul. Lovely. Good times.

heres my route: http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/28857812

Running in a 15k hybrid race on Saturday morning, the first 4 miles are through a trail in a pine forest at a state park in Cola, SC. It's actually almost in my backyard. I'm a teacher so I run the bike trail almost everyday during the summer, since I don't work. Throughout the school year, I use it only for my long runs. The trail is 6 miles, so depending on my goals I run through it once or twice. or part way to a certain mile marker and walk the rest of the way out.

Love to run it in the morning as the animals begin to stir and the sun streams through the forest. I have seen lots of animals in the park, including wild turkeys, deer, foxes, rabbits, snakes (hate those), and even bobcats (not fond of these either). However, not looking forward to the spring and summertime humidity. It was 93 today and will be around 95 tomorrow Other best part- new trail shoes!

The race!! I loved the distance, but the heat, humidity, and hills were no joke. The race started at 7:30 and it was already 80 degrees. It was also very humid. Yuck! My the time I finished I looked like I had taken a shower with my clothes on. I never drink anything when running less than 10 miles. During this race, I had to drink at every station which thank goodness was about every 2-3 miles. Way too many hills, but that's another story!! The canyon sounds nice. Those are the best runs when you are free to just run without worrying about your pace.

Are you doing the treadmill test or something else? I'm sure that will be interesting to find out your VO2 max.

nwhitley, how was your race? I have big issues with heat. I get a little acclimated but still generally melt down. It's gotten worse with age. Hmmm.

I had a great weekend away from home at Zion National Park. Got 3 runs in, including a great long run that started at the bottom of Zion Canyon and went up to the east rim. This was an easy (cycle down) weekend for me, and it was nice to just go out and run around! This coming week is a big one and then I start a gradual taper for June 2 event. Oh! And I am having the maximal VO2 test this week. It will be interesting!