© 2010 Deborah Martin
This past weekend kicked off the 2011 Rock/Creek Trail Series – 9 events, ranging from 1k to 50 long beautiful miles. The Southern 6 is a 6k’ish hilly trail race on the Biology Trails at Southern Adventist University, followed by an energetic Kid K for all the lil ones that will soon be whooping us
While I didn’t want to miss this opener, it came just a week before my big winter race, so the plan was to use it as a short speed workout, but not take any chances. For a short course, it’s tough – one would never think so many hills are hidden in those trails! My aerobic capacity & legs were certainly tested. In the end, I finished as the 4th overall female, ironically the same place I took last year.
Big shout out to my teammate Sarah Woerner (with me above), who showed up for a recovery run, after WINNING the Black Warrior 50k the day before. She blew past me on the back ridge, taking 2nd female.
Gear list:
Vasque Mindbenders, Smartwool socks, Patagonia Capilene short sleeve shirt, Patagonia Multi-use skirt, Headsweats Hat, Go-light handheld with nuun (orange-ginger!)
On a sidenote, I hope to spend more time on these trails in the future. There’s a big trail dev project going on right now that will be adding some fantastic mtn bike routes. Check out the plans here (and support Friends of White Oak Mountain in any way you can!)
Looking ahead to this weekend – Mt Mitchell, here I come! For the most part, my prep for this race has been great – my coach Matt has my legs dialed in; just a few bumps along the way to keep me on my toes (like throwing out my back in an erging competition! and now spring allergies attacking my respiratory system!) The winter in the south this year has been brutal, but we’ve been lucky with a bit of a thaw these last few weeks. Trails to the summit that required snowshoes at the beginning of the month have been reduced to merely a sheet of packed ice. (Uhh, that is better, right?!) It will definitely be an adventure!
Here’s links to some pics… from the summit this past week and my gallery from last year.
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