Pinhoti Trail Adventure Run: Day One : The Long Journey Begins

Flagg Mountain to Porters Gap, 52.3 miles, 12h 48m

 With butterflies in my stomach, Eric Charette and I began our journey northward on the Pinhoti trail and precisely 6:00 a.m. (central time) on Josh Kennedy’s watch from the top of Flagg Mountain.  The pre-dawn morning got off to an inauspicious start when, on the drive to the start, we witnessed a drunk driver veer off the highway (at a very low speed!) and into the gas pump protector guard rail at a gas station.  I just so happens that this was very close to where we’d be running just a couple of hours from now!  More on that later…
 
    Heading down Flagg Mountain I felt like I was running down Madkin Mountain on Redstone Arsenal (one of my favorite training runs) as the gravel road wound its way, cork-screw like, down the mountain and eventually we popped out onto the start of long pavement section that would take us to the foot of Rebecca Mountain some 20 miles hence.  

Pinhoti Trail Adventure Run: Day Zero: A Long Walk to the Gallows

Today marks exactly two weeks since I began the long drive down to the start of the my Pinhoti Trail Adventure Run; and a week since I finished.  To commemorate my experience I'm going to be publishing my day to day run reports; one each day over the next week.  Enjoy!

Innovation: La Sportiva "MountainLite"

Inspired by fellow Wasatch Speed Goat Steve Pero's recent modification of his La Sportiva CrossLites (he removed the lace "corset" to allow easier access to the laces), I decided to experiment and make a few modifications of my own to correct some of the shortcomings I had with this shoe. 

Before I go any further, let me say that the CrossLite is an excellent shoe; it is a great transitional shoe for those desiring to go more minimalist and are used to a more beefy, heavy and cushioned trail running shoe.  The CrossLite scores high on being a more streamlined, lighter and more lower profile shoe.  However, since I had already made the transition to very minimalist trail and road running shoes over the past 3 years (Inov-8 Roclite and Nike Lunaracer/ Free 5.0 respectively), the CrossLite simply is not minimalist enough.  A true mark of a minimalist trail running shoe, IMHO, is a shoe that is extremely flexible and thus very responsive on any trail surface encountered.  I want to be able to "feel" the trail to a certain extent.  The CrossLite's flexibility is extremely compromised by the torsional stability shank embedded in the shoe.  So I thought why not experiment with them to see if I can make them more minimal by removing this shank and in the process perhaps help develop a shoe that La Sportiva might consider marketing in the future?  Thus, the "MountainLite" experiment.

2010 Antarctica Marathon

Synopsis 

Finished 1st overall in 3:50:02 and was closely followed by my better half, Kathy, who finished 1st woman and 2nd overall in 3:58:59; Kathy became the only woman to go under 4 hours in the 11 editions of the Antarctica Marathon.  The course consisted of a series of 4 x 1/4 marathon out-and-backs.  It was a 100% non-paved, very hilly and extremely muddy route that really benefited those with trail running experience (i.e. me and Kathy). Temperatures never got out of the mid 30's, however there was a constant wind that grew to over 30 knots that created a chilly out bound head wind but wonderful in bound tailwind.  Not the toughest race I've ever run, nor my best personal performance, but I'm elated to have had the opportunity to run in such a forbidding and very difficult place to get to! 

A Dozen Mists Completed (an introspective)...

Last Saturday marked my twelfth Mountain Mist 50km finish.  Located in Huntsville, Alabama, "The Mist", as it's known among the locals (including myself), is a deceptively difficult race course in the best of conditions because of the endless miles of rooty and rocky single-track.  In the worst of conditions the dirt track becomes a slippery, muddy quagmire and you often find yourself running in what seems like a stream bed!  The 16th running of The Mist was contested in some of the worse trail conditions I've seen (though not the worst IMHO).

Long story short:  I finished 8th O.A. (6th under-39) in 4:47:32, not bad considering my fitness was supremely lacking and I took a hard fall early on that really shook my confidence the rest of way.

4:47 Mountain Mist 50k, mud, mud, bloody knee and more mud; thank God its over for another year! Next up: Antarctica Marathon!

Happy Belated New Year! Lots of fun adventures planned for 2010. Stay tuned!