this morning

more digital documentary, this one from the run commute:



this is the trail Lily and I cut last summer, plus the old Peavine RR.
McDowell Trails Association hopes to make this a greenway.

woods mountain

lugged the digital box for this little local happy jaunt:

counterpane

It started on Thursday: a sore throat and a headache. I went into work on Friday. Early on the eve of Valentines weekend, I fought and thought I’d won. But overnight, the congestion moved to my lungs. It became painful to swallow and even breathe. The weekend was shot.

With a frog stuck in my throat and a pile of towels for tissue, I went into work on Monday. Some students and fellow teachers looked at me with disdain for even being at school. I fought on, sneezing into my sleeve, on the verge of collapse. Nasty bug.

Elliot and Ashley came through town Monday night and we went to dinner. I’ve been ill more times during this school year than I have in years. Pardon the whining, but it doesn’t seem fair how students can give you grief and then turn around and get you sick.

Today I’m at home, in bed, resting, waiting. Waiting for my nose to stop running. Waiting for the fever to go down and the rattling and wheezing in my chest to go away.

weekend warrior ways

The sun is out when school lets out. Carl has come up to visit us in Marion and to sew some chaps for Barkley. This is also the Saturday for the second annual Rattle my Heart 50K. I won’t say I absolutely live for the weekends, but they’re pretty darn nice…

Just like last year, the Rattle is downright warm. There’s more lingering snow and slush this year, which makes things interesting in the sandals. Running a trail 50K in sandals is just as one might suspect: stressful at times. The prototypes definitely need some tweaking, but they got me through this one.

I’m still interested in exploring the feasibility of sandals for the Benton Mackaye. I’m driven mainly by my positive experience of hiking the AT in chacos in 2007. My feet were much healthier in sandals than in boots or shoes day after day on the trail. We’ll see if I can get something together before May.

As for the other custom fastpacking gear, my shelter/sleep system is just about dialed in:

100 g | 03.5 oz. | cuben fiber fly

254 g | 09.0 oz. | top quilt/poncho

421 g | 14.8 oz. | hammock body

775 g | 27.3 oz. | total weight

The hammock is quite comfy and I think the climashield insulation will be sufficient for spring and summer. I was hoping for the magical 24 oz. (1.5 pound) mark and may see what can get trimmed or altered, although there may also be some add-ons too.

However, the gear alone will not get me there. The ways of the weekend warrior must also be altered. I need to step it up on the training. Warmer and longer days may help motivate me for the run commute.

birthday running pt. 2

On Saturday Lily, Uwharrie and I drove an hour up to the Parkway, milepost 305. Here at Beacon Heights, the dog and I set out on the proposed Tanawha Trail 50K course.

We ran underneath the viaduct on this beautiful and rugged trail to its intersection with the Daniel Boone Scout Trail. Here we hung a left and had ourselves a 5-6 mile out-and-back alpine excursion to the top of Calloway Peak on Grandfather Mountain. We met Lily on the way up. As of my b-day today (Feb. 1), these trails shall be free to the public as Grandfather becomes NC's newest park.

The last mile to the summit was incredible. There was snow, and ice, rime encrusted spruce, steep ladders, cables and expansive views. In my short-shorts and could not tolerate more than two minutes on top. We started down and thawed out as we made our way to Price Lake.

We searched for Lily for about an hour at the turn-around. Due to a miscommunication on my part, the 50K was not to be. Nevertheless, we got in a good 20 mile day. Plus, I got to test out my first "slogging sandal" prototypes. Many thanks to Carl for donating an old pair of 14D RC550s for the cause. R & D on this and other gear shall continue through February, stay tuned...