Well Monday, the 18th, was an interesting day because it made me feel that this thing is at least finish-able. However, the 10 hour mark does not seem do-able. I feel like my time is going to be more in the 12 to 13 hour mark where as others think they are going to be able to do it faster with only 9-10 weeks of training. The reason for coming up with this time was running/hiking McAfee's Knob on the 18th in one hour and fifty-two minutes. If you do the math, that is around 3.8 miles an hour and I am aiming for an average of 3 miles an hour. This pumped me up so much that I immediately went and showed AW while he was doing a product training session.
That day I also picked up a new pair of running specific shorts instead of using the soccer shorts that I always had. I tried on four different pairs of shorts before deciding on the Patagonia Nine Trails Shorts. Here are a couple of reasons why I went with these short versus the others:
1). The 75-denier polyester fabric is mixed with spandex which makes the short have a 4-way stretch. Having this stretch allows the shorts to move with the runner.
2). The length of the short is perfect. The 8 inch inseam allows the short to come to the top of the knee instead of going over the knee. This is important because it does not restrict the movement of the leg while running. Some of the other models were too long and some were too short for my liking.
3). The pockets are awesome on these shorts. The Nine Trails have two front drop-in pockets and one rear zippered pocket on the right side. Actually carrying Gu or Shot Blocks in these pockets is not noticeable while running. These pockets keep everything secure instead of letting items bounce around like other shorts.
I definitely recommend that you try these shorts out. You will not be disappointed with the purchase.
Since then, Easter came and I went back home to visit with family and I ate way too much home-cooked food along with local restaurant food. That didn't help with the training at all. I spent most of my days home helping out in the yard and chillin' in my ENO hammock.
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| My ENO hammock hooked to a telephone pole and then to my Jeep. |
Training got back on schedule when I returned to Blacksburg a few days later. Thanks to one of our reps, Tom H. for pointing out an Android application that is great for sports enthusiasts. I believe the application is available on the iPhone too. The app is called Endomondo and is free to download unless you want the professional version. This app allows you to pick what sport that your are participating in and then tracks your time, distance, speed, location, calories burned and elevation change. It also uses GPS satellites to track the route that you decided to take and even gives you stats about the activity throughout the workout. Its a killer app to have and well worth the download. It even uploads your workout to their website where you can look at all of your workouts and compare them to other people. If you decide to join, then find me and follow me!
Follow me on Twitter as well: @Mtn_XJ and check back for more soon. AW should have a new post out soon if he gets himself fixed!
[WL]
