21 miles, 4:09, 11:51 pace

I went to Mt. Airy forest today to get in some quality trail running. Ohio River Road Runners Club hosts a 50k at Mr. Airy in the fall, the trails are very nice, and challenging. The 50k last October was the first time I had run there, and since I have gone back a hand full of times, as it is only about 20 minutes from my apartment. I haven't been able to find the exact course that was used for the race (one 8 mile loop and one 5 mile loop). I went there today with the purpose of finding the 5 mile loop. I was successful in finding most of the loop and repeated it 4 times. It was a nice sunny day, and there were a lot of deer enjoying it, as I was. As I was making my first loop around the trail, as I approached a foot bridge crossing a creek I looked across the bridge to a grassy knowl. There were 14 deer just standing around eating the grass. That was by far the most deer I have ever seen at one time (I wish I would have been running with Photographer Mike, I am sure he would have gotten some great photos.) They kept a close eye on me as I stood there observing them. After about 10 minutes of watching them I made my attempt to pass (as a few of them were right in the middle of the trail). Some of them scurried off while others stayed. Each of the remaining 3 times I passed this area the number went down, on the fourth pass there were 2 deer remaining. Many people will drive through the park and look at the few deer they can see from their cars, if they only knew what they could see with a little more effort. My run was really great today once I made my first pass through the loop and figured out where I was going I was able to cruise the last three loops at around a 9:30 pace. My calves were very sore from my run with the Vibrams yesterday but they loosened up. I am going to utilize Mt. Airy forest a lot more, as the weather gets better and I further prepare for Mohican. The technical hilly terrain should be great training.

Weekly mileage: 33 Miles

"The long run is what puts the tiger in the cat."
- Bill Squires