Why it's good to be a MTB'er who runs...

This is why...

Yes, that is FREAKING ICE on those trees!! It was a pretty miserable day for riding..temps in the 30's and a 20-30 mph wind...so Neal, Jon B, and I headed up to Suches to do a trail run from Woody Gap to Neels Gap and back. The entire trip was 21.2 miles and took us just under 5 hours. I'm still in base mode, so I had to keep the HR under control on the uphills. We did see some poor unfortunate souls riding their road bikes at Neels Gap. I was shivering just thinking about those descents and the wind gusts. Brrr! Trail running is SO MUCH BETTER than riding when the temps are in the 30's.

I'm not quite sure what Neal was doing with this icicle...it must have been the cold affecting his brain. We did see some peeps camped out in a tent on one of the rock outcrops atop Blood Mtn. I'm pretty sure they stayed in their sleeping bags all day. Ok, time to get the hell outta here before I freeze. Hot chocolate awaits at the store at Neels Gap.

Notice that TEENY TINY ray of sunshine off in the distance? That didn't actually shine on us until the last 5 minutes of the run when we were a half mile from the car. And all those trees in the background? Looks like an excellent place for an O-course in the next Berwald adventure race...wink wink. The run went well and I'm not sore YET. I carried my usual pack with extra useless weight for extra added suffering. (I will be a huge Spartan beast and carrying Neal's pack in races when I am done with all this training!) Despite the cold temps and blistering wind, I wasn't cold except for 15 minutes after the store stop. Normally store stops violate one of my rules of cold weather training (no fires, no store stops, no whining), but the guys were going in, so I figured a cup of hot chocolate wasn't a bad idea.

I spent yesterday afternoon cleaning bikes, swapping tires, and converting my IF into a singlespeed, so I'll likely be taking it to Blankets for a spin sometime this week. I'll have to wait until I'm out of base before I think about taking it up to North Georgia. We're heading to Illinois for the Holidays, so hopefully I'll be able to get some decent rides in before we leave on Saturday. I'm not taking a bike, so I'll be spending a lot of time running.