January Training

My training has been going very well so far in 2013.  I have been slowly building up my base mileage to 35-40 miles per week while continuing my uphill training from last year.  My base mileage goal is to reach 70 mpw, which I plan on reaching by the beginning of April.  I have a long season ahead of me.  I have experienced some new local(ish) training runs with Preston in Shenandoah NP.  If you want a great description about the run and some great pics stop by his blog.  Some of the runs we have done give the right mix of vertical, technical, and beautiful views.  I run PVSP and Rosaryville because they are close to me, but it's always nice to get and explore some new trails. We have hit up Old Rag, Stony Man, and Hawksbill so far this year, now the test is to hit all these in one outing.  Gonna be sick!!!  Here are some pics from our runs. 

Photo by Preston

Photo by Preston

Photo by Preston

Photo by Preston

In addition to getting some nice runs in at Shenandoah NP, I also made a trip down to Montebello VA during MLK weekend.  Emily and I rented a cabin with Tom and Nina at the Montebello Resort right off Rt 56.  I really wanted to get back down to VA and hit the Priest & 3 Ridges and get some miles in on the MMTR course.  Thursday before we drove down to VA, it snowed 8" in the Montebello area.  All that snow couldn't stop us from getting out and enjoying the Blue Ridge Mts.  Lots of people were out on the trails taking advantage of the three day weekend.  Overall I had the chance to run three consecutive days and get in 14+hrs of time on my feet and loads of vertical too.  I had so much fun that I am going to plan on another running camp in late Spring so if you are interested let me know, if we get enough people we could rent out the entire cabin (both parts of the duplex).

Our View outside our cabin at Montebello Resort

Lake at Montebello Resort

View on top of the Priest

Here are some extra pictures from the Montebello Running camp.

See ya on the trails,
JP

Old Rag Mountain Trail Hike 3/12/11

Ranger Station

Because I am laying low until the HAT Run 50k next Saturday, a friend and I completed a cool 9 mile hike at Old Rag Mountain in Shenandoah Nation Park.  We parked our vehicle and payed our entrance fee of $8 at the ranger station, then hiked up a mile up SR600 until we reached the trail.

Old Rag Mountain Trail Map

Once we reached the trail we hiked up 2.5 miles to the summit.  We came across some other hikers along the way and a Boy Scout Troop which caused some slow moving due to heavy traffic on the trails.  But once we reached to summit we were treated to some beautiful views.

Summit

Taking in the view

Don't look down

We decided to enjoy the fruits of our labor for a while then we descended down the trail and started to make our way back to the car.  The trails were in good shape and had a moderate amount of rocks and roots, nothing I am not used to.  When we were coming down the mountain we could see how much rain the mountain received during the previous week because the water levels looked high and had some mini rapids from all the extra rain. 

Mini rapids

We took our time coming back down the mountain, the hike took us approximately 4.5 hours (probably would have be 30 minutes faster if we weren't slowed down by traffic on the trail).  This was a cool hike and a great way to spend a Saturday in March and I am looking forward to exploring more trails at Shenandoah National Park this upcoming year.

elevation profile