Bring on the Hills

If you'd like some context for this post ... click here . In May of 2018 I started researching to find my first trail race and came across the Trailmixer's Fall Fling 400. I ignored it at first because with a group name like Trailmixers, and an event named the Fall Fling, I thought it was some kind of singles get together.  After learning that running on a single track was a type of trail and not a slang description of one's current relationship status, I went back and did more reading about it.  By June I thought it would be the perfect race to enter because you could run the 2 mile loop as many times as you’d like.  You get to create your own end.   A race ending which could be personally tailored to a runner’s own needs...and the price was perfect at $40.  In July I decided to do it...trust that my knees were back in business, train for the Fall Fling and become an Ultra-runner(insert echo here). Yes, when you are new, and nervous, it ...

In April of 2018 I decided to start running.  We're talking just a mile or two a few times a week.  It was the first time in almost 25 years. Actually, it was the first time I started running in 25 years that I did not have to give up after only a few days due to knee pain.  I had run in college for Rugby, and I had run shortly after college to stay in shape in the off season for a summer mountain guide job. A long run then might have been 5-6 flat road miles.  I stopped running in my 20s.  I didn't want to.  My knees wanted to.  If I ran to the mailbox I would have knee pain for weeks.  I started visiting doctors for knee pain when I was 16 (I'm 49 now). I have probably visited at least 10 different doctors over the years to figure out how to fix the pain.  None helped. In the months leading up to April 2018 I finally decided to fix it myself, I researched, I experimented, I started walking, then hiking, then running...slowly....