Northern Trails Marathon report + fishing with Apu

The trail marathon in Greensboro on March 15 went well.  This course starts at N Guilford high school and then quickly picks up a singletrack trail that takes the long way to Lake Townsend, where we run about half of the perimeter trail.  You can see the map here.

I really enjoyed it.  The course was on the easy side of singletrack, with a minimal amount of roots and rocks.  It was winding and mildly up and down like most lake loops, definitely a course you could run fast on.  I took it easy for 30 minutes in the hopes of warming up without any issues.  Occasionally on long runs everything gets tight and it all stinks, but I felt good here so picked the pace up to 'comfortable fast' and enjoyed the trails.

I had a few hundred calories of gus/gels with me, and borrowed a bit more from the course.  All in all, no problems, and my final 5 mile split was the fastest of the bunch.  Here are geeky 5 mile split times.  These include bathroom breaks, food and drink stops, and staring at the pretty birdies stops:

5m: 47:30
10m: 43:40
15m: 43:20
20m: 44:12
25m: 43:10
1.2: 10 something
3:52.20 or so final time, 8:52 / mile pace. Was able to walk around and get myself home after.  Good times!

 Shirtless selfies rock

It covers some of the same trails that Triple Lakes Marathon runs in October. 

I took it easy last week with swims and a couple bike rides, and ran a few easy miles on Saturday. 

This week I took our son Junior Awesome to visit his Grandpop Senior Awesome down in la ciudad de Miami.  We had a nice time visiting and caught up with some good times.  Growing up in Miami my Dad and I used to go fishing often and it's a nice way to spend some time with your pals and loved ones.  We also took a quick trip to Oleta State Park, which is a really great urban park just off Biscayne Blvd / North Miami Beach. But first, fishing pics with No Games Charter Fishing!

 Junior's first fish - lizardfish on 10lb tackle, with help from Capt Jorge

 Capt Jorge and Senior Awesome

 Chilling on the boat - 3 generations

Getting instruction on how to reel in a fish

After a little nap back at the house, we headed out for more fun at Oleta River State Park. This is a great place to get away from the rush and hubbub for bit of nature.  It has several miles of mountain bike / running trails as well as a beautiful and calm bayside beach.  It is almost as big in square acreage as Umstead State park, to give you RDU types an idea of size.

 We're getting good at selfies

 Beaching it

 

Before we decided swimming is fun

3 sons

We concluded the evening with dinner at a waterside restaurant and then light's out for all the Gaal's.  Visiting family is always great but there are some exhausting aspects to both travel and travel with little ones.  You know the drill!

In triathlon news, we're off for a mini-camp in Ocean Isle Beach next weekend with our elite athlete squad.  Elite = people who go to the beach with us.  Good times!

Next up is the TOA Sprint Triathlon at the end of April.  I decided to skip the Sampson County Supersprint this year as my cycling has been moderately awful in 2015.  My legs are recovering well from the marathon and I'm looking forward to another summer of fun and fitness.

It all goes by very fast!

Weddings, springtime, fun

If you're a science fiction fan, check out a series called Koban by Stephen Bennett.  Mr. Bennett is self publishing these, but his writing and story telling are better than 90% of traditionally published authors I have read.  It is a really good story.  He's working on the 5th in the series now.

Onto other things - like me!  Yes, your favorite passive aggressive seldom to be seen blogger is back!  Oh, joy.

The Umstead trail marathon on March 7 was cancelled due to all the snow and slush around here.   I was bummed and sad but then I found the Northern Trails Marathon in Greensboro on March 15.  Then I was worried my wife would say "No Marty, no can go, bad Marty, time out!" but instead she said "Go have fun, just don't suck," and I was happy again.

So I'll be running a trail marathon this Sunday instead of last Saturday.  I have no competitive goals and feel a little past my expiration date on marathon training.  I'm looking forward to riding my bike a little more regularly.

We had a number of bad cold days around here and it was fun for about two of them.  I couldn't live in Boston et al for more than a year or two.  I am sure of that.

We went to Rita and Kyle's wedding last weekend.  It was fun and they did a good job of not passing out during the vows and everything.  Junior Awesome was a ring bearer and did a great job.  Of course, duh. 

There are many fun things coming up this summer, so many that I can't remember any of them right now.

Our open water swim clinic schedule is:
April 18
June 6
July 12
August 22

Be there or be square man.