The picture is from the Athens-Big Fork Trail run the first weekend in January. It's a very hilly and challenging 26-mile course that follows an old postal trail out-and-back over 8 Ouachita Mountain ridges. It took me 3 attempts at this thing to actually have fun. The last time I tried it was 2 years ago, when I was getting sick but didn't know what was wrong yet. I hauled my miserable body up and down those mountains for almost 8 hours. This time it only took me a little over 6. (insert smiley face here)...
I have a few decisions to make about which runs I'm doing this year. I had a heavy road marathon year in 2010, and lived by a weekly cycle of long runs, tempo runs, and speedwork. While it was fun in some ways, I'm kind of ready to slow it down and crawl back into the woods for some trail running.
Off to a good start!
