While getting for the Black Mountain Marathon (run in conjunction with the 40 mi Mount Mitchell Challenge), my biggest worry is specificity of training. The race is hilly. As in, mountainous. As in, you run UP UP UP the freakin' mountain. It's very hard to mimic that type of topography in the Triangle. So I'm a little anxious about being completely ready for the race. My hope relies on two things: 1) a training run last weekend at the Uwharrie National Park (with an upcoming race) was fairly hilly. I didn't feel fast, but I felt prepared and confident I would know when to run and when to walk; 2) my training mileage has me pretty much prepared to run an ultra, so although my race is only (HAH!) 26.2 miles, with the 13.1 miles UP, it's comparable.

I've returned to the social run at The Athlete's Foot (sorry, Capital RunWalk), which is always fun. It usually ends up being a stress-less tempo run. Recently I've been running with a high school sophmore who's shown up. Sometimes I don't know if he's trying to brag, or if he's overconfident, or just being a typical teenager. I definitely wouldn't say yet I'm mentoring him, but I hope he'll pick up some good tips. My biggest worry is his ambitious goal of professional sports. He fully intends to pursue either professional baseball, or professional running. For the former, he shouldn't be concentrating on getting in a half marathon. For the latter, he should be more realistic. This past Tuesday, I easily dropped him after 4 miles with a 7:30 pace. I know I'm quick for rec runners, but this should've been a breeze for pro-potential.

Ah well. This morning was a drizzling-to-raining-to-POURING single track run at Umstead. I've had to walk for safety due to trail technicality. This was a first that blinding rain (also using a headlamp) slowed me down significantly. Heart-racing run.