Mount Cheeha 50k on Feb. 27th is not going to happen for me. Bummer. Work, and other factors(read: money) are keeping me away from this one.

I am however, going to run 31+ miles at Norris Watershed on the 28th! Norris is a great place to run. The Knoxville Track Club runs a couple of races there during the year and is holding a 50k there later in the year! I'll be following this course. It's a tough one. Especially solo.

This little solo event will probably be the hardest run of all the 50k's this year. Running this distance in the mountains is difficult enough, but is made much easier with the help of aid stations and 100-300 of other runners out there with you.

Running 50k solo will be a first for me. I will be doing it largely unsupported. This means I need to carry all the water and food I'll need for the day.

I'm looking forward to the challenge. It's going to be a big one...

The new shoes from my new SPONSOR, New Balance of Knoxville worked well for the Strawberry Plains Half Marathon on Saturday!

That's right! the good folks at New Balance of Knoxville have decided to hook me up with gear this year! I ran the Half in my New Balance 1065s. Great neutral shoe with lots of cushioning for lots of miles.

My other sponsor is another locally owned shop named The Health Shoppe. These guys are awesome too! Eddy, the owner, and his team have worked with a bunch of top level athletes over the years and I am honored to have his support... uh...not that I'm one of his top level athletes...

I came in mid pack with a time of 1:51.52 or about 8.5 minute miles. Not bad. Not my fastest, but I was just out to have a good time and not really race since I did the Mountain Mist 50k three weeks ago.

The next day Jack and I decided to hit the trails for a bit of a 'recovery run'. It was much more of a training run for me. I did get to try out my new, NB 875 trail runners and they are awesome! It was pretty slick out there but these shoes really don't slip. We only did one of the hills at I.C.King so our millage count was about 6.5. We picked up the pace in the last mile or so and by the end were hitting it pretty hard!

Overall, I'm really pleased with my progress this year. To run a half marathon with a 8.5min. pace one day and then a strong trail run the next is pretty cool! I am feeling much stronger!

The Plan for the next couple of weeks is to take it relatively easy and run around 20-25 miles a week. This will allow me to recover before my next ultra run.

Stay tuned for more info on that one!