"With this Ring I.." ..I will run!

The Ring

"For the uninitiated, The Ring is a circuit of the entire 71-mile orange-blazed Massanutten Trail in the George Washington National Forest, on the ridgelines of the eastern and western ranges of the Massanutten Mountains around the Fort Valley, roughly between Front Royal and Luray. The "trail" is hard, rocky, and slow. Sections of the trail have been around in some cases for centuries, but the entire, uninterrupted, 71-mile Massanutten Trail was not completed until 2002."


For one who set her limit during a 50k last weekend, ponying up to a 71-mile run in 5 weeks seems unheard of, but that's really not out of my relm. I've done stupider things. This is my train of thought.. "it's not 100".. "it's only 70 or so".. "what could go wrong?".

The last one is my favorite as well as the deadliest. Plenty could go wrong between now and then since I'm getting more involved with Crossfit training and rugby practice will be starting in a couple weeks. I don't have a strong aerobic base, I haven't been running much..

(*knock, knock.. 'who's there?'.. *yeah, it's me, your ITB. I've got a shot plantar fascia with me as well as a weak psoas. Can we come in?")

I'm still on the fence about rowing in the fall since this is already a lot on my plate, but I'm not one to shy from overextending myself from time to time.

It's like standing in front of a buffett with a saucer in hand - just pile it on high.

I'm heading out to Fountainhead or Bull Run Marina this weekend to run part of the Occoquan Trail - the BRR and/or WHM courses. I haven't decided my route or how much. I'd like to get a half-marathon worth of miles in and figure I'll get lost on my way out to the White Loop or Do Loop, so it might be closer to 20 miles. It never fails.

As much as I joke, yes, I might not be ready to cover the distance and am well aware of it. My sights are set on MMT 2009. A bit of me (about 25 miles worth) feels like a failure for dropping out, but I'm trying to be more of an optimist. I look forward to the challage. I look forward to covering sections of the MMT trail that I haven't explored and other sections in the opposite direction. I also hope to finish so I can attempt the Reverse Ring in February to use as a training run for MMT. In February, I passed the Reverse Ringers that were running the trail counter clockwise while I started my run from Woodstock to Elizabeth's Furnace. I was excited to be doing my 20 and could only imagine what it was like to be doing that run. I want to be one of those people in February, but (if I remember/read correctly) you have to complete The Ring before you can attempt The Reverse Ring, thus joining The Fellowship, which includes 54 members since starting in 2002.

I might not have Aragorn or Sam to help guide me along, but I will go as far as my Hobbit feet will take me.