Adventures in Asheville (New Belgium, Lake Powhatan NRA, NC Arboretum, Spartan Build)

THE WEEK BEFORE

Tuesday, Jul 24:
Interval session at the gym.  4.0 in 29:29, 7:22 average.  My first workout back, after GORUCK Tough - Operation Red Wings.  Surprisingly, I wasn't sore from it.

• 1 mi warmup in 8:11
• 4 x [0.5mi @ 9mph, 0.25 mi @ 7.5mph]

Didn't do the usual 3 x 0.75 mi reps, since my legs didn't feel like they could handle reps so long this time.  This was a decent alternative, though.  Last speed session before Spartan Asheville.  Record 8 pullups afterwards.  Then 4, then 10 toes to bars.

Thursday, Jul 26:
I started rucking around the neighborhood because I wanted mileage for Pokemon Go.  Plus, I wanted to get a better feel for how realistic Star Course would be.  At first, it felt easy, and I regretted not bringing a sandbag along.  But just the ruck with 20 lbs started to wear on me after a few miles.  I went until I was hungry, then until my shoulders started to feel smashed.  I didn't want to develop an imbalance that would spread to my legs and core, so I stopped at 5.7 mi in 1:40.  While doing it, though, I made the decision to go for Pathfinder training!


ASHEVILLE ADVENTURE

I had signed up to volunteer for Course Build for the Spartan Super & Sprint.  Since I was going to make the 2 hr drive anyways, I decided to make a weekend of it.  On Saturday, there was a spot open on a New Belgium brewery tour, so that was my first stop after I got in.  They have three tasting stops during the tour, and the tour guide is really friendly.  There's an Asheville vibe to that place.  A slide takes you from one floor to the one below!  They support the local community, with promoting food trucks and being situated close to the town by the greenway on the French Broad River.  They have a good beer selection, too, with a good variety of styles to choose from.  Sierra Nevada has a more impressive campus, but their beers were a bit more homogeneous, with IPAs for the most part.  New Belgium even had a special brew called Hemp Pale Ale, flavored and smelling like its namesake.  I was craving some hot food after the tour, so I got pulled pork at the BBQ food truck. 

Fueled up and hydrated, I went to the Lake Powhatan National Recreation Area to find trails.  It was within Asheville's city borders and wasn't too far away.  Having camped there a few weeks earlier, I knew that there were decent trails there, too.  On the map, it looked like there were a variety of options.

I planned for a long run, so I wore my Salomon S-Lab Set Pack that included a Nalgene of water.  I also brought a battery pack and headlamp.  I learned from past experiences with the headlamp, that time I was on an unfamiliar trail after dark on a run gone awry.  It did make me a bit slower, but it's good to practice with packs every now and then, since that's the way to go for certain races.

 

I started by heading out to Lake Powhatan.  After I did a loop there, I decided to go on a larger loop on the left, which would pass by the NC Arboretum.  This large loop touched the Blue Ridge Parkway on the other side.  It was double-track, with consistent elevation gain, followed by elevation loss.  No roots at all, just small gravel.  It was a warm day.  The trees offered some shade.  The lake and creek portion had been more scenic.  This big loop was mostly a giant circle around a steep forest.


I came across a gate for the arboretum, with signs saying that it closed at 9:00pm.  It had been 2:30pm or so when I set out.  I took the opportunity to explore the arboretum a bit.  There was an azalea garden, and more structured gardens.  I do regret missing out on the Bonsai garden, which I only noticed after that part had closed for the day.  The arboretum had interactive exhibits about different natural fragrances from plants, which was interesting.  I also just relaxed on a rocking chair for a while.  If I wasn't here, outside, in a pretty garden, I'd be waiting out the day in my hot car, so this was much better.

I did a bit of geocaching throughout the day.  I grabbed some late in the day before I decided to start heading back.  The way I had intended to get to my car was behind a locked gate, though.  I tried to find alternate ways, but in the end, with about an hour left before the trail gates would close, I determined that I had no choice but to take a longer way back to my car.  With the sun setting, and the gate closure looming, that gave me some extra adrenaline for the run.

The first leg of my run to the arboretum was 8.6 mi in 1:47:31, 12:41 ave.  After the couple of hours walking around with Pokemon and Geocaching, and chilling, the run back to my car was 3.2 in 36:28, 11:07 ave.  In all, I got in 1184 feet of elevation gain.

I went without a shower and car camped at night.  A bit chilly, with a low of 62, but I have a decent amount of gear in my car to help me survive whatever.

The next morning, volunteering.  We did tables, a couple of big tents, fencing, blade flags, and fence signs.  We were efficient, so we finished up a little early.  Sweet!  Enough time to go home and do laundry from the weekend.




Monday, Jul 30:


50 min Body weight strength session.  Since the 12-week Pathfinder (PF) Ruck Training program was going to start up on Aug 1st, and that had a heavy emphasis on ruck workouts, this may be the last time I'd do the body weight session for a while.  Not that I couldn't do it during the PF program, but it could be harder to fit in while hitting all of the other requirements.

• Crunches: 500/side
• Plank: 4 + 2.5 min
• 2 min Pushups, to prep for the Army Physical Fitness Test (a PF challenge): 32 + 27 on the 2 tries
• Squats: 50
• Adductor/Abuductor Leg Lifts: 65/115
• Lower Leg Extensions: 100
• Single Leg Squats: 115/140
• 6 in: 60s
• Assorted Dumbells