Wassup, Trailies!!!
Sorry, I know all caps means I’m yelling but I want to make sure we all know we move to our Winter quarters this week. That being said, shall we do a betting pool to see who will not read closely or zone out on their way here and sit at Needwood wondering ‘Where the F*#& is everybody?’ Happens every year.
Anyway, I have to yell one more thing – BRING A HEADLAMP! As Yogi Berra once said, ‘It gets late early around here!’ Well, it will get dark early around here this evening. Sun sets at 6:59 and with the cloud cover, we will be finishing in the dark.
If you haven’t run the Redland Trails before you are in for a treat and if you’ve never run trails in the dark, you’re in for an even bigger treat! Double the fun!
Just to explain about night running, folks have the impression that its difficult and dangerous. Not so. In fact, I would argue (even though I’m not very argumentative) that it’s safer and easier than daylight running. There are two reasons – 1) It’s dark so inherently you will run slower and 2) the only thing to look at is the trail in front of you in your cone of light. No distractions that might take your eyes off the trail and cause you to fall. Makes sense.
One other trail coaching tip for folks training for an upcoming ultra. So, let’s say you are running Stone Mill, just to pick one, chances are if you are a mere mortal like myself, you will be running in the dark at either the beginning or the end of the race or both. Coming out and hitting the trails with us in the dark will acclimatize you to those crucial portions of the event. Particularly the finish when you are exhausted, achy, whiny, and less likely to think or see straight. Having that night experience will be critical.
Anyway, welcome back to Redland!
OK enough blah, blah from me. Announcements then details:
Merch! Merch! Merch! – get it while it lasts! We got Muddy Shoes Baseball Hats ($15), Buffs ($10) and Reusable, collapsible cups ($5). Do your holiday shopping early…or just treat yourself! See Coach Phil or Coach Mike C.
Donations! –Thanks to recent donations we were able to purchase a brush cutting attachment for the Muddy Shoes weed-wacker. Keep the donations coming. Any amount appreciated! I humbly thank you for all we receive!
Events – Aside from our three regularly scheduled weekly runs (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays) we have a big October/ November planned. In association with The Stone Mill 50 race, Muddy Shoes sponsors the ever-popular Stone Mill Course Preview runs. Each Saturday in October (7th, 14th, 21st28th) we will hold a run that will preview a part of the Stone Mill course. Each run is an out-and-back on a section of the course ranging in distance from ~18-22 miles. You don’t have to be signed up for the race to join us. Come on out and just do a few miles. All are welcome. We ask folks to provide a donation to help with costs. All are welcome!
Phall Phat Ass – Continuing the tradition started by Coach Robin we hold the Phall Phat ass Trail Half Marathon and 10k the Saturday before Stone Mill. Great taper run! More details to come!
OK, thanks for reading through. Now for this Tuesday’s details:
Location: Redland Middle School
Address: 6505 Muncaster Mill Rd, Derwood, MD 20855 (Go to back parking lot on right side of school.)
Caltopo: https://caltopo.com/m/ABPQC
Date: 26 September 2023
Time: Warm Up 6 p.m. Main event 6:15
Course: Counter-Clockwise (Lower Trail first) For newbies, the trailhead is to the right of the back stop. Take this connector trail ~.15 miles to intersection with main trail)
Distance: 5 miles with warm up, 4.3 without.
Pace: You pick. We have all paces including walkers.
Vibe: M-e-l-l-o-w
Hope to C U there cuz these trails ain’t gonna run themselves!
Cheers,
Muddy Shoes