"W" South roller coaster ride!

"W" South is one of very few different runs I have considering my location. Today I decided to count the hills one way. There are 14 of them! I didn't count the short rises (3) to keep this an honest assessment. So over the course of 7.35 miles I had 28 hills! That's 3.8 hills per mile! Basically this is a roller coaster ride! I am pleased with the results today. Here are my splits 10:17, 9:23, 9:10, 9:33, 9:45, 9:49, 10:17. I was wondering what it would be like to run on some flat land? I have been developing and working on my hill running technique. The Garmin showed that my fastest pace speed was 10.3 mph! Gettin' better on the downs! I held pretty good on the ups until the last mile when I was toast.

The old bones are holding up good. I hope to do an easy recovery run Thursday then my Fartlek run on "W" north Friday. "W" North is a bit flatter. The hill intensity eases up some but they are still there!! This is the Ozarks and I'm lovin' it!

Looking for a race to run but only a bunch of 5ks. Need something longer....

On another note- Remember all the trees I planted? As expected there has been attrition but the ones living are doing well! My neighbor came by when I wasn't home to help me out...he mowed some of my yard...yep, you guessed it..he mowed down a row of trees that were growing very well. I saw his wife yesterday, she asked if he might have done that, I can't lie? I said yeah, he mowed down about seven of em. I said "Don't worry about it, they're only trees." She said

"Oh, I'm not worried about it." Huh, I thought. Then she said "well I didn't think they'd live anyway with this heat and all..." I guess she hadn't seen me watering my little trees! I motioned her over to take a look at how this one row was doing! I'm a proud Papa! Peace!

( I'm ordering more trees!)

Trees, trees and more trees

These pics are of some of the trees I've been planting. I have 137 in the ground so far with 168 to go. They are seedlings so it's kind of hard to get a view of the extent of the planting.

I find it humorous how some of my neighbors have reacted to my planting these trees. Most comments have been negative. Interesting how people tend to think....negative first then perhaps the positive side gets a chance. Of course all of theses trees will not survive, but there is a very good chance many will! Just like in running you have to start somewhere! I remember the first run I took when I began running back in the late 70's. I went out the back door of Moms house and ran as hard as I could for about a block. I thought I'd throw up! From that point on I began to grow in my knowledge and experience. Just like planting these trees I have a lot of knowledge and experience with forestry so I can't wait until these babies are taking root!

I'll show 'em! I have been thinking about the dog that I hit yesterday. I really feel bad about it, I wonder how he'll respond to me today as I go by? I'd like to make friends with him.