GUTS Coosa Training Run

12 FEB 12 - 0º - COLD AS SH!T

So, GUTS did a training run up at Vogel State Park.  It was cold as shit, we got up early as shit, and were tired as shit in the end, but had a shit load of fun...which consequently is 1/3 a pant load or 1/15 a butt load.   Check out the pics yo!

Franco & Steve heading up the trail.

Ice crystals.

Like a ninja.

Let me tell you about the ninja in the above photo.  This kid is going to go places and do things that a lot of people will hear about.  That's all I have to say.  Wait, no it isn't...I have much respect for that gangsta ass fool.

According to this sign the Coosa and the DRT share the same single track...

Heading down to Wolfpen Gap.

Blood overlook.

Self-portrait.

Blood Mountain benchmark.

Just having fun.

This trip was a blast.  One thing to keep in mind is that when Blanton says it will take 15 minutes to do something, triple it for a normal person's time.

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I wasn't going to write anything about this run aside from what is above, but I was asked to do a write-up for the next GUTS newsletter about our club's training runs.  Here's what I wrote. 

It’s 11:00pm Saturday night and I’m starting to panic.  Tomorrow morning is coming fast and it’s going to be a cold one.  Being the over prepared non-Boy Scout that I am I go over my gear once more making sure I have everything.  4:00am comes quickly as I hop out of bed and head off to meet Steve, Franco, Janice, and Sally whom I will share a ride with to the GUTS training run at Vogel State Park to run the Coosa Backcountry Trail.  Once we arrive at Vogel and say our hellos to the 15 or so runners we’re off on our 4 hour adventure (some of us are really slow…that would be me). 
The great thing about these training runs is that there is usually always someone there for you to run with no matter how fast or slow you are.  And, have no fears, someone is always willing to hang back and run with you if you’re not feeling well, are tapering, or are just…well…me.  Spending time with people in the woods, chatting and running, and sharing life in general just does something for one’s soul.  It strengthens it.  It builds bonds and friendships.  It’s just good.  Whenever possible I try to make these runs, because of that, and I don’t feel like I have to…I want to!
The run went GREAT! 
Despite the freezing conditions we all had many a laugh.  One of the funnier moments was when Sean was laying on the ground, trying to scare the crap out of me, and Franco decided he was going to sit on a log right beside him…there goes the surprise.  All I could do is laugh when he jumped up and tried to scare me…really…it’s not like I couldn’t see him…I even asked him what the hell he were doing…maybe you had to be there…
Anyway, to make a long four hour run story short, the crew I rode up with patiently waited for me to return, and they weren’t even all that mad (at least they won’t tell me) when they found out that I decided to run up to Blood Mountain as well adding an extra 45 minutes to the day.  They actually said that they were kind of jealous!  The car ride back was much more animated than the than the one up as we shared stores of our run and even discussed, at length, the differences between a sh!t load, a pant load, and a butt load…these was critical as we wanted to be able to adequately describe the amount of fun we actually had out there!