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Pete’s been busy building up his fitness for Superior 100. In the next few days, we will post a few recent workout highlights.
March 28th: Straight from Utah to Georgia–we got a chance to celebrate one of Lori’s family member’s birthdays this weekend in south central Georgia. This was really fun, a chance to hang out with the family at a backwoods cabin next to the Flint River, complete with canoeing, cornhole, and a campfire for the kids (and, ahem, adults too).
This was also a great chance to try my luck at the Georgia trails. My brother-in-law Ben has become a fine marathon runner in the past few years, and now he is interested in trail running. He didn’t need much convincing to head over with to Pine Mountain State Park early one morning to see what we could do. Pine Mountain is famous for a number of things–it is next door to the “Little White House” where Franklin D. Roosevelt soothed his polio-wracked body in local warm springs during his presidency. It’s also the home to Callaway Gardens, a well known golf and nature resort.
While that’s all great, what I was interested in today was the park’s terrific Pine Mountain Trail, which is 23 miles of bliss that is the home of the renowned Pine Mountain Trail Ultra, hosted by the incomparable Georgia Ultra and Trail Society (GUTS). I’d run a few miles of this trail before and remembered it as gorgeous and challenging, so we set out to explore.
Ben and I found the perfect trail–hilly and meandering with a few climbs to keep the heart rate up, but nothing crazy. We encountered stretches of silent pine forest with a bed of pine needles on the trail that felt like running on soft pillows. This was broken up by a few ravines, where we descended into darkly forested creeks, with waterfalls and lush undergrowth everywhere. These had a mysterious and primeval feel to them. On occasion, we also ran into drier and rockier sections that were technical enough to keep us scanning the ground for potential trip hazards.
This was Ben’s longest trail run ever–we ended up going 10 pretty fast miles–but he not only did admirably with the difficult terrain, he was kicking my butt by the end. Maybe, just maybe, I’ve convinced him to help pace my at Superior this fall. That would be amazing! Thanks for the company, buddy!
If you get a chance to get to this off-beat destination, it is highly recommended, a true Georgia jewel.
Howdy, neighbors! 