New blog post: Have I mentioned that I have the best wife in the world, seeing as she lets me go running every Saturday till noon? Of course, that was a condition of buying the house she loved, but she is still awesome. As part of my new goal to set the speed record on the Foothills Trail, I wanted to run it in sections first. I also wanted to get in a good run today without tiring myself for next week, and run enough downhill to get my quads a bit sore. I drove to the start of the FHT in Table Rock state park, and ran the first 8 miles of the trail. It was very enjoyable- very technical at spots, hilly, but generally very runnable. Being SC, of course, there were a ton of water crossings. There were some amazing lookouts from Pinnacle Mtn, and I turned around just past Hickorynut Mtn. Almost stepped on a snake at mile 1, and had to work my way around him since he wouldn't get off the trail. Enjoyed the solitude- didn't see a single person until 2 miles left in my run (of course, then I saw 50+). Twisted my left ankle twice in a mile- didn't quite cuss, but it sure hurt. It was still able to bear weight, though, and got me home ok. A bit warm- 65 at the start at 7 am, 75 at the finish, and very humid. Enjoyable run, and I feel good for my big 50k next week, my first key race of the year. SweetH20 50k, here I come! CR is 4:20, so we'll see what happens. Finished with 16 miles in 2:50 (10:37 avg) and a rather surprising 4600 ft climbing/4600 descent. Most vertical in quite a while, and on a fairly short run. Marci and I are going to see Zac Brown Band tonight at Clemson- sweet! Beautiful view from the rocks on top of Pinnacle Mtn- and very humid, too 
Got up to 3400 ft, 3rd highest mtn in SC (yeah, yeah, don't laugh you Westerners). Actually looks very similar to Logan Peak profile, just lower and shorter.  Very green and mountainous. 
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