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Runner and general adventurer | Strava Ambassador | dabble in road, mountain, & CX on the bike | Atlanta by way of New England

[mattmhaley]

Winning the Back to Football 5k

[mattmhaley]

Running in San Francisco

[mattmhaley]

Weekend in Chattanooga

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XTERRA Georgia Deep South 15k from a few weeks ago.

[mattmhaley]

Awesome day at #USPRO yesterday.

[mattmhaley]

Fun Saturday at Tuck Fest in North Carolina. Finished second in the mountain cup half marathon then spent the rest of the day hanging out at the U.S. National Whitewater Center sampling beers, listening to music and watching the rest of the events. We even made a stop in Greenville for pizza on the way home and just missed the end of the U.S. Crit national champs, but we did see Adam Myerson at Mellow Mushroom so that was cool.

[mattmhaley]

On Saturday morning north of San Francisco, I ran a 10K trail run, the Wild Boar 10K on Mount Tamalpais, in 75 minutes and 1 second. At one point maybe four miles into the run, a little wisp of girl, maybe 10 years old, passed me on a narrow trail on the edge of a steep hill. Not my finest competitive sporting moment. But it was my finest day ever running out in the world. Imagine starting a run on a road in a lovely state park 40 minutes north of the Golden Gate Bridge, cresting .85 miles into it with a clear view of the Pacific Ocean on a pristine morning, gawking at the Pacific for seven or eight minutes while the undulating pavement takes you up and down, then veering off to the left on a thin ribbon of a rocky trail on the side of Mount Tamalpais, at times so steep with such a sheer drop that you say to yourself, DO NOT LOOK DOWN! WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT LOOK DOWN! And after you do that, up and down and never flat, for 15 minutes, you duck into a forest so dusky that it feels like 9 p.m. and not 9 a.m., and the temperature drops 15 degrees in a minute, and you’re not running on a rocky path anymore. Now it’s on pine needles and cones on a path underneath and through 300-year-old trees, such a soft trail that it feels like you’re running on a padded tartan track. Then, for the last mile, the grade is so steep that you have to walk most of it (my daughter Laura, a San Franciscan, didn’t; she’s incredibly fit and used to running on trails) and even thinking of making any good time seems just preposterous. Yes. I think I’d like to do it again. Soon.

Peter King, MMQB.com

[mattmhaley]

More to come but here are a few photos from River Gorge and our weekend in Chattanooga.

[mattmhaley]

Picked up a new pair of Scott Trail Rocket 2.0s. At first glance I am pretty happy with the purchase. I'm glad they replaced the rubber lugs glued to fabric on the sole to one single rubber molded piece. That was my biggest issue with the first iteration. The lugs kept falling off even after just a few races. Hopefully the new pair will hold up better. Another great new addition is the lace lock. It runs across the mid foot and allows you to tuck the extra length of laces so they stay secure. It's a great little innovation to me because I used to tuck the laces under the themselves in the same spot anyway. Other than those two things the look and feel is very similar to the Trail Rocket v1.

[mattmhaley]

Looking forward to reading this. According to Runners World it comes out in July.

[huckberryco]

…and I must go.”

[mattmhaley]

Love it

[mattmhaley]

Picked up a pair of wool Saucony DXN trainers for kicking around in and while the shoes are really cool I think I liked the box art and postcard that came with them better. And yes all I want to do is drink beer and train like an animal.

[mattmhaley]

First race for Wild Endurance this morning at the Dirty Spokes Frozen Foot 7 miler. I finished second after a decent effort. I got dropped by the eventual winner but worked my way through the short course field to put myself in second before the second lap. I definitely have a lot of work to do but it was a good to get back out on the trails and attempt to open it up.

[mattmhaley]

The water bottle market is flooded with options, but which vessel is the best for toting around the liquid you need to stay alive? Head for the comments and let us know.

Personally, I'm a 32 oz narrow mouth Nalgene guy. I have been since high school. I Like that it's big enough to not have to refill all the time and it's tough as nails. I also like the fact that you can drink out of it in the car without getting it all over yourself. 

[mattmhaley]

Today's run has been brought to you by the Beryl Mountain Running Hounds

[mattmhaley]

My first attempt at a running video with my new Go Pro - at Little Mulberry Park in Auburn, GA

[mattmhaley]

Here's my Strava Story of 2014 - year in review post to follow.