chasing two rabbits

    It's been awhile since I wrote anything.  I spent a small portion of last year rehabbing my sports hernia injury.  I stopped running to focus on rehabbing and healing the tissue.  This meant a lot of core work and rest.  I continued going to the gym where I receive personal training so I could at least be active and build up the rest of my body to make it injury resistant.  My two day a week gym habit turned into three days a week.  This meant sacrificing my long run day during the week.  I was ok with that.  I just kept aggravating my injury with running anyway.
     Several months went by and I was getting stronger.  I started looking forward to going to the gym every morning with the same enthusiasm that i would look forward to when running.  Some days I had to make a decision between the two.  When I chose running my legs were always dead from doing squats or similar movement the day before.  Then when I would try to squat the day after running and my legs would be dead.
    Eventually the sports hernia injury healed and I started running on a daily basis again.  I kept going to the gym and running was back in the mix.  I was chasing two rabbits as the saying goes.  Eventually I had to make a choice to pull back on my strength training and up my running....or continue the strength training and not run nearly as much as I was pre-injury.  My programs at the gym became more advanced during my running hiatus.  I enjoyed the challenge and my consistency meant I was improving month to month.  The only problem is that I had to dial back on my gym work in order to run. 
     Then when I ran I was....bored.  I would go through the motions but I missed the gym.  I missed the variety and challenge of doing different exercises.  Running was the same thing.....over and over.  I was getting hooked on progressive calisthenics, old fashioned weight lifting, and other forms of strength training and skill work.  I started these things because I basically was making lemonade out of lemons, but now I was hooked on the lemonade.

     

      

The scariest run of my life

    So I recovered from my back injury and have been attempting to get into a consistent training regimen.  Towards the end of February I went down to Frozen Head State Park in Tennessee with a couple of buddies.  My back wasn't exactly 100% but I was looking forward to the trip and didn't want to back out.  The athletic pubalgia injury was still present but not as terrible as it was.  A perfect mix to do some mountain running !!!
     We drove down from Indiana right to the park.  I did about 13 miles and climbed about 3600 feet on the first day.  My lower back was super tight on the climbs which caused me to take multiple forced walk breaks during the effort.  Snow was about three to six inches deep on average and some drifts were between one and two  and three feet at times.  I ran up a trail called chimney tops.  Named for unique rock formations at the top of the mountain.

      The trail was hard to follow since it was covered up by all the snow and I had to follow the footprints of my buddies who were ahead of me and, at times, the blazes painted on the trees along the trail.  The run was hard and my back stayed stiff most of the run.  At one point on top of the ridge by one of the chimney formations the snow gave way and my right leg shot down off the trail.  Nothing was there to land on and I suddenly found myself crouching with all my weight supported by my left leg with my right leg dangling down. I was on the verge of falling down about fifteen to twenty feet. There wasn't anything to grab onto and I found myself powering up with my left leg.  Kind of like an impromptu pistol squat.  I got my right leg on solid ground and a few seconds later realized how close I just came to being totally fucked.  Thank God for all those Bulgarian split squats my trainer had me doing at the gym.  I honestly think things would have gone horribly bad there if it wasn't for my leg strength and balance that kicked in at that moment.

Chimney Tops and the trail

     Thankfully the rest of the journey up and down chimney tops wasn't as eventful as those couple of seconds.  The formations were pretty awesome and the scenery amazing.   I mostly just followed my buddies footprints the rest of the way.  I eventually came out to a service road and a junction with another one after that.

I followed that down until I came to a junction with a trail.  A sign indicated that it was a mile and a half to the trailhead.  I kept following the service road for a few more miles until I was worried that my mileage would end up too high for the first day.  I decided to turn back and take the trail back to the where the car was.  Bad move.
     The trail was snow covered and I had to follow blazes.  Nobody had been on this trail to give me tracks to follow.  About a third of a mile down the trail, ice and loose snow hampered my progress.  My Altra lone Peak shoe's traction was useless.  I started sliding down the ravine every other step.  I resorted to a kind of reverse kick where I drove my heel into the ice and make steps.  The going was slow.  I had to cling to trees and saplings in order to keep from sliding down.  At one point I had to break a stick in two and use them to stab into the ice and snow.  At this points I was using all upper body to drive one stick into the ice, reach over with my right hand and stab the stick into the ice, reach over with my left hand and stab that stick next to the right stick, and repeat.  My feet couldn't get traction so I had to lay on the side of the hill.  I advanced this way for about ten feet or so.  The feat was straining the tissue of my abdominal injury.  The stinging sensation near my groin was familiar and was not comforting.  This sucked.
     When I got over a small hump in the trail, it become walkable again.  I contemplated keeping the two sticks just in case I encountered a similar section again.  I decided not to.  I pictured myself falling on them awkwardly and stabbing myself with them accidentally.  That's how my luck was playing out.
     I made slow progress sliding my way along the trail.  At one point I supported myself with a large stick to give me more stability.  This lasted a small while until I hit a slick patch of ice and found myself sliding down the ravine.  I slid about 6 feet then I stuck my right foot out towards a small tree to stop my momentum.  I hit the tree rather poorly and my big toe screamed at me !!!  At best I just jammed the piss out of it.....at worse I just broke my damn toe !!!  It hurt like hell.  I clung to the small tree and rested for a couple of seconds.  I had to climb up the icy edge to get to the trail on a compromised toe.  This sucked.
     About a three quarters of a mile down the trail I encountered some footprints and signs of a person or people falling.  Falling a lot.  Whoever the tracks belonged to, they were having the same traction problems I was having.  They turned around at this point and headed back towards the parking lot.  This was fortunate for me because it gave me some hint of where the slippy spots were.  The unfortunate thing was that there were a lot more slippy spots.  None were as bad as what I encountered previously though.  My progress was made worse by my compromised big toe.  Damn, it hurt.
     About a mile and a half to two miles down the trail I encountered a young couple coming towards me.  I greeted them and just as I was going to tell them about the suckfest they were heading for the young man asked me "Have you seen a set of keys on a red laniard?"
     "Nooooo,"  I said slowly.  I turned around and looked back the way I came and then at the couple.  "That sucks.  This way is no joke."
    "Yeah.  We might have dropped it along here," he said.
    "I'll keep an eye out for it and leave it at the ranger station if I find it,"  I said.  "Wow.  Good luck."  That sucks.  I felt so bad for them.  I immediately felt better about my situation.  This encounter meant I was closer to the parking lot....I hoped.  The trail became better and I kept an eye out for their keys.  I didn't find the keys but hoped that they did.

stream heading up to Chimney Tops trail

     I eventually made it back to the car.  The toe wasn't much of a problem, but that was probably because of a mixture of the cold from the snow and just moving on it.  I had just jammed the toe and had significant bruising.  Later that night I had a slight limp and hoped that things would be better on day 2.    

2015: New Month, New Injury......Grrrrrrrrrr

    The title change of my blog to "Breaking Banul" has become kind of prophetic.  I have been suffering from an old....old....super old injury on top of my sports hernia this past week.  A couple of weeks ago I strained my back doing Zercher squats with a 115 pound sandbag.  The strain didn't happen all at once.  On the first day I went to use this particular bag I slipped a rib out of it's spinal socket trying to lift the damn thing off the floor into the Zercher position.  I did my sets and felt a pain near my shoulder blade afterward.
    The next day I paid a visit to my chiropractor.  He plopped the pesky rib back into place.  Looking back, I think the rib pain may have masked the initial damage lifting too much weight caused.  Later that day I did hill repeats climbing a little over 3,000 ft. of elevation in about seven and a half miles. At one point in the run I had a slight twinge in the spot but didn't think anything of it. I get these twinges every so often.
     A little backstory:  I fist damaged the disc to my lower spine while playing tackle football when I was about 16 years old.  I was tackled awkwardly and the weight of the tackler came down on my shoulders hyperextending my lower spine.  Lots of ouch.   Then about nine months later I was in the passenger seat of a Ford Mustang that was hit by a freight train.  The impact either aggravated the same spot from the tackle or an area close to it.  These two events created a weak spot in my back that acts up every now and then.  In the decades following these two events, I've had a myriad of things aggravate the old injury.  Lifting tool boxes, violent sneezes, slipping on ice, landing from a big jump, etc....
     For the past week now I haven't been running or lifting weights.  The up and down pounding of running was irritating the injury.  I would feel fine, go for a run, then wake up the next morning with a stiff lower back.  And I mean STIFF !!!!   Then the following day the pain came.  Grrrrrrrrrr.       
       The beginning of my injury coincided with the first major snow we've had in South Central Indiana this winter.  It's a lot easier to miss runs when there is ice and snow all over the damn place. Instead of just laying around I have been working on flexibility.  Stretching my hips and glutes seem to alleviate the pain in the spot.  Turning my focus to stretching and yoga poses has been a habit I have been trying to get into.  Recently at work, if there aren't any customers, I'll drop behind the counter into the pigeon pose.  Doing this has helped the back pain.   I hope to continue the habit after my back has healed. 
      I paid a visit to my chiropractor and he adjusted my spine.  I felt like the injury had healed enough but a spinal manipulation would help relieve pressure off the area.  One "pro" of visiting him is that he is always saying that I am "in tune" with my body.  The manipulation helped.  On the drive home I thought of how I felt like I have been constantly falling apart since mid-December.  One "con" of being "in tune" with my body.  Ugh.... One bright side is that I'm hoping that a nice side effect of this back injury is that my athletic pubalgia injury gets a huge opportunity to heal further.
     So here I am on my day off.  About three more inches of snow was dropped overnight.  I hadn't planned on running or lifting weights today.  I spent about an hour stretching and have been mostly resting.  Doing nothing is kind of nice.  I wouldn't want to make a habit of it.

Thanks for reading.

New Year.....Old injury

     So I recovered from my first 50 mile race and went into recovery mode.  It took several weeks for my right shin muscles to heal.  When they did I attempted easy runs to get back in the habit of running.  This lasted about half a run.  I got a bug in my butt to attempt to run faster.  I spent most of the last year just doing the grind of long distance running.  I needed something different.  Why not just go for shorter, faster runs?  So this lasted a couple of weeks......and then....
     Somewhere along the way I irritated my lower abdominal tissue where they attach to my pelvic bone.  And by irritated I mean I created tiny little microscopic tears where the connection occurs.  This is called a sports hernia, a hockey groin, or athletic pubalgia for you Latin fans out there.  I always love how I get "non-running" running injuries.  (I'm waiting for the day when I'm doing an overloaded Bulgarian deadlift and get a running injury !!!)

     I had this injury two years ago but it was more severe.  I couldn't run without severe pain happening.  I spent several months doing physical therapy and taking prescription anti-inflammatory pills.  I healed up, got better, and gradually built up my miles.  The injury was some weird thing that happened because my core was weak.  Physical therapy built that up and I started going to personal training at a local gym.
     The sports hernia came back towards late December.  I would go for runs and then hours later a soreness would creep in.  Sometimes a dull ache.  Other times a sharp pain.  Sometimes a blend of the two.  Not good.  I waited a couple of weeks to see if it would clear up.  Some runs would be fine....others the pain would come afterward.  There wasn't any consistency to the symptoms...or so it seemed.
     I noticed that faster runs where I pushed my speed were the times when the pain was more severe.  Could trying to run faster be irritating my lower abdominal muscles?  All evidence seemed to say so.  This revelation sucked.
    I went to my doctor.  He said it was likely that going from the slogging pace of an ultra to more of a 5k pace could have caused weakness in the tissue resulting in the tears.  He also said that as long as the pain wasn't present while running that I was on the mend. This meant I could keep running.
     He prescribed anti-inflammatory pills and said to do my physical therapy exercises from the last time this happened.  Three weeks passed and I had a check up.  Some minor pains were present but overall he was pleased with my healing.  He said to stop taking the pills on a daily basis and take them as needed.
     For the last month I've been in a strange place with my running.  I've been running less and concentrating more on my weight training and core work.  I signed up for the Mountain Mist 50k way back when my training was going awesome before the OPSF 50 miler.  I had to back out of that.  Pretty much donated money to an Alabama running club.  No biggie.
    My legs, core, shoulders, and back have all gotten stronger from this shift from running less to strength training more.  Sometimes my running has become more challenging because my quads were fatigued, and sometimes downright DOM'd, from that mornings squat workout or doing weighted sled drags.  I slowly got more excited about going to the gym than going for a run.
    I don't know why this has been happening.  Maybe because I can measure my progress in the gym better.  Weights are easy to gauge progress...This week I'm squatting 60 kilos.....two weeks later I'm doing 80 kilos.  Progress !!!   How do you measure progress in running?  By speed?  Oh, great.  Trying to get faster fucks up my pelvis and causes pain.  Hurm.  Thanks a lot universe.
     So for the past few weeks I've been trying to find a balance between strength training and running.  I also have to squeeze in the physical therapy core exercises plus some more advanced ones that I've thrown in for the extra challenge.  So my weekly mileage has suffered, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. My weight training has picked up...It's a good substitution.   I keep trying to convince myself of that.  I want to remain consistent with running and not all the 2014 work I put in just fade away.   Who knows?  We'll see what 2015 brings.  It sure is off to a challenging start.
    
    

OPSF 5050.....or my beautiful disaster

   So the big day came for my first 50 mile race.  I spent the three weeks prior tapering and nursing a niggle in my left Achilles tendon.  I ran every third day and just tried to eat as much nutrient dense food as that I could think of.  I was sleeping well and even slept well the night before the big race.

     Race day morning my wife and I packed up the car and headed for the Rattlesnake Campground where the start/finish was in the Owen Putnam State Forest.  Race nerves weren't really present.  My wife found out that our friends camped out the night before with their kids.  Man, they had a sweet shelter with a propane fire, a generator, and all kinds of awesomeness.  The setup and the great company almost had me forgetting that I was about to tackle the longest distance I have ever attempted on a very hilly and muddy course.
     Then it was time to get to the start line and I saw all my running friends who were either running the 50k or 50 mile.  More hang out time with people !!! (For about three or five minutes anyway)  And then we were off !!!

waiting at the starting line photo courtesy of Terry Fletcher

     It was in the dark so headlamps were in use.  We didn't have to use them long....maybe fifteen minutes or so.  I had a plan to not start off too fast.  I wanted to do 12 minute miles most of the race.  Needless to say I didn't follow that plan.  It would be safe to say that I wiped that plan with my ass, pissed on it, then threw it out the window.  I was cruising along anywhere between a 9 minute mile to 11 minute miles for the first 8 to 10 miles.  Eventually I started to mellow out to my target pace.  At one point I ran with a fellow who was doing the 50k.  When he asked how I was doing I said "I'm going too fast.  I gotta slow down."  When I told him I was doing my first 50 miler he told me I was doing great. (He would go on to win the 50k race)  I felt great too.  That taper shit works !!!
    I finished the first lap (14 miles), had a quick aid station stop and chat with my wife, then headed back out for lap #2.  I kept my pace pretty consistently and the next 5 miles went by pretty well for me.  I came to the aid station B and saw my buddy and his girlfriend who were volunteering and headed for the out and back section of the course.

Coming into the start/finish aid station mile 14 photo courtesy of Terry Fletcher

     About a mile or two (around mile 22) into that section is when things started to turn to shit.  On one of the downhills my right knee decided it didn't like what I was doing.  The tendons just started to hurt with every footfall going down the hill.  I was kind of surprised by this.  I thought my left Achilles tendon would be the one to ruin the day.  I also didn't sweat it because I figured weird pains like this can come and go in a long race.
     I got to the aid station  C and two of my friends were there  with their little baby.  It was so cool to see the little guy.  He had on some kind of muppet fur onesie thing on which was cute.   I got some water and turned to finish the rest of the out and back.

second trip to aid station C  photo courtesy Terry Fletcher

      A little ways after the turnaround, a friend passed me.  We briefly talked and we headed our separate ways.  I turned around and yelled to him "Hurry up and catch me" or something like that.  I just wanted someone to run with and knew he should be able to catch up with the way my knee was acting up on the downhills.  The knee steadily got worse the next three miles on the way to the aid station where he caught up with me.
     We ran the next three miles to the start/finish area.  This section is the hardest part of the course.  I could still run the uphills but had to basically walk the downhills very gingerly. We ran together and made comments on how the muddy parts were getting worse and worse.  People were going to the edges of the muddy sections which were steadily making them wider and wider.  Good times.

me and my friend coming

 into the start/finish aid station Mile 28 Photo courtesy of Terry Fletcher

     We walked into the start/finish aid station (mile 28) and my wife tended to me.  She switched out the bladder in my hydration vest with a fresh one and tried to get me to eat solid food.  I can't remember if I did.  I might have drank some heed at the aid station.  (I asked what flavor it was first...I had a bad experience with some banana flavored heed at my last race....gross shit)  I kissed my wife and left the aid station with my friend.  If I remember right, he left with a mouthful of peanut butter.
     We ran together for a bit.  I tried to run the hills with a mixture of failure and success.  At one point we came to a decline and he bolted down and disappeared down the trail.  I hiked down and ran when I got to the bottom.  It was around this point that my shins started to get tight with slight twinges of pain.  It was about four miles to the aid station and there were few down hills left on this part of the course.  One was particularly bad and painful.  The trail was eroded from rain so it was pretty technical with the fallen leaves hiding things.  My knee screamed at me.
     It sucked, but it didn't at the same time.  My mood was pretty good.  The race directors sent out a facebook message earlier in the week that ended with "Flexibility is the word of the weekend"  so I was adapting.  The aid stations were full of good friends who encouraged me every time I came through.  I wasn't having the race I wanted but who was?  You take what the day gives you and you make it work.  I had plenty of time to finish and that was my goal.  Granted the goal was to finish uninjured but the knee pain wasn't getting worse.  I was getting close to the aid station and saw my friend who was volunteering at aid station B running the opposite way back to the start/finish.  She screamed my name and that brought a smile to my face.  I think it was somewhere around here that it started to slightly rain.  I just smiled and laughed to myself.  Rain would just be ridiculous right now.  Luckily the few sprinkles were all that would fall.
     I made it to aid station B and my buddy kept listing off things to see if i needed them.  Food, an extra layer of clothing, mittens, and gu's.  He's awesome.  Everyone at this aid station was awesome.  I think I ate some things and took two of the gu's and headed to do the third, and last, part of the out and back of the course.  
     I picked up the pace and wanted to get this section done as fast as I could.  About a mile or so in  my shins started to get real bad.  My run became a trot, then a walk downhill, then a run, then a trot.  I got a rock in my shoe and took my shoe off to shake the debris out.  As I tried to put my shoe on  my calf cramped up hard.  I struggled to get my shoe on through the cramp.  Good times. After what seemed like forever I managed to get the shoe back on.  My hands covered in mud.  At least I told myself it was mud.  These were horse trails so there is the possibility that I now had shit all over my hands.  The leaders of the race were starting to make their way back from aid station C.
      I made it to aid station C and turned around to go back the way I came.  The aid station was unmanned at this point.  I used some of the water left there to wash my hands off and headed back.  My shins were getting steadily worse.  I took more salt pills to see if they would help.  Running was beginning to be too painful so I would have to walk.  It seemed to take forever getting this section of the course over with.  Eventually I could see the road that marked the end of the out and back.  When I stepped on the road I turned around and flipped the trail off.  I would no longer have to run that trail today !!!  Or ever if I didn't want to !!! 
     Returning to aid station B, there were new volunteers and I was jokingly vocal about my dislike for the out and back section.  One of my friends there agreed with me and we smiled about it.  I ate a cookie or two and took a hammer gel while another friend was trying to get me to take in more calories.  Nothing seemed appealing to me.  I might have eaten a banana piece or something.  Off I went for the three miles to the start finish.
     At the start/finish aid station I changed shoes and socks.  This was mile 42.  Eight miles to go.  My wife opened up some baby foods for me to eat while another friend got me some mountain dew to drink.  I told my wife that I wasn't able to run anymore.  My shins were killing me.  She said "You can do this.  It doesn't have to be pretty"  Boy, it hadn't been pretty for the last 20 miles !!!  Ha !!!  I put on a rain coat and my wife stuffed a head lamp in my vest pocket.
     I started off for the last 8 miles running.   The little rest and food gave me some energy.  This lasted for about a half mile or so until my shins made me slow to a power hike.  I would hike to give my shins a break and then run as much as they would allow....then repeat.  Walk down hills, run as much as I could, but mostly power hiking. By now the sun had set and I was going by headlamp. I eventually made it to aid station B for the last time.  Another friend tended to me there.  I got some more salt pills and a cookie or two.  Loaded up with sugar and headed onto the course to do the last 3 miles.

coming into aid station B for the last time.  legs covered in a days worth of mud photo courtesy of Terry Fletcher

     I had time to finish in the race but, again, the next three miles were the hardest of the course.  It didn't matter though.  I could tell I was going to finish this thing.  All I had to do was gimp my way to the finish line.  I tried to run but just couldn't.  So I marched up the hill.  It was total darkness all around me.  I started to worry that my headlamp's battery would die.  Every time I looked up the trail and the light faded I freaked a little bit.  I would immediately shoot my head down and look at how bright the light was on my feet to convince myself that the battery was strong.

     The numerous mud pits along this section grew as the day progressed.  Not only did they get wider, but deeper as well.  The mud threatened to suck my shoes off my feet various times.  Several times I had to sit down and pull one of my stuck shoes out of the mud using all my strength.  It was brutal.  But kind of fun.  I just wanted to finish.  I climbed the last hill and fought through more muddy sections and could finally see the lights from the finish line in the distance.

      As I approached I saw two headlamp's and heard someone call out.m I yelled "Hello" and could recognize one of my friends voices.  I approached and ran the last bit through the finish line.  Everyone there cheered and congratulated me.  I almost cried.  I was really humbled by everyone.  I was humbled all day by the people involved in the race and those helping us in the race.  So many kind people just there to help others.  Friends stayed around all day just to see me finish.  I was really touched and don't know really how to express my appreciation.

     Overall this wasn't the race I thought I would have. I thought my knee pain would disappear and my shin pain was totally unexpected.  I guess if you do it right, your failures can be just as awesome as your successes.  My feelings have been conflicted on how to classify this achievement. 
     The best part, more than anything, was feeling the support and love from my wife and the the trail running community.  This day really spotlighted our little extended family both in The BARA (Bloomington Area Runners Association) and Indiana Trail Runners.

Getting the best hug ever after finishing !!!  Photo courtesy of Terry Fletcher

   

Taper time....Taper time.....Taper time.....

     So now I am tapering for my first 50 mile race, the OPSF 5050.  My training has went well....for the most part.  The course is on horse trails and goes up and down hills and valleys in the Owen Putnam State Forest in South Central Indiana.  The trails out there are rugged, muddy, and overgrown in places.
      I had a great summer training.  I managed to run about seven hundred miles and over 100k in elevation since June.  Not bad for being in Indiana.  Admittedly some of those miles were in California, Virginia, and Ohio.
      Friends of my wife and myself, who live in Southern California, opened up their home to us for a week.  We went on several runs with long periods of sustained climbs that ranged from 300' of elevation per mile to 4k of elevation per hill (or mountain in the latter case).  It was a great time and a great opportunity to pick the brains of two accomplished runners.  (Most importantly a technique to run hills more efficiently.  Always good to have.)
       I managed one 50k race (Not Yo Momma's 100) as a training run and managed to come in 3rd overall.  I was shocked at my placing but really feel like it was a fluke. Just a luck of the registered runners (or those who didn't register actually). The overall winner of the race came in an hour ahead of me.  Nonetheless it was a challenging course and it's probably an event I'd do again. Maybe a longer distance though.   The event had several distances 25k,50k,75k,100k, and a hundred mile all on a 25k course.  The start/finish line was a campground where my wife and I hung out after the race.  We had a great time.  Plus they give out sweet trophies.

    
    Since that overly successful training run I just focused on elevation.  Something I love to do.  I made up a training workout called the "Devil's Marathon" located in McCormick's Creek State Park.  Basically there is a hill there with one service road, two trails, and a staircase.  I did a circuit from the top of the hill down to one of the aforementioned things and repeated over and over.  The total length of each circuit is less than a third of a mile with about an average 175' of elevation gain.  I ended up with 27 miles with just under 7k of elevation gain.  This thing was ridiculous and mind and leg numbing.....but it left me with the confidence that I can handle anything elevation wise.
     Towards the end of the summer I started getting really bored of running the same trails over and over.  Part of this boredom led to the "Devil's Marathon" idea.  Totally illogical, "I'm tired of running these trails.  I'll just run the same 1/3 of a mile over and over and up and down."  Then I started getting in contact with another local runner who grew up in the area and knows all the nooks and crannies of all the local parks, state forests, and surrounding areas.  Fun and exciting things like bush whacking and running down country gravel roads and just exploring made the last several weeks of training more interesting.
     So now I just have to sit and wait for the race day.  My "hay is in the barn" as they say.  I cannot do any more work or preparation.  I had a couple of niggles show up the last week of running.  So the last week has been babying those.  I've been loading up with nutritious meals and stretching.  Letting my legs rest and repair.  I have no idea what race day will bring.  Victory, success, and possible disappointment.  If anything, it will be a fun day in the woods with friends.  Unless it rains...that will suck.....but as the saying goes "attitude is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure"

General Bellyaching and Antsyness

     I've been getting antsy.  Normally I have Wednesdays off so I can do a long run as part of my training.  In the past month and a half I haven't had a Wednesday off.  My schedule has been disrupted by holidays and commitments I had made to friends running races or a mixture of tapering and recovering for/from races.
     I had a real nice rhythm going up until the DWD Gnaw Bone race.  Now it seems like my running and training have been wonky and inconsistent.  My weekly mileage has been fair.  I've gotten about forty miles a week for the last month or so.  I even managed to get about 57 in this past week.  Yet nothing over 13 miles.  This is a respectable amount but it seems like I had to beg, borrow, and steal for the time to get those miles in.  Nothing easy or relaxed in them.  This week I even got up at 5:30 am a couple of times to get some mileage in before work.  The runs were pretty good.  It was nice to know I can get an eight mile run in before work which is always a good option.  Maybe not ideal, but an option.  Perhaps the only solace in the week was getting 100,000' of elevation gain and getting over a thousand miles for the year already.
      Some of my antsyness could be the onset of summer and the heat and humidity that comes with it.  I don't know. It could be that I've been limited to running around the roads of the town I live in.  I just can't wait to get a day where I can get an uncompromised long run under my belt on a trail. Earlier in the year I had a great rhythm going and hope to get that going again.  Hopefully soon.