Training Week 8/8 - 8/14

Admittedly, I felt a bit lost this week with no "forced speedwork." No race/fun race series (that fit in my schedule) for me to give a go at, but it was supposed to be a recovery week. And, it was a good recovery, but not too easy week. But, more importantly, just another lesson in things don't always go as planned.

8/8, Sunday: 9.5 total. Bradbury Mountain Breaker. Awesome day. Awesome race. This may be the best race I've had since I set my high school 2-mile PR my junior year. Sadly, I'm not joking about that.


Finishing the Bradbury Mountain Breaker. Courtesy of Maine Running Photos.

8/9, Monday: 6.75 - 1:06:21, Pineland Farms with Mindy. Post-Breaker, Mindy mentioned she was planning to run at Pineland on Monday. I had some morning appointments/errands, so she agreed to not only meet me in the afternoon but to also run easy. It was hotter than hell, so we took it very easy and chatted the whole way. Great to catch up with her as she's on the injury-free trail again.

8/10, Tuesday: Off

8/11, Wednesday: 5 - 43:33, Homeplace Loop. Not a great run as I felt a bit sluggish towards the end. Could be because it was surprisingly quick.

8/12, Thursday: 5 - 41:44, Brunswick Town Commons. Great change of scenery run, and real easy, flat trail running. Just cruised and enjoyed a beautiful day. Wanted to run more, but stayed "on plan" with the recovery theme.

8/13, Friday: 11.75 - 2:34:15, Great Glen Trails to 19 Mile Brook Trail to Route 16 Over the Imp and back. This was both an awesome and terrible run. It deserves its own post, which I'll get to later this week. Cliffhanger!

8/14, Saturday: Off - SICK! Fever of 100.8, super achy, and extremely nauseous. Bad, bad times.

Totals:
Miles: 38
Trail: 34
Road: 4

I could have called it all trail miles, but Friday's run put me on Route 16 for a few miles. Running on Route 16 sucks. Nothing against this particular road, the scenery is quite nice, but it's more the fact that I'm used to driving it at, well, a slightly faster clip than I can run it.

Had planned on an easy run on Saturday to get the week over 40, but it just wasn't meant to be. I was so sick. So, unfortunately, I'm not entirely sure how I recovered from Friday's quasi-mountain run. Not much I can do about that now. Thankfully, whatever disease the Little Lady passed on to both D and I went as fast as it came. But why did it have to hit so hard? In any event, I'm just rolling with the punches.

Here's the exciting(?) news of the week: I registered for the Pisgah Mountain 50k. I'm pretty excited as I've really been looking at this race as a goal for a couple months. However, there are myriad flaws in this plan. First off, it's a 50k. Last time I attempted this distance, it didn't go so well. I'd like to think I'm smarter now, but like I said, myriad flaws. Secondly, I may only get two 20+ mile runs in before the race. That's not a lot. And, on top of that, they need to happen this week and next, so hopefully, I've recovered from the feverish stomach nastiness. Third, the race is the week after the Bradbury Bruiser. Can I run a 50k the week after racing a tough 12 miles? I guess we'll find out. At least it's not a hilly 50k. Fourth issue: it's a hilly 50k. Well, at least the race report should be entertaining. All that being said, I'm confident I can hit my only race goal: finish strong. I want to run the last five miles well. I don't want to limp home. I think I can run smart enough to pull that off.

Tunes!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siJZXTuwBjA
Where are my Dr. Martens?