Category Archives: training
District Cross Country Meet
Today was Malcolm’s last race of the season. It was a very large race for all the 8th graders in our school district. We had to leave the house at 7:30 to make the 45 minute drive so Malcolm could have enough time to warm up and preview the course with his team. It was a very hilly and challenging course. He started conservatively and passed a lot of people at the end, it was a great race. This video was taken about 1/4 of the way into it. The runners were a LOT more spread out at the end.
There are a few more photos here.
I ran 2 hilly hours in the afternoon on challenging trails for what was my last significant workout before my 100-miler in two weeks. I saw another tiny rattlesnake, this one wasn’t in any hurry to move out of the way. I had to spit some water on it to get it going.
I’m feeling very strong, but have a few tweaks and sore/tight spots I’m trying to get rid of. The next several days of stretching and light running will hopefully take care of them. It’s coming up fast!!
35 more in the bag
I got up at 5:15 today and was running by shortly after 6:00. It was my last long run before I start my taper down to the 100 mile race at the end of this month. I did 35 miles in 6:45, including a 10 mile stretch through Red Rocks on trails with a lot of climbing.
One rattlesnake sighting, one faceplant. Luckily the two were separate incidents! The rattler was the smallest one I’ve seen yet, only about a foot long. It hustled to get out of my way.
As for the faceplant, I was coming up on the corner that I recognized as the spot where I took my first trail-running fall a couple of months ago. Hehe, not today. I said in my mind as I rounded the corner. WHAM! Did it again. Must be a slow learner. I think I’ll walk that corner next time…
Kick the tires and light the fires
I set out to do a 12 miler last night after work, and did something I don’t do very often. I listened to my body and cut it short at 8 miles. My hamstrings were abnormally tight and twitchy, and I was just working way too hard to maintain even a slowish pace. That decision paid off today. I had an 8 mile run on the schedule at lunch, and with a thunderstorm approaching, left the waterbottle and ipod behind.
I started fast and stayed that way for the whole run. Clocking 1:02 for 8 hilly miles. Nothing earth-shattering, but it was one of my fastest training runs of the year – and coming only 5 days after doing a 40 miler (with a 32 the week before that) made it pretty sweet.
My heart rate averaged 171 beats per minute. That’s holding 93% of my maximum heart rate for over an hour. Ouch! I was workin’…
It’s very nice to cut loose once in a while and RUN.
The Scene Begins 