It’s the weekend.  Time for another long run.  This time I stretched the 32 mile loop I ran last week to make a 40 miler.  I took off around 6:00pm, and got home at 3:00 in the morning.  The last 10 miles were some of the toughest miles I’ve covered yet.  Mostly flat, but I couldn’t even walk for more than 2-3 minutes without stopping at the very end.  I was SO tired!

I was about a mile from home when I saw the first patch of grass I’d seen in hours, and promptly flopped onto my back.  Under a streetlight in a subdivision.  What a sight.  I walked another half a mile and had to sit down and rest for a few more minutes.  I just could not move forward anymore.  My legs weren’t feeling that bad, my body was just totally depleted.  Thankfully, I made it and didn’t become coyote bait – sirens in the distance started a pack howling about 100 yards away from me that I didn’t know was there.  Training is hard work.

Sunset on the trail

About once a month, I try to do a run that incorporates a good portion of darkness (trying to prepare for running through the night during my 100 miler). Yesterday I left home around 6pm and ran a 32 mile loop that I finished just after midnight. I love those types of runs. It’s such a cool feeling to start running in broad daylight and know that you will still be going strong well after dark. The run tested me, I don’t think I’m fully recovered from the 100K race, but I made it through ok and am hungry for more.

A guy caught up to me just before mile 20 and just about fell over when he asked how far I was going and I replied 30+. It was pretty funny, he was out trying to squeeze in 6 after dinner. We ended up having a really nice chat, and that 2 miles went by far faster than any other two that night. It’s amazing how running with someone can do that. Other than races, I haven’t run with anyone at all this year. I do some group rides, but the running has been 100% solo. Kinda hard to find any takers for a 32 miler on a Saturday night…

I really wasn’t planning on running today, but it wasn’t looking like I would be able to fit in another long run before it was time to start tapering down for the Leadville Trail Marathon next weekend.

There is a big ‘Y’ painted on the mountain above the BYU campus in Provo. I’ve always thought it was kind of an eyesore, but it was created 100 years ago so I guess it gets a free pass from most people. At any rate, it would provide a good destination for my night run.

With the Bear 100 getting closer all the time, it’s important that I get in some good night time practice running with my headlamp (I’ll be going through almost 12 hours of darkness during the 100 miler). I loaded up my trusty Camelbak, scrounged some batteries for my headlamp from my parents, laced up the Montrails, and hit the road at about 9:30 pm.

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