Daily Mile

Well, my asthma is hanging on for dear life and today is crazy windy so I decided to hit the treadmill. In order to get it over with asap, I ran as fast as I could. I realize that I really am a slow runner because at this pace I almost died! But I didn't. So let's hope for no wind tomorrow.

3 miles
28:15
9:25 pace

Brutality to Bliss

Never ever ever stop a run because you feel crappy, before mile three. These are words I must live by. Yesterday I started off in search of a trailhead (The Orson Smith Trailhead) that I couldn't find. After thirty minutes of driving around in the van I found it. I was rather frustrated by that point and not in a happy mood.  Then, the first entire mile was uphill into the wind (the weather called for 31 mph winds, gusting up to 43 mph.) I had Ozzy on the leash because there was a biker up ahead of me and I didn't want him bothering him. I was feeling like the six miles ahead of me might as well be a marathon, but I kept putting one foot in front of the other.  I kept reminding myself that I can't control the weather on race day and promised myself to run at least three miles, but by the time I got to mile two I was feeling much much better.  I was on a smaller section of trail that hugged the mountain a bit more and the wind let up considerably improving my mood immediately.  There were patches of snow, ice, mud, water and rocks on this part of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail that I'd only ever run a couple times before.  By the time I hit mile three I was feeling like a champ and by mile mile five I was running in the eights! Fantastic!

6.13 miles
1hr 16 min
12:24 pace

This picture was taken, literally, on the run!

My very happy running buddy.

Yes, I was wearing shorts.  It was only about 48 degrees out.

Beautiful!  This is why I love trail running!

Training Week 2

Today was my first back to back long run,* and the end of week two of training.  When I woke up before my alarm at 6:40am I could hear the wind raging outside and did not want to get out of bed.  After peeling my tired legs out of bed and getting ready to go Ozzy and I headed out on a loop that is uphill for the first three miles.  Let me just say that those first three miles were B R U T A L!  Not only was I tired from yesterday's trail run, the wind was howling around me and my legs felt like lead weights. At mile two I was contemplating the sanity of my decision making skills.  Luckily, by the time I reached the top of the hill and headed back downhill, I was feeling pretty decent and by the time I hit mile six I found myself running at a 9:30 pace!  Honestly, I knew it would get better because the first few miles are always the most difficult, but I didn't know I'd feel that good! What a great confidence booster!  I can almost see the 50k finish line!

7 miles
1:22
11:42 pace

*The back to back run is when you run two long runs in a row.  The purpose of the back to back for ultramarathon training is to prepare you for running on tired legs that you will certainly have on race day.  The back to back goes like this:  Day 1 long run, Day 2 long run of approximately half the distance of the day before, i.e. Saturday= 20 miles, Sunday= 10 miles.

Week 2
Monday: 3.1
Tuesday: 5
Wednesday: weight lifting
Thursday: 3
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 13.1
Sunday: 7
Total: 31.2

Week 1 Total: 23.12
Training Grand Total: 54.32

Into the Wind

There is a wind advisory today of 30mph winds with gusts of up to 50mph.  So what does any sane person do?  Go running of course.  It actually isn't that windy out yet.  I did 3 (2.98 if you're really counting) miles in 31 minutes which is actually pretty speedy for me.  I brought my dog, Ozzy.  He loves running with me, but is pretty freaked out by wind so it was interesting.  At one point I thought I was going down because he ran straight into my legs.  Luckily, aside from screaming obscenities, nothing happened and I continued on my merry way.

It's odd to have no training plan to follow.  How far should I run?  Should I be taking it easy?  Should I even run today?  Luckily, my new plan will start on November 19, so I only have a couple more weeks of limbo before I will have my sense of purpose back.  Eleven more days. Think I can make it?