Last week I ran 28 miles. I’m so glad to back on the running-track. Three days of trail running and my long run on Saturday was on the road.
Sunday was a trail run on tired legs getting some miles done for the GSMNP 900.
I was on the Baskins Creek Trail and Trillium Gap Trail.
I was nervous being on the trail and running into bears.
I did run into two deer and later heard some rustling off the trail. Humidity was 98% and the trail was steeper than how I interpreted the map. Next time I will read the trail description before heading out.
I wandered around the Rainbow Trail area and found this cool hiker bridge:
I made it home alive and will be a bit more prepared next time. It is going to be so fun getting to know the national park.
Next week is 30-34 miles. I hope to discover more trails and start feeling strong.
I want to be successful at every race. I want to execute my plan and cross the finish line. I want to train correctly for each race.
However, for Antelope Canyon I didn’t run on sand or in similar conditions. I executed my nutrition strategy but after 15 miles my legs were dead. Mentally I was done. I continued to the next aid station and walked back to the start. 20 miles completed. Not 50.
I felt so different in the race compared to the 55K in December. I never got to the point of dead legs. Perhaps because I ran on similar terrain leading up to the race and I knew the course a little bit better. Maybe I was a bit dehydrated from traveling and didn’t drink enough electrolytes.
I do know I need to do more strength training.
I do know I need to practice mental strength.
At dinner after the race Mary, Kassandra, Stoddard and I talked about our “why”. What makes you keep going when you don’t want to? Mary suggested anger at people can help you get to the finish. I said my why is “it’s what I do”. But I don’t think that is going to work anymore.
Here’s what I think my WHY needs to be right now:
I want to run and finish races in places I’ve never been as a way to see the world. I want to have a smile on my face during most of the race. I want to be fit. I want to have a goal that I’m working towards every day.
My goal for Antelope Canyon was to finish. And I didn’t. Sometimes it takes me two tries to finish a race on a new course. I’d like to think that this year is my year to cross the Leadville finish line (second attempt).
I have some work to do.
The race weekend was fun despite not finishing. I met three friends in the desert and we shared stories and laughed. We caught up on what is going on in our lives and ate good food in Page, Arizona. The weather was fantastic: sunny blue skies all day long. I drove through beautiful northern Arizona with canyons and juniper trees and prickly pears. It was a great weekend of seeing new places, running in the slot canyons, seeing friends and being amazed at the world. I can’t wait to do it again.
Antelope Canyons, the second slot canyon on the course.
Today is an 18 mile run. I was supposed to do it yesterday but Monday was a big day at the mountain. And I got to ski for a bit since I hadn’t skied in weeks. Conditions were amazing and I got 8 runs in. It is always great to get out there and talk to people on the lifts. I always say I have the best job in the world and yesterday proves it, to me at least.
Tiger Steeps, my favorite trail
But today and a big run.
It is the first big run since getting sick and I have two weeks until the 50 miler. I looked back at my training for my first 50 in 2019 and I had two 30 mile training runs before that race. I think that will be telling for my results this year. So many things are different so it’s tough to do a true comparison but I just want to get to Arizona, hang out with friends, and run on the Navajo land to experience the magic.
Then once I get back it’s all about building more mileage, getting strong, skiing a bunch, winter hiking and being the mountain girl that I am.
Everything is back to normal. I run, ski, work, walk dogs, eat, sleep, repeat. Skiing at Gunstock is amazing. All the trails are so fun and have great views of the lake. Lucky me I get to work there.
Last week temperatures were warm and then soon as I’m ready to run, it’s cold again. Yesterday and today I ran on the treadmill.
On the treadmill I always choose a trail run to watch. Lately it is a trail in Arizona with prickly pear, saguaros and mountains in the distance. I try to adjust the grade based on what is on the trail. It makes the miles go by.
Mileage is short as I get back at it. But you know…..
I actually miss the long Monday and Tuesday runs. I can’t wait to get back to it. The days when the long run just overtakes your day and you schedule nothing. It’s all about the long run. It’s hard and I am anxious about it, but I do enjoy it. Holy Cow: 3 weeks until Antelope Canyon and flying to the southwest.
All my cold medicine expired since I haven’t been sick in years.
I have no energy; just enough to barely walk the dogs.
I read an entire book yesterday. Running Home by Katie Arnold. It was so good. She writes about her family, being a mom, an ultrarunner and writer.
One of my favorite lines from the book when she is just about to finish a race: “I was running from the inside, from the certainty that anything is possible if you just keep going.” (pg 222)
And what I remember, and what is clear from her book about running: is that you get in a flow with your running and the world falls away. That is what I want with my running but it doesn’t seem to happen.
She went on to win Leadville 100 in 2019 – the year I dropped out.
She wrote an article for the New York Times shortly after winning the race.
What I remember most about that article. Her ending line:
