It’s taper time. Week 2 – unbelievable. Race day is almost here and in one week I fly to Colorado. Last week was very emotional; I was making bad decisions and not thinking things through – typical taper. And that has never worked well for me. But the good news – it was all reparable. I think things are finally turning in my favor. Perhaps I’ve outlasted it all. I keep working at it, keep coming back and keep getting back up after falling and failure.
However, there was some good – some good hiking, an off-road triathlon and a few good runs. This week will be all about running 20 miles for the entire week, some mountain biking and stretching.
Here is the next 2 weeks
Also very important is mental training; knowing that I can do it. Knowing that all my nutrition planning, gear preparation and training will get me to the finish line.
Week 4 was pretty good until it wasn’t. Ha. That is fun to write. Kind of. Not really.
Every day this week was great until the fiasco that was Sunday. The week started with a Tuesday-Wednesday-Friday run schedule. It should have been Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday and then maybe Saturday would’ve been a little different; but should’ve, could’ves will kill you.
Saturday was the Pemi Loop with a wake up call at 2:30am. At the Lincoln Woods trailhead at 4:30 to meet Bob, Mark and Jen. We are all running Leadville 100 in a few weeks. We started with headlamps on the Osseo Trail and then about 45 minute in could turn them off.
Up over Flume, Liberty, Haystack, Lincoln, Lafayette, Garfield, South Twin, Bond and Bondcliff.
Stole this picture from Mark’s Facebook page. Franconia Ridge heading to Lafayette.
The best part was the Franconia Ridge and the Bonds. Beautiful, above treeline hiking and running.
Heading to Bond – my favorite part!
The hardest part was the doom and gloom of the Garfield Ridge and the .8 mile climb up South Twin.
It was a hot day and I did a lot of things wrong: not enough water, no electrolytes, not enough food – all contributing to the fiasco that was Sunday.
I woke up with low energy and super low heart rate, which scared me. I really wanted to rally and have a great day with a run in the morning to start. But nope. Couldn’t do it. At 5:00 pm I finally got out of bed and got in a swim with Winnie and ate a good meal. Today, Monday, still sore but energy seems to be restored.
I’m not sure I could do the Pemi Loop solo. It was so fun to talk and laugh with people. There were about 10 runners we encountered that were doing the clockwise Pemi Loop. It’s pretty popular. I think now, two days later, I might do this again. Maybe in the fall.
Now it’s time for Week 3 and to have a good almost-taper week.
From Semi-Rad, a speech he gave at a graduation. I just love this!
Running 100 miles requires a lot of steps—226,000 steps, according to my watch. In my experience, about 10,000 of those steps are fun. The rest of those 226,000 steps are pure persistence, through blisters, foot and leg pain, chafing, indigestion, fatigue, sleep deprivation, and sometimes mild hallucinations.
I’ve discovered that it’s a lot like wanting to be a writer when you grow up, or, I’m guessing, being an astronaut or even a small business owner: you have a dream one day, and then you spend years working toward it, many times only motivated to continue by a faint memory of that first dream of seeing yourself cross a finish line, or sign a book deal, sit in a space shuttle, or on the opening day of your shop.
You start because of a dream, but you finish because you become good at talking yourself out of giving up. This is persistence.
People may call you stubborn—that’s OK.
Stubborn is just a dirty word for driven, and driven people get things done.
Today is a rest day after traveling and running for four days in a row. I feel a bit like I should’ve at least gone for a bike ride but opted for cleaning the house (this never happens, choosing cleaning over a ride) and organizing my house. I had a great dinner and now ready to rest; after three hours of sleep from yesterday’s traveling back to New Hampshire.
The big news of the day: Roger said yes. Yes to pacing me on the first leg, and hardest: Winfield to Twin Lakes. He is the strongest, toughest endurance athlete I know. And he said yes. You know what this means?
I have to get to Winfield under the cutoff.
And if I do, my pacers will bring me to the finish. I’m sure of it.
