Number 7!

Kris commented about my current blog laziness but it takes one to know one don't ya think...tee hee!

My recovery after Miwok was great. Last Saturday I had an M-Pace run and I have to admit it was hard. I ended up making all my numbers but it sure wasn't fluid. I wanted to quit at every mile but made myself keep going as long as I was hitting my 7:32 pace. I gave myself permission to cut it short if I wasn't able to run fast enough. Fortunately or unfortunately I kept making the pace so I had to finish it out. Sunday Micheal, Darin and I ran 2.5 hours in the gorge and within that run I had to do a threshold hill of 20-25 minutes. Micheal was nice enough to come out on Sunday even though he ran McDonald Forest 50K on Saturday. I was stoked to take him while he was down, leave him in the dust, make him suffer as he tried to keep up with me. Well...that didn't happen. I was so pissed running up to Devil's Rest working so hard and he was right there. Obviously he didn't work hard enough at McDonald! I felt much better and more comfortable in my stride on Sunday than I did on Saturday.

This week is a Build 1. Only 2 more training cycles before Hardrock and I am still down in the wait list......very sad face, humph! With 8 weeks left it's time to do Peak Training. That means long track workouts, long hill repeats and long Sunday runs. I love this phase but I know it's the hardest to maintain and manage. The fatigue, the food, the sleep and the mental sharpness to do the quality parts of the workouts are all key to making these 8 weeks pay off on race day. I also find this is phase where understanding the difference between good training fatigue and un-healthy fatigue is challenging for me. I so much want to do ALL the workouts to the FULLEST, not miss one and never give up. That sometimes gets me in a pickle. I have a good understanding of the fine line but that doesn't mean I won't cross it anyway just to make sure then WHAM!.....I am toast. I tend to either get sick or so tired I can't do the quality workouts like I should which in turn plays havoc with my confidence.

The track workout this week went so well I had to pinch myself when I got in the car. I suppose it's a good thing when such small successes can make your entire day. First off, Kris...aka (blog slacker) met me for the workout. She isn't running much, she hasn't been doing any quality running workouts but that doesn't seem to stop her. The incredible internal drive and competitive nature of this girl is something I would like to harness for some of my races. She will die before she lets you pass her. :) Sorry to call you out here girlfriend but it's simply the truth and a darn good quality that not many have. She dished a good bit of slacker talk during the warm up and how she feels fatigued from the 225 lb dead lifts (crazzzzzy stronggg) she did the day before describing her very heavy feeling legs. When it came time to sprint around the track she was running behind me talking! I thought for sure after about the 4th repeat I would have her broke down but no....she just got faster. I had to do longer intervals but in the 400 and 800 meters she kicked my butt. We had a blast and I begged her to come next Wednesday.

Tomorrow is Black Saturday! I'm scared. We are heading out for our 2X45 minute repeats on familiar territory. So.....I have numbers and I will know my fitness level. Sunday is 5.5 hours of gorge running in 86 degrees! We are going to cook but I can't wait. I am still itching my nasty poison oak from Miwok and my patches look like a skin disease. All that rain, evil oak and sticking clothes made for some serious itching. I actually woke myself up the other night scratching....yuk! It will be nice to see the sun and feel the warmth on few consectutive days.