Wake Up!

It's time to wake up all 4 of my fast twitch muscles. I figure that's about how many I have. After Hardrock I seemed to recover physically super fast. I had no soreness and actually very little stiffness and almost no swelling to speak of. I think the varied terrain helps. The only thing that seemed to get worked at Hardrock were my lungs. Right after the race I coughed up stuff I won't even describe. That went on for about 6 hours then I was left with a dry cough that lasted for about 3 days. On the Wednesday following the race I went to the gym to do some walking on the treadmill and a bit of lifting. While my walk was slow and meditative my lungs were less than pleased to perform rhythmic breathing at any level. It sort of felt like I would guess someone with asthma might. My 300 foot lungs obviously did not like the high altitude much. The other thing I did after Hardrock was sleep. I am a big sleeper anyway but I took it to a new level. By Friday I decided it was time to wake up and get back in action.

I hit the gym for lifting 3 times last week and did 2 runs. One on Saturday which was only 5 miles and my lungs were okay but I coughed a bit and wheezed some. On Sunday I met Trisha for a nice 90 minute trail run where she promised to be nice and not make me work to hard. We chatted and caught up on life the whole time. It was nice. My lungs were better and I barely noticed much wheezing. I was anxious to get back in the gym so I met the girls and got my butt kicked. I was weak and beat when we were done. They have gotten so strong and I have atrophied nicely. I left exhausted and took a nap with my dog and cat. Apparently I wasn't 100% yet.

I had my call with Scott on Monday night and we sketched out my schedule through CCC100. I have 6 weeks until the race so that gives me the opportunity for one 4 week training cycle and the standard 2 week taper/race. Let's just say I thought my schedule would be more of a "get recovered, run a bit, gain some leg speed then taper. Well... not so much. It's time to bring back the M-Pace and T-Pace runs and there seems to be no time like the present! I was actually surprised to have such a quick ramp but he is the expert and I threw it all in his hands. So...that meant 75 minute stride workout on Tuesday followed by lifting both legs and upper. Today was a 90 minute M-Pace run. It's been so long since I have done one of these I had to go back and find out what my M-Pace was. I did no T-Pace or M-Pace during the 8 week peak training phase for Hardrock. As reluctant as I was to hit the trail today and push myself I knew it was time. I have had enough rest and if I don't get things going soon I will have to request a coffin for a resting place! I set my expectations very low for the M-Pace workout but when I got going I felt great and strong. It was actually nice to be pushing, sweating and soaking up the sunny day on the trail. Making all my paces and holding back was the perfect and set the tone for this small bit of training before CCC100. I originally thought I wouldn't have enough time or energy to have a training effect but I have changed my mind.

My schedule is mostly quality for the rest of this week and next. No big back to backs or serious hill repeats. I have a couple of new workouts to try which is always fun and exciting. I will let report on those as they come.