Week in review

I got in a total of 66 miles last week and I had a great training weekend. I also did my normal two days of lifting last week.

My weight is down to 185 and still moving downward at a slow but steady pace.

On Saturday, I did an easy 11 miler on rolling terrain. I was running mostly at about a 9:00-9:15 pace, but I walked a lot of the last 2 uphill miles to home, which slowed my average pace for the day. After running on Saturday, I spent the rest of the day catching up on spring household projects.

Sunday, I got up at 4:30 and drove to MA for the GAC Mother's Day 6-hour run. This run is amazingly inexpensive at $20, and it's a great event. It's done on Mother's Day as a breast cancer research fund raiser, so additional contributions are always welcome. For your money, you get a nice rolling 3-mile trail loop, lots of great food at the aid stations, a T-shirt, and then a post-race pizza party with adult beverages.

I've done this race 4 prior times, with totals from 30 to 35 miles. I've never hit the 36 mark, although I'm sure I could have done it this year, if going hard yesterday had fit into my plans. Because I'm pacing at MMT next weekend, I wanted to make sure I didn't trash my legs too much. So, I planned to run for 2 hours and then hike for 4 hours, for a total of about 24 miles.

At the start, I was amazed at how good I felt. My legs just felt great and I found myself running near runners who typically come in close to 40 miles for the event. I was probably in the top 8 or so runners for the first 12 miles. Despite plans of 30 minute loops to start, I found myself doing 27s instead. The first and last mile of the loop aren't super-technical, but the middle mile can be dangerous if you aren't careful. The trails are well used and there are exposed tree roots waiting to trip you up in that middle mile. Add in a few rolling hills, and I was very happy to be running close to a 9:00 pace. I eventually hit 12 miles in 1:49, averaging 9:05 per mile for 12.

I really wanted to keep running because I felt so good, but I needed to stick to my plan. So, I switched to walking as I started my 5th loop. My first walking loop was 54 minutes and I stayed close to that pace. I knew after one loop that I would probably have time for a 25th mile at the end of my 8th loop.

As I started my 8th loop, my time was 4:33. I realized then that a couple quicker miles would let me get to 26 miles. There are no partial miles in this event, so you have to hit certain marks in the last partial loop to get credit for any full miles. When I realized I could get to 26 miles, I sped up a bit, and did a couple Ollie-like miles at about 15 pace. It felt good to be able to walk at that speed after working hard in the first 4 loops.

Eventually, I hit the 26 mile mark in 5:51 and called it a day. I had time for a 27th mile if I wanted to run it, but there was no really compelling reason to do that. So, I averaged about 17:20 per mile for 14 miles of walking.

Today, my legs feel great, but I am going to skip running today. I will lift tonight though.

For this week, I'll lift today, run twice tomorrow, lift and run on Wednesday, run short on Thursday, and then I travel to Virginia on Friday. I'll do tempo work during my Wednesday run.

Saturday I'll be part of a 2-man crewing and pacing team that will get my buddy Joe to his first 100 mile finish at Massanutten. Joe is in great shape and I'm looking forward to helping him out. I'm disappointed for my friend Tom, who had to drop out of MMT with an injury, but I'm sure he'll toe the line for a different 100 as soon as he's healthy. I hope to still help Tom out when he makes his next attempt.