81 Days till P2P

Last night my wife called down to Ashland and got a hotel room for us the night after the race, and the lady who answered the phone has a Son who ran the race last year and is running it again this year and she crews for him.  After my wife got a reservation, good conversation, and some great advice from this very nice lady we realized that maybe we got a smoking room, oopsies.  So she called back and got the Son who is racing this year and just got back from Western States and then they chatted for a while, and he was also very nice and helpful.  God I love the ultra community, I hope to become a real part of it someday.

Well I cranked out about 30 miles (on Wildwood in Forest Park) in 6.5 hours on Saturday.  I bonked, but it went as well as I expected.  Being on a much better diet than I have ever been on before, my stomach did not desire the Gu packets and Gu chomps that I had brought with.  I didn't want to eat them so I only had a few and ran out of energy.  Luckily I had a Larabar with me which I devoured but later my stomach was a little cranky.  Not sure if it was from the Larabar or not, but that tasted way better than even really good Gu packets.  Will have to experiment more latter with different foods and maybe even some real foods.  As soon as I had that Larabar at about mile 23 I got right back to it and felt a lot better.  

My knees have been feeling pretty great, the last two runs I have done I have followed the advice and instruction of a Chi running teacher I heard on the Podcast 3 Non-Joggers.  The podcast is almost as annoying as it is good, but this is nothing new and it is kind of their bread and butter.  The Chi running instructor is a local lady, Alice Peters, and she is a certified Chi Running Instructor so I want to try to get in to see her this summer to help some more and I think my Wife would enjoy it also!


Well I will do more gear reviews later, but feeling a little back on track and motivated!

87 days til P2P

The title says it all.  So what have I been up to?  Not much.  Heeling the knee and testing it back out a smidge.  So out for a total of about 2 months and about a month to get back to running and some type of running shape, and through in going back to my Applied Kinesiogist / Chiropractor guy.  Oh and I went back to Wisconsin to stand up in my cousin Andy's wedding.  

So now what?  Fuck me is what, 87 days.  Last weekend I went on a good 13 miler.  Leaving the house and heading up hill to the trails by Council Crest, Marquem Trail, and then on to Forest Park onto the Wildwood trail and then back on the street.  Great run, a lot of fun, and the longest I have done since before the Knee injury.  So yes, I am pretty fucked.  Besides that though I feel great, ready to rock.

The big plan is to do the bare minimum of running during the week to do good long runs on the weekend.  Get the long runs in but avoid the high mileage weeks.  Before the injury I got up to about 50 miles per week and that felt like a good number, but we are in crunch time.  So no build just run for fun, focusing on long runs and lots of biking during the week.  Think is the best way to get ready and sounds like a blast to me for some Summer fun. 

I am listening to some Dire Straights right now and it is really fueling this writing frenzy I am putting together here, well comparatively at least to not writing.  Wisconsin sucks for food.  After living in Portland for a few years and getting used to the quality of food and selection we have I realize how much I value that.  

Well hope for maybe a Mt. Defiance or a Wildwood run this weekend.  Need to get a hydration running pack this week.  Thinking about the Nathan HPL #20.