So How About That Forty?

Ryan asked me the other week about the Fells race. You know, that 40 mile race I signed up for in a burst of ultrasignup enthusiasm pre-Pisgah when I somehow had the thought in my head that I really must run another long race this year? It is right around the corner! As in this weekend! Don't quite know what I was thinking! HA :)

Looking back, I think it took me longer than I would have liked to recover mentally from TARC and I never really got in the right amount of training for Pisgah. I never quite had the enthusiasm. Combine that with the heat and the sting, and well, 6:19 was what we got. I am not complaining too much though, just a bit :) Anyway, after that, I felt a bit of a fire and the past 2 1/2 months of training since then have actually gone pretty well, except that instead of actually sticking to the plan I had written in my planner and getting in a 24 and a 26 mile run along with a few 20s, I have gotten in four exactly 20.0 mile runs, plus a 15 and a 16 and a few shorter weekend runs post-Pisgah. I am happy with how the last three week training block went with three 20s in a row as things felt good and strong, but I also know I probably should have gotten in a bit more time on my feet along the way. Ah well, sometimes you just go with what you got and hope your stubbornness, accumulated miles and your crew will get you through! It is going to be interesting for sure. Not only is this race 40 miles, on what sounds like some fairly gnarly terrain where there will likely be still snow and ice from last week's storm, there's the potential for finishing in the dark, and the weather forecast is calling for a cold rain. Gotta love it!

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For the sake of the running blog, got in a mellow 3 miles on the roads yesterday morning and headed out in my screwshoes today to run 4 miles around the Heath. Variable conditions out in the woods, ranging from snow to ice to cold puddles to solid ground, but a pretty morning to be out.