4

Ran the 4 mile loop at LBL after work today.  Good run, ran hard, mixed in some walking and had a good cool down.

Feb 73 miles

Ken's

Wow!!  What a great bootcamp this morning!!  Today we did the stuff I hoped we'd be doing.  Lots of running  and movement drills, stuff that seriously gets your heart rate up.
My hope is that everthing we're doing will help my knee come along.  Very interested to see how I'll be feeling for my scheduled 7 miler early Saturday morning.

Almost forgot about my 4 miler yesterday at Ken's in Bull Creek.  I left work a few minutes after 4pm yesterday not knowing where I wanted to run.  I had hoped to get in 7 miles somewhere.  One thought was to go home and do it on the roads but I really don't enjoy running in the hood in the afternoon.  Early mornings are much better.  Much more peaceful and no cars to contend with.
So, I considered the Dog Park and the 4 mile flat loop.  That trail really made sense because the bootcamp would most likely be legs the next morning but I've done that run a lot recently so I decided against.  So, I crossed the creek for the first time since we've had the rain and headed sort of toward old Kens'.  Since the asshole owner blocked off his part of the trail it's been hard for me to duplicate the 5.5ish mile run the club runs's on Sunday morning (If I wasn't such a drunken piece of shit Saturday nights maybe I could join them).  Instead I hooked a hard right once I got on the main trail after the creek crossing and worked my way onto a crazy hilly trail I'd been on a couple times a few years ago.  Man o man were those some tough but fun trails.  I did part of them and then connected with old Ken's, bushwacked my way over to a connection for the club run and then made my way back over to the first trail.  Wow, did I hit some crazy cool trails.  They were slightly rolling, very tight, very technical and a bit dangerous.  The trail is cut out of a very steep hill with one side dropping steeply and the other rising steeply.  This part of the trail is only .25 but a bunch of fun.  I can't wait to go back!!  That is all.

After work

Ran 7 miles at LBL after work yesterday in 1:16.  Not too shabby all things considered.  I didn't feel especially good but managed to do the first 5 in 50 minutes.  I slowed dramatically the last 2 miles.  I had a shit nights sleep the night before and my body is definitely still adapting to the few bootcamps I've done.  The current plan is to get in another 7 after work today, bootcamp tomorrow morning and another 7 early Saturday before most likely consuming a crapload of beer Saturday at my sisters house.

Bootcamp day 4

Got in bootcamp day # 4 this morning.  We had a good workout focusing mostly on abs and upper body.  The instructor also had us do some cardio.  Fast running followed up by either walking or slow running and repeat for 5 min or so. I really enjoyed that.  Today was my first non-leg day which was also really enjoyable!!  Now if I can get over these doldrums I'll be good.

Running creek

I had a pretty good run in Bull Creek this morning.   Even though the creek was really running I was able to keep my feet pretty well dry for my 10 mile run.  I started at the Dog Park, made my way along the creek edge to the trailhead for Forest Ridge.  Did all of Forest Ridge and back.  My time was 2:18.  Unless I run Forest Ridge next Saturday morning, today was it until Aug 1.  My right foot was a pain.  My neuroma flared up late in the run and when I tried to flex it I strained my broken pinkie toe.  Oh well, another good run in the books!!!

Tracking

Got in an easy 5 this morning at LBL in 56:30.   I felt a bit better than yesterday evening.  I'm sure the stretching I did last night really helped.  I'm going to get back to putting my times on here so I can track my progress as I hopefully grow stronger.

Rough 3

Oh my!!  That was a rough 3 miles this evening!!  My abs felt like I had been stabbed in the front edge of each rib cage.  My glutes and high hamstrings were tight too.  Running just felt plain awkward.  I'm so glad I'm getting started with boootcamp now.  It's pretty obvious my miles are gonna be pretty minimal for a while!!

BC 3

Misty and I had a good workout at bootcamp this morning.  It was a leg day but the instructor included a lot of abs stuff too.  Lots and lots of lunges and squats!!  So far so good, it doesn't look I'm going to be very sore.  That is just my 2nd leg day of bootcamp, the first was 3 weeks ago.  So, even with that break it looks like I've gained some strength.  My damn toe is still broken though.  I'm afraid it's going to be a while healing.  I wanted to get in some time on feet tomorrow morning but it looks like rain so I may put it off till tomorrow afternoon.  Hopefully I'll actually be able to run!!  I didn't do anything last week recovering from my 40 mile power hike with Naresh.  Besides my toe I think I'm good to go!!

The Buckle

Naresh and I mostly power walked the last 40 miles of his Rocky Raccoon.  His official time was 28:58.  My official time was 14hrs of hell!!  Well, for me at least, a kind of a hell.  I REALLY dislike power walking.  To me, walking is a time to gather myself, a reset, a break from running,  Not a means to finish a race.  But, when you agree to pace somebody you are giving yourself to that person and therefore are tasked with getting that person to the finish by whatever means necessary within the rules.  So, we power walked, because that's what Naresh had to do to get it done.  It wasn't pretty.  There were highs and lows as usual and thankfully my lows weren't too low.  I don't believe Naresh had any serious thoughts of DNFing at any time, at least that never came out of his mouth.  In the end all that matters is the finish line.  The blisters will heal.  The aches and pains and disagreements will be forgotten.  The bottom line is that there is very little that can be compared to finishing an ultra, especially a 100 mile run.  It was my finish too.  I have no buckle to show for my efforts or the previous 4 times I've done this, but I've got the memories and the satisfaction of knowing I've helped a friend(s) get the buckle.  And that makes it all worth it.