My Long Run

Sunny day but cool and windy! 3.5 hours on the trail. I ran to the trails off Hammond Plains road where I live (about 30 minutes to get there). There are 3 main steep hills that I walk up quickly as opposed to run on my long days and then run down. During the week I run them but the 'long' days are my day to practice what I am going to do on race day.

Friday

About 45 min of going up and down the 600m hill in our subdivision.

Thursday

Just did a few hills and ran on road for about an hour!

The Heat!

Well it was a record hot day for the first day of spring....25 degrees! Did a 1 hour road run and just about died from the heat! Might have been ok if I had taken some fluids....just not in that mindset yet I guess.

Up and Down the Trails

Today Mary and I did an hour of hills on the trails. About a 500m stretch of steep trail...we just walked briskly up and ran down and repeated, and repeated and...well you get it.

Hills - Day 1

This week feels like the first real training week in preparation for The Death Race. I think that's because I am back to 2 a days workouts Monday to Friday and today I had my first 5:30am rise to get my hill training in. This morning I ran for an hour which simply involved me running up and down my hill 5 times. The hill itself is just about 700 metres. The total run was only about 8 km but it was more about time on the legs and trying to simulate the pounding my legs will experience going down the mountains during the race.
The second workout of the day was some weights. I am going to try Monday/Thursday - Push/Legs and Tuesday/Friday - Pull/ABs and Wednesday - Bike. Every day during the week I will run with Saturdays being my long run. Sundays...day totally off!

The Cuddley Coyote 20K Trail Race

Wow...what an amazing race...not real cuddly though :-) 95% single track, very technical, mud up to knees at times, countless river crossings, roots, rocks...seemed kinda fitting that it was pouring rain. I can't think of a better way to have spent my Saturday morning. It's amazing what some people consider fun! :-)

When I finished I ran back out to meet my buddy, my running mentor, Gordon and his dog Tess who were also doing the race. You want to talk about INSPIRATION! Here is a man who in the past has qualified for and ran the Boston marathon, completed the Vermont 100 miler in under 24 hours, and 2 summers ago completed the Yukon 1000...a 1000 mile canoe race...the longest canoe race in the world! Did I mention he has an artificial hip?!

When I met Gordon he had fallen several times...I had taken a couple of spills myself. He had a bloody knee and a deep long gash on the palm of his left hand. About 500m after I turned to run back with Gordon he says (in reference to the trail and the scenery)..."Just look at this...this is awesome!" I know he was in pain but he was still so positive. I couldn't help but smile at his attitude.

Surrounding yourself with the right people really changes your outlook on life.
Thanks Gordon