Better Now

I was a little beat up after the week I had 2 weeks ago. I ran a little under 35 miles that week, but around 17,000 feet of elevation gain and loss. It aggravated my Achilles tendons. I iced, took Tylenol and cut back last week. I am better now. Training progresses.

Pics From Early Sunday Run

This was what was left after running 15 miles after the fall and it rained several times while I was out there. ha ha ha

Early Sunday Long Run

I run 11.5 really tough miles yesterday. I was pretty beat up, so I thought I would go to Fayettville Sunday afternoon and run 16 real easy miles, but Saturday evening my wife asked if I could get up early Sunday to get my run in so we could have the afternoon together.

I really didn't want to get up that early, but I have been training a lot the last year or so and I do like spending time with her, so I thought, what the heck.

I started getting my stuff ready Sat. evening. That is when I got to figuring. To be able to make it to Sunday school and church, I was going to have to hit the trail about 5 am. Normally in this situation I might have tried to make it back in time for church, but not Sunday school, but my buddy Jeff was teaching this morning and I really wanted to be there.

Since time was going to be tight, I knew that I would have to run in the woods behind the house on all the old gas line, jeep roads and trails. As many of you know, I am a little afraid of the dark and I have actually been running back there quite a bit lately. I have been seeing a lot of bear sign and it is very isolated. I was getting a real bad filling about running in the dark by myself.

I was thinking about all this while I was trying to get to sleep. Well morning came. It had been raining most of the night and was still drizzling a little as I ate and got ready. I was still having real bad fillings about this, but decided to suck it up and go anyway.

I put on my headlamp, grabbed my flashlight and took off. I hadn't gone a quarter mile when my light caught something on the gravel road leading to the trails. I froze, then I realized it was a clump of grass. ha ha. I said out load "man this is going to be a long morning". I went another half a mile or so and hit the first trail section and promptly tripped over a stick and fell down. Well this isn't going real well, so far. No harm done so I continue. I had gone about another half mile or so and hit the first jeep trail. I came to the first giant mud hole and slipped and fell right in. All I could do was laugh. I was sitting waist deep in the most stagnant and putrid water you can imagine.

I knew I had a bad filling about this run..ha ha ha

The sun came up a little later and the rest of the run went without incident. I got 16 miles and had plenty of time to get to church.

Training Starts

The recovery has gone well after Promise Land and now the training starts for Grindstone. It's going to be a great summer.