Back At It

Started the new year off right with a summit of Grandeur.  I did the west face route then back down.  I should've planned a little better and done the full loop, but didn't have any nutrition with me, other than the brownie the ladies at the summit gave me.  It tasted pretty darn good after a tough hike to the top.  The quads were definitely feeling it on the way down.  Ah, the joys of getting back to training.

Got out with a group today that included Jun, Dorsimus, Scott, Matt VH, Steam8, and Lily.  We did the Ann's Trail loop starting at the the Red Rock trailhead in Draper.  Had lots of up and down variation and was really good for my tired legs today.  Hung out in the back of the group and took it easy most the time, other than a few mad dashs here and there with jun and Dorsimus.  Check out jun's blog for some cool pics of the run.

Went to the JRP because I knew it would be a tough day on the legs today.  My quads are absolutely destroyed from the last two days on the trails.  Guess that happens when you slack for too long, so now I've gotta work on building my strength back up.

With that said, I ran in the Altras again today focusing on form.  My right calf that bothered me last week stiffened up within a half mile, but loosened up as I continued on.  Legs felt hammered the entire way but the effort didn't feel too difficult, if that makes any sense at all?!  Maybe a better way to put it is that I was really sore with every step, but it wasn't difficult to push myself along. 

I woke up at 4:30 this morning for some stupid reason, so rather than sitting in bed for a few hours or watching TV, I decided to go to the gym.  I went with the sole intention of just lifting some weights, but watching the pathetic people on the treadmills gave me a little motivation... So of course, I jumped on!  I cranked up the incline and pace at what felt like manageable levels and ran for 30 minutes.  After back-to-back days in the Instincts, my legs are now officially destroyed and I need to take a day off... It probably won't happen though because I'm in love with running again.

Got out in this ridonkulous weather we're enjoying and ran View Benchmark after work.  The car read 49 degrees when I got out to run.  I wore a light jacket though since I knew that I wouldn't be in the sun much on this one.  I dressed about perfect which is always a bonus. 

The only time I've been on this trail was with Jun when there was about 50 feet of visibility, so I had no idea where I was going.  I made a few wrong turns on the way up and one on the way down, but nothing too serious.  The beauty of the trails out there is that you really can't get lost, even when you don't have any idea where you're going.  Turned out to be a really awesome run on a gorgeous day.

MattVH sent out an email a few days ago looking for some good training runs to go on in the next few months in preparation for his first 100 mile race.  Since his race is at Antelope Island, the group had hoped to make it out there to train.  However, recent reports of snow out there changed our plans, myself, MattVH, Jun, and Scott all headed to Lake Mountain for a circumnavigation.  We started at the south end and worked our way around clockwise.  The temps were chilly, but I believe we all dressed appropriately so there were no issues being too cold with a 7:30am start. 

I have no problem sleeping before races since I feel like I've trained well.  However, I slept terribly last night since I hadn't run more than 16 miles at a time since the Bear 100 in September.  Events in my life have really stolen my motivation to run long distances in recent months and I felt completely unprepared to tackle what was in front of me.  I was surprised however, to feel pretty good for the most part.

At about mile 10 my left ankle started getting sore.  I knew this was happening because of my lack of training.  When I'm in training mode and putting together solid weeks, my ankles are able to prepare for the damage that uneven terrain provides.  However, since I've been recently working on transitioning into a better shoe for me, I had to jump into my old "long run shoes" for this one and I paid for it.  Having only run in these shoes 3 times since September, I knew I'd be pretty hammered by the end of the day.

 What I didn't expect was to have solid energy all day long.  From about mile 21 to 26, Craig was really pushing the pace and leading us out.  I hung close for awhile, but had to stop to take Ibuprofen for the ankle... it was getting too much to bear.  I found out about 6 miles later that I had dropped my camera here when I took my pack off.  See ya later camera!  Good thing it was almost 7 years old and I was already planning on buying a new one this year.  All the more excuse now to get a new one now.  I also had two more unplanned stops, but I ran all the uphills and got to the high point of the course just two minutes back of Craig.  Craig is a beast on the hills right now, so I felt pretty good about getting there so close to him.

After waiting for Matt and Scott to arrive, we then took off downhill.  I hung just behind Craig and Matt for about a mile, but the ankle started to revolt on the constant downhill and I had to dial it down.  After another unplanned stop, I decided to run to the finish with Scott since the ankle hated me.  His hamstrings were really tight, so between the two of us, we were pretty pathetic.  We arrived at the finish 12 minutes or so behind Craig and Matt.

All in all, I felt solid basically all day long.  Guess I can't expect perfect results when I haven't put in the training, though.  It was encouraging to know that with a little work I can be back in shape to throw down some good results this year.

Terrible.  Felt like the ankle was ready, but it's not.  Could've gone the 8 or 10 I was planning but I'm proud of myself for turning around.  Looks like I'm relegated to the elliptical for a few more days.