Running week 6/8-6/14

[skhill]

Well, I've finally signed up for my first race-- a 10k on the 4th of July. I've been going back and forth from "o crap what was I thinking" to feeling pretty good about it.... Goal no. 1: finish. Goal no. 2: not be last in my age group (but of course someone has to be last, and if it's me, so be it... ).

Went about 4 hilly miles in a light rain this morning. Due to the rain, I was without my glasses, and that's always interesting; my eyes are bad enough that the ground is blurry, and I can't see crappy pavement very far in advance. I'll take adventure where I can get it

[roadie gal]

I was at a retreat this past week up in the mountains above Big Sur. Wednesday, early (about 6am) I ran UP the road (at least a 10% sustained grade) for a little over a mile. I would run up about 5 minutes and then down a minute, then turn around and up 5 and down one, and so on until I couldn't run anymore. So I walked up one and then ran for a *bit* and then walked. Then I ran all of the way back down. Overall I ran/walked for 45 minutes. My quads are still sore from the down-run.

I rewarded my effort with a nice long soak in the hot tub. Aahhhhhhhh

[OakLeaf]

I've been a bum long enough.

Bruising those tendons in my ankle was kind of the last straw - I'd been struggling for motivation to run anyhow, and after that, I'd pretty much had it.

Hopefully this two-week break ( has it really been that long?!) has given me a chance to recharge my running batteries a bit. It's been nice having the extra energy for the tough rides, but not so much since I knew where it was coming from.

Anyway, being my first run back, I took it easy today, just 4.3 miles, slow, out and back from home. Said hi to the cattle, got chased by another stupid dog and wore it out on the 11% grade, didn't have a lot in reserve after yesterday's ride but felt pretty much all right.

[yellow]

Running about 30 mpw still, and trying to decide what/if I want to train for next. The weather has been so stormy that I haven't ridden my bike much, which is Not Good considering I have the MS ride coming up. I'm sure I'll survive!

I ran sweep for a trail race here yesterday and it turned out to be an all-day ordeal. We had to have an injured runner air lifted off of the mountain. And when I say mountain, I mean a mountain, not just a hill. The helicopter could not land where we were (although the pilot gave it his best shot) so it landed up the ridge about 1/3 mile...where there was no trail, lots of craggy rocks, and lots of brush. The runner was about 260 lbs. It took 8 of us an hour just to move him to the helicopter. Oh, and it was raining while we were doing this. The AirMed guys said it was one of the most difficult landed extractions they had done. It was stressful but really cool to be part of a cohesive group of people that started as strangers and became a solid team. After getting the runner in the helicopter, cleaning up the area, and running out the remaining 10 miles, we finished the day with some PBRs. I don't think I've had a PBR in about 20 years.

Other than that...just getting out when the weather permits. It's been like April here, not June. We've more than doubled the record rainfall for June, and it's only the 14th. This is the desert, but it's not feeling that way!