March stats

I figured I'd start off with a couple photos Aravaipa Running took at the Mesquite 50.

Race start

Mesquite aid station (4.2 miles)

Running with NateS

Daylight finish

Eyeballing my time...

It's been a great month for training and things are moving along nicely towards my A-races this year. I have a new found sense of speed and endurance that I have not felt in a long time. It could the post-race benefits a week after the Mesquite 50 but I'd like to think that they are the result of all the hours I'm putting in.

I would say that one of the main differences in my training schedule this year is that I have to make the most of my time. Allow me to explain...

Last year, I was free to run every morning between 4 and 8 am. In hindsight, I took that convenience for granted. There were plenty of mornings I would sleep in and blow off a run just because I could.

This year, I get Tuesdays and Thursday mornings. That's it (at least during the week). My wife's schedule has changed and I absolutely have to make the most use of those two days...it has forced me to have a clear discipline and focus - which is great.

So here they are - stats for March (and a little glimpse back to January and February too!)

March Statistics

Being the nerd I am, I also wanted to see how things were going against the last couple months.

A nice increase between February and March

A jump in March thanks to the Mesquite 50

Happy running!

When it rains, it pours

For the last couple of weeks, my schedule has looked like this:

Monday - off
Tuesday - Run 8 (or sleep in)
Wednesday - cycle
Thursday - off
Friday - Run 10 (or sleep in)
Saturday - sleep in (or recover from too much wine)
Sunday - sleep in

I've got a pretty bad case of the lazies...while I'm trying to get out at least once a week, even that is proving tough. I have the best intentions but this sleep thing beckons me back to my pillow if I get up too early. While the mornings are starting to cool down nicely, sunrise isn't until at least 6:15. This puts a serious damper on the duration of my workouts (my boy starts rustling around about at 6:30 and is ultimately up by 7). My wife usually works late so I hate asking her to get up early with him while I'm out frolicking on the trails.

I'll figure it out.

So I just signed up for Zane Grey yesterday. It's supposed to be the toughest 50-mile race in the US. We'll find out in April. As I marked this on my training calendar, I realized that I've already got quite a few things coming up and should probably get serious about logging some miles.

I committed to pace for the Javelina Jundred here in 3 weeks. I also just got asked to be on an ultra team for Ragnar Del Sol. Oh, and I'm signed up to run the PF Chang Marathon in January.

Damn. I got busy in a hurry.

3.1 miles per hour

The Black Hills 100 is tomorrow (me, I'm "just" doing 50 miles - those other folks are the real crazies!). I can honestly say it's going to be hard. Not just, woke-up-early-and-it's-hard-to-find-some-coffee-hard, but reaching down into the depths of your soul hard. Weather is projected to by mid-70's with a slight chance of thunderstorms just to make things interesting. I'm betting that running through the shade of the Black Hills is going to be absolutely beautiful.

As the fates would have it though, I've spent the last 2 weeks fighting a double ear and sinus infection. That took it's toll and literally forced the taper...ahem, run stoppage for about 10 days. Not exactly what I had in mind for a taper but I think it was for the best. The feet feel good and though I'm probably at 90% strength, I'm just going to go a give it my all.

Needless to say I've been resting, going to bed early and sleeping in a bit more than normal. Truth-be-told, getting up at 4 am tomorrow to head to the race is going to be a challenge (I almost said "hard", but that would be silly given my definition above).

50 miles. Most people don't even like driving 50 miles.

The time limit is 16 hours. That means I have to go at least 3.1 miles per hour to make the cut-off.

No problem.