Closing in.....

The Devil's Lake 50k is only 3 weeks away. The week before the race I am taking a week off from work and heading down to Kentucky with Rachel to hang out in a state park with some of her family. It will be fun to run in a new area, although it will be nothing too strenuous or long.

This week was an easy week of running distance-wise, but I did go to the track on Wednesday for some speed running with the 2nd Winders. It was my first fast training day in almost a year. I was surprisingly fast for not having practiced intervals, sprints, tempo pace, etc. Everything I have done the past 10 months has been long and slow, or short and slow, never allowing my heart rate to leave its comfort zone. I usually will run the final 600-1200m of a long run as hard as I can, but that takes 3-5 minutes out of of 3-4 hour run. Having run the Lake Mingo race with a 7:55 pace over 7 miles shows that my best speed is never too far out of reach as long as my endurance is at a high level. 2 years ago I ran the course at a 7:15 pace, so only slowing down 40 seconds per mile is surprising. Having strong endurance must be one of the keys to running well. I would like to put in a few more fast sessions to even things out over the course of the summer.

Having run 8 x 400m hard at the track on Wednesday, my groin and quads were stiff on Thursday and Friday. Friday was 91 and humid, so instead of running 2 or 3 easy miles, I decided I needed to take advantage of the heat so I went out at noon to the arboretum hill and ran up and down for 1 hour. I took it slow and moderate, but it was still a tough workout because the conditions made me feel like I was wearing a 5 pound weight vest.

I will finish up the week today with 2 easy miles (total weekly mileage is 27), and will start a regular week of training tomorrow. Rachel and I want to celebrate the solstice by attempting to spend our time outdoors from sun-up to sun-down. Things on the schedule tomorrow, if it does not rain :

• walk the dog as the sun is rising
• ride bikes to Homer Lake (26-28 miles round trip)
• hike and eat a brunch at Homer Lake
• after getting back to town, I go for a 3-4 hour run, Rachel works in the yard
• after my run I meet Rachel at Bombay Grill for a lunch buffet (indoors, but all you can eat Indian food after a long run is too good to pass up)
• hang out at Taste of Champaign and listen to Bed Bedford play music
• ride bikes to MBK/Busey Woods, then hike around
• bar-b-q in the evening
• walk the dog as the sun is setting.

I am not sure we can pull all of that off, but it will be good training for my upcoming ultra races. I hope it does not rain!