I'm not in the best shape of my life. In fact, I'd say I'm in the worst shape I've been in since I started racing my bike back in 04 or 05. At least as far as endurance is concerned. But sometimes I convince myself I can do more than I should. My last real long run was on my birthday. I knew I wasn't set to run 25 miles, but I wanted a long run on my birthday, so I did one. Likewise, I wanted to celebrate the end of the semester with a long run, so when my friend told me about the Bosho Marathon, I decided to give it a go, despite averaging just barely over 30 miles per week this year, most of them on flat terrain. The course itself is pretty sweet. It starts heading south on the BST from the Huntsman Center for a 3-4 mile loop, before heading north for some new adventures. Despite all the time I spent on the BST when we lived in the Avenues, I never really branched out from the main trail. Today was an eye-opener as to what is available out there. I was having a good time, and it was nice to be on the trails, but it was pretty clear to me that I was in over my head. At about 15 miles, when the course veered off the BST in North Salt Lake to climb some peak on the way back to the start, I decided to bail. I continued straight ahead to Eagle Ridge. Catherine was having her own bad run in Bountiful, so I called her and she picked me up and that was it. I picked up a couple more miles walking along the road while waiting for Catherine (yeah, I'm counting those), but I was still shy of 30 for the week so I went out for a short road run with Catherine and Elliott in American Fork this evening. Today's lesson is clear (actually, it has been for some time)--the residual fitness is gone. I've been slowly talking withdrawals from the massive base I built up over years as a cyclist, but after two years of law school it's gone. I'm not starting from scratch, but from now on, if I want to run well, I'm going to have to put in an honest effort. | 