I'm retired from racing. Really.

Killer downhill trail run + no downhill training for 3 months = very sore quads.  Ouch.  Can't even touch them.  I'd love to get right back into my training to get some miles in before another tough trail race in 2 weeks (Logan Peak), but will have to balance that with muscle recovery.  I was much better acclimated to tough downhills last year thanks to lots of downhill training, which I had to avoid this year due to my achilles. 

PM- 5 miles crosstraining- arc trainer and bike.  Legs not quite so sore after. 

AM- 5.5 cross train miles.  Still sore, but a bit better.

PM- 2 miles running followed by 7 miles cross training.  Legs are getting better- the run was uncomfortable, but not painful.  Quads are sore to the touch in a few locations, but not all over anymore.  Plan is to run tomorrow, no cross training.

AM- 7 miles, all running.  And I could get into and out of my vanpool without feeling like my legs were going to collapse and/or explode.

PM- 8 easy miles around town and the canal to first dam.  I ran by Merlin Olsen park and can confirm that the Ragnar shindig is definitely going to happen tomorrow.  And it looks like Dan and Tanner bought themselves a HUGE tent/canopy- at least 30-40 feet per side.  Bright Orange, of course.  Good luck to everyone running WBR tomorrow.

AM- 7.5 miles in 1 hour, half of it with Paul.  No pain in the quads.

PM- Umm, so I did something that I'm hoping my achilles won't make me regret.  After work, I drove to the start of WBR to cheer for some friends starting at 5 pm.  I changed into my running clothes and planned to do a short run from there.  But, I saw a crowd cheering a girl running up a steep incline on a treadmill.  Ends up NordicTrack is trying to show off their new $1600 incline climber (Incline Trainer X3) by seeing who could climb the highest in 20 min with the machine set at 30 percent minimum grade.  I knew my achilles might hate me, but I signed up.  The men's record for the day was set early in the morning and was 1250 feet elevation climb. 

I started chugging at 30 percent and about 3 mph (with a waterfall of sweat dripping off my chin- sorry, guys) and eventually finished with 1366 feet for a new record.  I even tried running at 4.5 mph towards the end, but that was tough.  I was so light headed when I finished that I had to lay down on the grass to not pass out.  Hard, hard workout with my calves burning- yeah, I'm counting it for 3 MP miles, it was that hard.  I got a nice red tech shirt for participating.  I'll put in my plug that the machine was very, very nice for training uphills- smooth, powerful, a bit of bounce to cushion your legs.  I think the belt is too short for flat running, though. 

After, ran with Marci and the kids to Summerfest and back.  Met a 78-year old there who runs 7 miles every morning at 8:30 pace- now that's impressive.  He seemed very spry and happy.

AM- Drove with Cody to Franklin Basin up the canyon and did the identical run we did with Paul on July 14, 2007- 8 miles up the dirt FB road, 1500 ft climb.  8:30 avg pace up, 6:49 avg down- 2:02:32 for the 16 miles.  Great weather- cool temp, overcast, slight breeze.  We were both using our new Nathan handheld bottles in preparation for Logan Peak next week.

I'm running with Marci later today.  I will end up with 70+ miles this week, which is pretty darn good considering I was at 10 miles mid-day Wednesday.