Seeking a better country...

6:30 a.m.  8 switchbacks.  On the first one I saw a skunk, which startled me, big time.  I'm glad he was facing me, rather than looking at the south end.  For the next couple, I carried a rock to throw if he/she reappeared; no additional sightings.  All the times I have run on this trail, it never occurred to me to worry about anything except snakes...

I was reading Burt's blog, and decided I need a new goal: to beat his 1992 mile PR.  I'm coming for you, Burt!  4 sub-75's in a row, how hard can it be?  

46/100

a.m. 6 with Ash. Her donut was pretty tasty. I wore new shoes; gotta get them ready for the marathon.

p.m. 3 on the new treadmill. It's so quiet compared to the previous edition. As an added bonus, MLB is selling the last month of league pass for 10 bucks, so I bought it and have limitless baseball for the next month, including archived games from the entire season. Have I ever mentioned I like baseball?

6:30 a.m.  My alarm sounded, and I stayed for a while before dragging my tired carcass out of the sack.  5 more switchbacks.  It was a hot morning, so I soaked in the sprinklers 2x.  For only the second time, I saw another sadist running up the trail.  I clapped as she went by.  

Long run Saturday (18-22 miles) on the Huntsville Marathon course.  I have a fast group and less fast group going.  Let me know if you want to be involved.   

51/100 

5 more switchbacks, then laps around the park, grownup running through the sprinklers before the crack of dawn.  It was a cloudy sky all over this morning.  Very nice.  My recovery Dew is in the freezer getting cold right now.  I wish it was the marathon already.  Things are looking nice for Saturday's run on the Huntsville course.  I'm still working out the details, but tentatively hoping to be running by 6:30 or 7 at the latest.

56/100

On the mill. It tracks vertical feet, and I did an "intensity" workout. Well, it took 4 miles to get as many feet as I do on one switchback. Cubs beat the giants, which helps the dodgers.

Long, faster than expected run with Matt and Angie. A thunderclap that sounded like a bomb woke me up at 2:15.  Only Jack cried, which was surprising.  I got up after 3 more hours of listening to the rain and thunder.  Breakfast was oatmeal and PBH sandwich.  We met and headed 20 miles up the road from Huntsville, placing drinks every 5 miles.  I wanted 4 mile stops, but I didn't want to seem like a baby.  All the bathrooms were locked at the top, but runners are good at improvisation.  

So the plan was to run 12-15 miles easy down the hill, then pick it up at the end for some marathon pace.  Matt missed the memorandum though, and we took off running crazy, 6:40 pace from go.  There was no letting up, as this course is pretty steep.  We were so dialed in, we ran right past our 5 mile water stop.  At mile 10 I had a flat Dew (bad idea) while the others GUed.  We commented how fast we were going, but nobody seemed capable of holding back.  We got onto the familiar miles of the Ogden Marathon and Striders Half marathon course, and the fast miles just kept coming.  I figured we'd end up dying at the end, but we just kept pushing, finishing up with 6:50 miles for 18-20.  

Once we got to the park, my feet were cooked.  We got a drink, chatted with Jake and Andrea, then slowly (finally) ran another couple miles.  My only regret of the run was that the Chevron was sold out of chocolate milk.  

Today my legs feel tired, but not beat up.  That run was more than I bargained for, but I'm glad of it.  Matt and Angie are tough runners.  Angie dragged me along through some gut-wrenching miles at 16-17.  I was glad to have pushed through, cuz the rest of them felt better.  I'll take all those data points I can get.