"By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail"

5 miles on the treadmill after work.

4-3-2-1

Was out a little late last night, so slept in. Didn't get to the trail until 10AM, when it was already 85 and sunny. Humidity was only about 50%, so it wasn't too bad.

Decided not to carry fluids. So I ran out 2 miles and back (4 miles) then drank. Then ran out 1.5 miles and back(3 miles), then drank Then out 1 mile and back (2 miles) then drank, then ran 1/2 mile out and back (1 mile)...I can't say it was pleasant, but it is my longest run since UVM. I'm gradually building my mileage -- while fighting the heat!

Had a great 3-day Independence Day weekend...it's back to work tomorrow.

6:30AM run w/ Darin. AP 7:52. More than usual pain in left achilles. Can't wait for Fall! 

Misery loves company...and I'm so glad that my buddy Ty was there to motivate me this morning! Met at the trailhead at 6:30. Wore my camelback. We decided to run out 5 and back 5, then see how we felt from there. After the first 10, we took a quick break, swigged some Powerade, then went for another 6. I took a few walk breaks at miles 13, 14, and 15, but still managed an overall AP of  8:40. That's my longest run since UVM. 

El Scorcho is in 2 weeks. It might be a looooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggg night! 

I'll try to get to 40 miles this week.

The achilles tendon was a little tender today, but not bad enough for me to quit. I'll keep an eye on it and see how this week goes.

After my run, went to church, then took the boys to the lake -- and sat on the beach (under a shade canopy. The boys loved it, and it was quite relaxing. The water felt cool on a 95 degree day! Back to work tomorrow.

Recovery run w/ Darin before work.

I was really dragging. Glad Darin was there to keep me from walking too much. It was hot and humid, but a nice breeze.

80F, humid, 15 MPH S

AP: 8:15

Met Darin and Jo at 7AM. Felt much better than Monday's run.

The last 2 miles were under 7:30 (7:26 and 7:09). It was 81F, not as humid as it's been, and there was a nice breeze. It actually wasn't too bad. After we finished, I realized I forgot my change of clothes, so I drove back home (37 miles), luckily I am able to telecommute some times.

AP: 7:45

81F, 12 MPH S

We had a great turnout this morning before work. Ran with Darin, Jo, Mike, and Dave. It's a lot easier to take the heat and humidity when you have friends to share them with!

(left achilles tendon still a bit sore. Going to RICE it today)

AP: 7:59

Cross-trained today. 24 miles on my comfort bike (cushy seat, fat tires, 21 speeds) on the trail. It was 95 degrees when I started and 90 when I finished. Filled my 72 oz camel back with ice and water. It was actually not bad at all. Riding a bike in 95 degrees is much, much, much easier and enjoyable than running in 95 degrees.

Achilles is feeling much better after 3 days of no running. Going to give it the rest of the week off. Will cross train a bit this week, and see how El Scorcho goes on Saturday night.

It took about 1:55 to do 24 miles. I'm going to call that the equivalent of running about 7 miles.

Cross-training continues. Though the left achilles is feeling better, I thought I'd give it a few more days of "rest", but riding my bike again. Went to the rail trail at about 7PM. Decided to ride to the end (about 18 miles away) and back. Got to the end in about 1:15 (got some dinner at McDs), then headed back. I'm greatful for the moon light, as I didn't have a light on my bike. Now I know why the trail is closed at sunset. It's not only because it is dangerous, but there are spider webs everywhere (they spin their webs across the trail--I guess they start at sunset). I finished the return trip in 1:40 for a total of 36.0 miles (I'm calling it 12 miles of running) in 2:55 (not bad on a trail bike in the dark). I won't do that ride after dark again until I get a nice headlight for my bike.

2 days until El Scorcho. Packet pickup starts today -- I'm definitely dropping from the 50K to the 25K (La Scorchita). I feel a little bad about "wimping out", but I want to be healthy for this fall's race season (including SGM).

Ah, El Scorcho... Though I believe the temperature was a little cooler than the past few years, it was still hot and humid (about 85F and 50% humidity at midnight start). Set up before the race with Corey, Ty, Rick, and Don. It was Ty's 4th El Scorcho, and Corey, Ty, and Rick's first. It was my 3rd consecutive -- running the 50K in 2008 and 2009. 

The plan was going to be to start slowly, and gradually speed up to finish at about an 8:00/mi pace, while running negative 5K splits -- this was going to be a confidence builder for Ty, as he hopes to BQ this fall with a 3:30 (8:00/mi). Within 10 seconds after the start, that plan was out the window! I'm sorry, Ty...really I am...I don't know why our first mile was 7:28, getting our heart rates up way too quickly. We were doomed from there!

I'm not going to be completely negative...I really do enjoy this run. It's actually nice that it is in a 5K loop. You get to see so many people you would normally not see (most races you see the few people that hang around your pace for the whole thing -- at El Scorcho people are spread out so much, that you lap people and get lapped constantly. It breaks up the monotony a bit!

My wheels came off at around mile 12 -- I seriously considered walking from the 13.1 mile on, but still managed to jog in there some of the time. My achilles tendon pain was constant throughout the run, making me run with a little limp to my gait. Today, as I write this, for some reason my achilles feels pretty good. I guess I didn't damage it too much.

5K 24:11

10K 25:31

15K 25:42

20K 26:58

25K 29:50

 Total: 2:12:14 8:31/mi

I ended up finishing about a minute before Ty, with Rick (2:53), Corey (3:13), and Don(3:32) rounding out our group.

I placed 31 out of  329 finishers.