Week Ending May 8

Mon. May 2 - Day off.

Tues. May 3 - Day off.  Lazy.


Wed. May 4 - 9 miles in 70 min (7:46 pace).  Lunch time run with Jeff and Patrick.  Felt pretty good and strong; cruised the single track climb out to the fence line.  I was feeling a little bummed this day.  We lost a special person.  Roni Sanchez, Coach Sanchez's wife and den mother to a couple generations of Hungry Dogs, passed away yesterday afternoon after succumbing to a 10+ year battle with cancer.  She was an unbelievably strong and spirited person.  She took such good care of the team (and of Coach).  Some of my favorite memories from my college XC days were the brunches we had at the Sanchez home following a weekend long run.  I remember being a 17 year-old high school senior visiting Wyoming on a recruiting trip in the fall of 2000; I was so warmly and graciously welcomed to the Sanchez home and family by Roni that I knew Wyoming was the place for me.  I took an oftentimes misleading path to get here, but I've never regretted it.  Wyoming was where I always needed to be, and Roni Sanchez was a big reason why.  I will miss her dearly, but I will remember her spirit and her attitude and her strength and hope I can portray even a fraction of it in my own life.  She's finally not suffering anymore, and I do find some peace and comfort in that.

Thurs.  May 5 - 8.5 miles in 66 min (7:45 pace).  Another prairie run with Jeff and Patrick.  Patrick went out for more miles, Jeff cut back in for fewer miles.  I felt pretty good.  Beautiful day in Laramie, WY!

Fri. May 6 - 4 miles in 27 min (6:45 pace).  I ran from home to the IM fields by the outdoor track, then kicked off the shoes for 6 x 35 sec. pick-ups with 35 sec. jog between.  This simulates the old pre-race workouts we used to do before XC meets back in college.  I add the barefoot stuff because I did them on grass and it feels good!

Start of the Greenland Trail 25K.

Sat.  May 7 - 17 miles.  Greenland Trail 25K.  All I can say is that I felt this race was a complete disaster.  I'm really disappointed in my inability to put it together.  Maybe I overestimated what kind of shape I'm in.  Maybe I need more experience with these longer trail races.  It was also hot, in the 70's by the second loop, and one of the drawbacks to training in Laramie in the winter and spring is that you are never prepared for temperatures much over 60.  It's like when we had MWC outdoor in Vegas my sophomore year (2004).  We did a workout in Laramie in the snow and wind, then ran the 10,000m the next morning in 95 degree heat.  I don't handle heat well to begin with, and especially not when I'm not acclimated to it at all.  Couple that with the course being totally wide-open with no shade, and I wilted pretty bad.

Starting the second loop.  Feeling the heat.

Another unforeseen issue was the wind.  I had earlier in the week made fun of Greenies (Wyomingites' derogatory term for Coloradoans) for complaining about a 15mph wind.  I said something to the effect that we don't even qualify 15mph as a wind in Wyoming.  Well, Karma is a bitch and the race began with a 15-20mph headwind for the first 3 or 4 miles.  And running into it hurt.  It wore me out right from the start.  However, I actually welcomed it on the second lap because it was the only thing cooling me down.

Coming into the finish.

Those are my excuses for what I considered a sub-par performance.  I placed 15th overall in 1:57:29.  I went into the race thinking I could run 1:50 or better.  Again, I overestimated my fitness (or my skill level...I may not be as good a runner as I seem to think I am), and got my butt kicked for it.  I suppose that I shouldn't expect results to come instantly; I have not trained consistently for four years, I gained nearly 30 pounds (from a lean, mean 152 to a portly 185) since college, and I'm not getting any younger.  It really is amazing how differently the body responds to training or how quickly it recovers when one is 27 (I'll be 28 next month) compared to being 19 or 20.  I really must adapt my mentality to that.  I'll never be in sub-15 5K shape again.  That kind of sucks.

That said, we had a good crew down for the race.  Johnna kicked some ass, placing 27th overall in 2:04:15; she was the 5th overall woman and the first masters woman.  Good ol' Huntington placed 3rd overall in 1:45:01, once again proving that he is a vastly superior runner to myself.  That one XC season that I consistently beat him is what it is, a fluke.  Jeff and Sam ran well, but felt the heat like I did, and poor Brian DNF'd due to injury.  He'll get back on that horse!


Sun. May 8 - Day off.


Totals:
Week's Miles: 38
Running Time: 4:50
Calories Burned: ~ 4,243


May's Miles: 53
Year to Date: 446

Gear: Asics Speedstar 4 (324 miles), New Balance Trail 100 (227 miles)