Sunday, July 15, 2007

Vermont, here we come!

Last week felt like I was back to training, even though I am really just trying to bounce back enough to run Vermont. With over 60 miles and some good quality workouts it almost felt like a normal build week. I had a 3+ hour run, a marathon pace run and a speed strides workout. My legs are beginning to move better now and just in time!


On Wednesday night when Bill got home from work we had planned to lay low, make dinner and eat outside since it has been so warm but when he arrived I had a better idea. Since we have been experiencing some unusual muggy weather I thought it would be a good idea to do a good recovery workout instead of the low key dinner. He was all for it and we headed out to Council Crest and ran the trail again. It was super muggy so we were good and sweaty. Alex was visiting his grandparents so our date night was a run instead of a nice dinner :).
On Thursday Tom, Kris and I went to the Wilson River Trail for a good three hour run with 20 minutes at AT on the uphill. The muggy weather was enhanced on the Wilson Trail because it is in the Tillamook Forest near the coast range. I felt like I had my body back and was able to work the trail without fatigue. The AT portion of the run was a great workout and I was surprised to feel so good. We drank a ton of water and I used the streams a couple of times to cool off. Kris has never run with Tom before so she got the "Tom indoctrination" .......push ups on the trail to test her toughness. Of course she whipped right though them as she is very strong and loves a challenge. He made her do a few sets of regular push ups then challenged her with the diamond push ups and she passed with flying colors and they are now good buddies :). We had a great time and a good quality workout!

Friday was a short recovery run and another trip to the gym which included a short 15 minute steam room session. 15 minutes seems to be my limit on the steam room. I don't know why but it seems so hard and I feel weak fast and I wondered why they even invented these things. The dry sauna is so much easier and seems to generate the same cleansing effect. Does anyone know why the steam room exists and is there anyone out there that likes them? I want to know the reason so please enlighten me!

Saturday was a marathon pace run and Micheal was nice enough to join me. He pushed me hard for the marathon pace portion and I worked hard and made all my paces. One mile was 4 seconds off but there was a good hill in that section so I considered it on pace :). All the other miles ranged from 7:05-7:19....faster than I was supposed to run which was 7:24 but I am a sucker for a challenge. With Micheal running nice and easy right behind me yelling at me to move it, I worked harder than I would have on my own for sure. I am so lucky to have such caring giving friends who will take time out of their busy weekend to see me thrash along Lief breathing very hard......of course there is no sarcasm here :). It sure got me thinking about Leadville and how I know he will be pushing me the whole time. I know he will be nice to me at Vermont.......right Micheal???? I better soak up the nice easy pace at Vermont, taking in all the beauty there because I know Leadville will be a different story. Speaking of Vermont, I am pretty much ready with all my gear, pace chart and fuel plan. All I need to do is pack my clothes and get rested up.


After Vermont I will only be home for 2 days before I leave for Utah and then Colorado so I have also been busy getting stuff together for that trip. Alex, my In-Laws and the Beast will all be coming as well so getting everything in order with the house, animals and such has been a bit overwhelming but I know I get another 2 days when I get back. Bill and his dad worked on the trailer all day yesterday, making sure it's ready for the long haul to Colorado. We will all be staying in Deer Valley at our place for 10 days then Bill will join us with the trailer and we will leave Utah and head for Colorado. Bill's parents will have their motor home and we will have our trailer all parked near Surgarloaf Mountain in Leadville. Beast and I will be exploring the Wasatch Range and then Leadville for a little over 3 weeks and this will be our home during our time in Colorado. I am going to love the opportunity to explore the mountains and just be in the world of running but I am going to miss Bill. It's a good thing I have Alex and my In-Laws around or might get really home sick without Bill, Ultra, Bandit, Storm, Thunder and all our fish :)
Today was a stride workout, upper body gym workout and my last 15 minutes in the steam room. I only have three small runs before Vermont and all of them are short, less than one hour and all include some sort of speed. This is all supposed to get my legs thinking about running :). Stacey, Micheal, Steve and I leave on Thursday for Vermont. Bill has to go to Washington DC for work tomorrow and will pick us up in Boston on Thursday for our drive to Vermont. Looking forward to surviving number 2!

3 comments:

Olga said...

Reading this post, you are more excited about Leadville right now...understandably:) but try not to jump over Vermont quite yet. I have this thing when I focus on something I expect more plesure of (yeah, like we think of running a 100M through the mountains above 10k feet a pleasure). It's so great to hear you've bounced all back and ready to go!

kelly said...

Have a great race at Vermont. I will be thinking of you and giving you positive vibes. I know that you will do well, and I am so excited for you.

Andy said...

Hey Ronda...did you find your flashlight? :-) Hopefully we'll both get close to our goal, but considering we ran a pretty tough 100 a few weeks before, that may change things. Let's keep our sights on the bigger picture...the series. Even with that said, I'll likely go out at my usual 10K pace for the first 5 miles or so, then struggle the rest of the way. See you soon!