Slow and Steady as She Goes

Well, I did it. I am a 50k finisher. I am not exactly sure what my overall feeling about the race is. As of right now, as I sit here in pain 4 hours post finish, I am thinking that long distance running is for the birds. It was about 7 miles too long, meaning, the excitement of the race atmosphere and seeing 20,000 runners wore off about 7 miles before the finish line. Those last miles were pretty brutal. Up to mile 22 I was really enjoying being out there; extremely happy with how I felt; knew I was on pace to finish in 5 hours or less; and had the great company of my friend, Nancy. At the Ultra turn off at mile 23.5, we had a 6 mile stretch on the trinity trail that was very lonely and difficult. I decided it was time to break out the ipod and do a little walking. I walked for at least one minute at each mile marker during that stretch. Once I made it back to the main course with the marathoners I just scooted (can't really call it running at that point) on in to my finish in 5:01. I am happy with my time, for sure, but I am going to pay for it for the next few days! I can barely walk and it usually gets worse for me before it gets better. I am happy that I did it. Not sure if I will ever do it again.

**the funniest poster I saw on the course read: "That's not sweat, it is your fat cells crying"

Oh, what else have I got to do on Saturday?

The dog is ours. We left him at the shelter for a week to see if anyone claimed him and then brought him home. He goes running, sometimes up to three times a day, with Pete, me, Soren and anyone else who is willing. He seems to be very sweet and pretty smart. Oh, and we named him Prefontaine, for obvious reasons.

As for Saturday (Cowtown 50k!)... I don't have anything else to do. No where else to go. The weather looks pretty perfect for running. Dang it, I guess I will go. This will be interesting. How bad can it be? I mean, it's just 31 miles. Oh crap. Stay tuned, I will report, no matter how bad it may be.

Still not sure...

More snow for us today. This is a crazy, cold, wet winter for us. I am SO glad I did not sign up for Lonestar. I would need to be doing a lot of outdoor riding and running and it is nice to not have that pressure right now.

Cowtown. I have done two 22 mile runs. The first (two weeks ago) was awesome. It was in the 60s and I ran easy, felt great, no recovery time, averaged 9:01. Yesterday's 22 miles was a very different story. It was only in the mid-upper 30s and I have not been out in the cold enough to let my body get acclimated to running in that temperature range. I had to bundle up and that alone makes a long run more cumbersome. I started out and felt heavy and slow. By mile 6 I started walking for 1 minute every 3 miles because I still was just not feeling it. I tried hard to psyche myself up to enjoy being outside but to be honest, I was not having fun. At mile 12, a black lab older puppy ran up beside me and he ran with me all the way back to the highway (to the 22 mile mark). I had two miles up the highway back to the house and knew that this dog would not find his way back home, would not stop following me anyway, and was getting very tired. I called Pete and he came and picked us up. I averaged 9:30s for those 22 miles and stopped my garmin when refilling my water 3 times so really, it was even slower than that.

So now I have a dog to find a home for. We are hoping he is chipped; I will go today and have him scanned. As for the race...well, if I run it, it will be nothing more than a finish for sure, and possibly a painful one. Is it worth it? I do really love the race atmosphere. It is so fun to be out there with all of those athletes. But will the fun wear off long before the finish line? Did I mention that I am not signed up for the marathon? I came home from IM Cozumel feeling like I could conquer the world and signed up for the 50k. Stupid, I know. Coach Pete just shakes his head. He is pretty mad at me as a coach right now because I don't run for 6 days and then go out and run 22 miles. He says I am begging for an injury. If it is freezing the morning of the race that will most likely seal the deal for me. I just cannot stand being cold right now. I don't even get very warm once I start running. I love being on the trainer and sweating all over the place; it is the only time I truly get warmed up.

So there you have it. Still undecided.

Oh, yea, and I missed the boat on Boulder! Crap! That was the one race I was sure about for this year and it already sold out. I am so bummed. But on the bright side, I really did want to watch Danna race and now I can do that. She is training hard and will do so well! Now I don't know if I will race at all this season.