Happy Sunday Morning!

I'm sitting here with coffee and stiff muscles reviewing yesterday's half marathon (road). I only ran two days last week (Tues and Wed) and my legs were so tired and sore all week.  I really needed all those extra days off. As far as my race expectations, I expected to run hard, but still be slow - maybe 2:20 finish at best. So I am SUPER encouraged by how much quicker I got it done and how strong I felt at the end -- within seconds of 2:14 !!  There is definitely something to be said for Fresh Legs!!!

Now that's done and dusted, onward to GOAT training! Yes, I've signed up for trail marathon mid-September. Oh dear...what have I done?! It will take me all day, no doubt.  I plan on weekly Tempo runs in training, so that should help with that. Can't wait to see how the super-long training runs go out on the trail.  I bought a bigger Camelbak that I have yet to try out.

I wore my small one yesterday for the HM and only drank half of it, so I'd have been fine just carrying a bottle. It would have been embarrassing to be the only person wearing a hydration pack - if I cared - but I'm so over THAT!  I had two runs recently 10 and 14 miles where I only carried a bottle - and it wasn't enough - I was dying for more. Transitioning to running in warmer temps I guess OR Advancing Age. I read somewhere that older folks need more hydration.  Whatev!

My GOAT training plan in terms of the weekend long runs is a work in progress. I'm open to input. Thanks!

Ayola: I LOVE your 2:22:22 PR time! It's Perfect.  I almost like it better than my 4:33:33 marathon PR time.

I think you should train to better your PR in the fall. You can do it! I know you can.  Since you asked for input on which direction to go to sort out your hamstrings: my vote is for PT because they can help you sort out the cause of the problem. A masseuse or chiropractor cannot do that. I've certainly spent enough money on them and they can be good for a quick fix, but not long term problem solving.  You want to get this figured out so that you can prevent or resolve it in the future. So, find a good PT.

PS: Yeah, don't look at my training plan for any inspiration! At this point, I think it looks positively suicidal! I think the "easy" weekends with two 10's will have to get modified and I need to figure out how to put in cut-back weeks every third week or so. Muddling onward....

Meanwhile, I am taking my second day off running in a row because I'm pretty darn sore from Saturday's race. The second day is always the worst, I find. Hoping to go out for a 7-mile trail run tomorrow evening.

Thanks for the update, Puke! Sounds like you blew your time goal out of the water in that race. Smashing through our preconceived limits/expectations is fun stuff. Congrats! You'll be glad you trained for the 24-hour; so get on it!

and photos - would love to see them! I'm going to try to take DH's tiny camera along on some runs in the future and see how that works out.  Sure wish I could figure out how to strap my larger one on safely.

I'm procrastinating when I should get to my run...sigh.  Had a great run last night with someone new. Her EZ pace is my current Tempo; so guess what we ran? A 7-mile Tempo Run - Perfect!  I had a little muscle cramp in left leg in the last mile, leftover fallout from Saturday's race no doubt.  Planning on an EZ (really!) 8 miles tonight. Hard to believe it's already the middle of the week!

MTA: Saturday long trail run - 16 miles - done! The first in my training for the GOAT trail marathon in September.  No pics - sorry.

18 trail miles done yesterday in 70F funshine (that was a typo, but I think I'll leave it as is). Took 4:08 which is about what I expected at this point. Hoping to get a tiny bit quicker as training progresses. Not too concerned with a goal time though; just want to be able to finish this beast "comfortably." Miles 10-18 of the run were the GOAT's miles 12-20; so I got an approximate idea what that might feel like at that point which was the goal of choosing the route.

I met up with the cutest mountain beaver right on the trail! He looked like a large guinea pig.

Also saw one rabbit hopping along the trail, one dead baby mole,

scared up a grouse (sorry pic so big!),

heard an owl,

and a varied thrush,

and

a pileated woodpecker. 

Hi Puke - condolences for your weather. I just looked at your month-at-a-glance forecast on AccuWeather - pretty gloomy. You are building mental toughness along with your fitness by running at 5:30 AM. Jeebus, that's early! Not sure my legs would go for that at all!

I guess we can adapt though. I never thought I'd be getting up at 5 AM on a regular basis to fit in my yoga/core workout, but I've managed to make it a habit. Now If I stay up late and reset the alarm for a later time, I almost always still wake up early! Remarkable for someone who used to never get up before 10 AM on the weekends! But that was a very long time ago...before I ran trails...before I did long runs on the weekends....apparently before I was a distance runner.

A night time run sounds harrowing to me with my dreadful night vision and depth perception. Good luck with that! It sounds like it could be a blast.

Yay for training efforts - hard as they are - they will pay off on The Big Day.

Def NOT ready for the GOAT yet. Recall it is 26 arduous miles and I've only run 18 so far! I have a ways to go in my training. This is a "short" weekend for me coming up in terms of no long run. Dental surgery tomorrow. I'll be taking a couple days off running and hope to run both days on the weekend.

Still plodding along here. The weather has greatly improved. Roses are budding, radishes are bitter (I'll try again in the fall), cucumbers are shy but the green beans look hardy, much to the husbands shagrin.

A,

and i love the photos.

Thanks, good link!