So I went for what was going to be an recovery 6 last night and it was very obvious that the legs wanted to do a tempo run. I got faster and faster until I had to force myself to slow it down. I ended up wanting to do 11-12 but decided it would be smart to head home after 8. A good run all in all - but I was torn between running free like a wild horse (sounds weird I know) and trying to slow down to get some recovery miles in post HM and pre-Ultra.

This sounds like one of Pam's log entries! She's rubbing off on you Mike. Next thing you know you'll be cranking out 70 mile weeks! Nice job, but make sure you do take those recovery days when you are supposed to and save the hard efforts for the scheduled hard days.

Isn't that a good thing Bob? TOTALLY understand how ya felt Mike! I'm still having problems slowing down (like for todays run).

So I think I ran my recovery run last night like it should be run. I kept my HR below 70% for the whole 8 miles except for a few brief times at the tops of a few hills. Man, they raise the HR more than I thought. Thanks for the advice to slow them down, Bob. I felt so good afterwards that I will try to do my recovery runs like this more often.

So here's the Saturday Night Live Weekend Update. So I spent the day yesterday volunteering at the Rockledge Rumble 50k and was jealous of everyone else running trails on a nice day. One thing I found interesting was how the faster folks stay moving quickly through the aid station - it's almost like a Nascar pit stop - and then they are off again. By comparison, the slower folks spent a LOT more time in the aid station - some of them would stay several minutes - each time. The value of the water bottle was not lost on me. The really fast ones would skip my aid station on the way out and hit it on the way back. I also noticed that a lot more of the folks at the back of the pack had nothing - no camelback - no bottle - they totally relied on the aid station. Which I found weird - because we were the first aid station - at 4.5 miles from the start. The 50kers had to go through us 4 times. 4.5 miles on the trails without water is a long time. I also noticed how the faster folks relied more on E-caps and gels than on regular food. So today - I took out my trail jealousy on the road. I had planned to only do 13 miles - but I'd set my Garmin to kilometers to change things up and decided at mile 10 ish to just make it a nice round 25k. It was nice slow starting (9:56 pace for the first 5k) progression run down to a fast finish (9:04 pace for the final 5k). A 2:14 PR at 25k on a much hillier and windier course. A great run. I'm really looking forward to Ultracentric next Saturday. Not only do I feel good (a little allergy congestion) but I met several ultra runners who volunteered with me yesterday. All of them 50 miler to 100 miler types. One guy is running the 24 hour event, another is running the 12 hour, and I of course, am taking up the newbie spot in the 6 hour event. I also chatted with Marshall on his last trip through the aid station and he is judging the race walking division at the 24 hour event. So it will make it a little easier seeing a few friendly faces there. I was planning on 40 miles this week - I got in 31.8. That'll do.

Thanks, Bob. I definitely will work on the sleep. I was planning on running a couple 5 milers and maybe a 7 this week - but am now thinking of trimming back on that a little. What do you think?

A couple of 5's and a 7 miler sounds reasonable. Maybe get the 7 miler in earlier in the week and save the 5's for later. I can't wait to hear how your "only" 6 hour run goes! You are a brave man, Mike!

Thanks, Bob! I totally agree with you - if you replace only with painful and brave with stupid. Actually, I've put a little more thought into my pre-race running for the week. I've come up with a very scientific reason to run a couple 4's and a 6 instead of a couple 5's and a 7. That way I can cross the 1,000 mark while I'm running Ultracentric. Or not. I'll see how the week goes.

Nice 25k PR!!!!! WTG! Very cool about meeting people that you'll be seing this Sunday! I never realized when I lived in Tx (many moons ago) that there was any kind of running community. Makes me jealous! Cool that you'll be crossing the "1000" mile mark at Ultra this weekend!! How's "tapering "going?

Nice 25k PR!!!!! WTG! Very cool about meeting people that you'll be seing this Sunday! I never realized when I lived in Tx (many moons ago) that there was any kind of running community. Makes me jealous! Cool that you'll be crossing the "1000" mile mark at Ultra this weekend!! How's "tapering "going?

Thanks, Pam! I'm still undecided about leaving it as a training run or changing the type to Race and calling it a time trial. The running community here is very big. Most weekends there are at least a dozen races to choose from. The ultra running community is a lot bigger than I thought though. I knew Lynn was here, but man - I think the trail club he is in is full of ultra runners. They're turned me on to a bunch of information on all the local trails in the area - so after I get UC and Cowtown done, I'm going to start doing a lot more trail running - I think. Tapering is going fine. During my first marathon taper - I was going a little nutty. First one and all that probably. This time - I'm sort of coasting and not worrying about things. I do need to taper my eating though.