Monday, March 29, 2010

Round #2 of the Double Marathon Weekend...

To say that yesterday, day two of that back-to-back marathon weekend, went surprisingly well is an understatement. Many times during the run I questioned who's body I was borrowing for the day because I was shocked to be feeling so spry & strong. An epic run to finish an epic weekend!

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Round #1 of the Double 26.2 Weekend

Simply put: today was a very blessed day.

With back-to-back 26.2s this is an epic weekend in ultra training for Lean Horse. After weeks of deliberation I decided on fairly scenic trail for the first marathon (when we would hopefully feel the strongest/spry) and leave the country gravel roads for the second (when we would be on tired/sore legs.)

What I didn't expect was such a good turn out of fellow runners to help pace sections of the trail with Maggie & I, or such comfortable weather, or a body that was agile to the very end. Did I get tired at portions, of course. Did I finish feeling stiff & sorta sore, sure. But can I run a full 26.2 tomorrow, Absolutely. Let's do this!

Here's praying that the Lord will allow me to wake up feeling as jolly good as I do right now. :) One can hope.




Sunday, March 21, 2010

Time for Trail...

The last two months I have been battling on again off again sinus issues which has been as much fun as sand in a speedo. Thankfully it seems I am making my way past the sick all week but healthy enough for the weekend long run followed by a solid training week followed by a full week totally under the weather & stuck in bed cycle.

Despite the illness I have had some great training sessions one of which included 18miles of hills with the ultra crew starting at 4am going off of a few hours of sleep to practice running with a headlamp and fatigue. Believe it or not filming in the dark is as black on camera as it is in person so I didn't bother posting that, but let it be known it was done and actually quite enjoyable. :)

Now for this weekend's fun...

With Fargo spring flooding and gravel roads in the country getting a bit dull Maggie (a.k.a. the best running buddy a girl could ask for!) & I decided to hit the trail a bit earlier than planned this season. Much to our surprise & delight over 95% of the snow out at Maplewood had already melted making for a stellar 11 miler!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

13 Miles of Ice

Training since Red Lodge has been pretty phenomenal, my body is responding & recovering well to the mileage/intensity. To say I am encouraged by this is an understatement, it's like the Lord's face is shining down on me.

Three years ago I never thought I would be the type of person to wake up & think "running a 1/2 marathon this morning sounds fun, I'll do that." Yet in the past 1.5 wks I have found myself thinking and doing just that; twice! This is video from one of them...