This is how my mind works

Thanks to everyone who responded to my last post. Peterson Ridge happens the weekend of Marc's birthday. I told him that I wanted to run the 30k (and maybe even the 60k). But since only one of us can run at a time, I would concede this one to him...but only if he would run the 60k. My thinking is, if I'm going to give something up, then it has to be for something big. Funny how my mind works.

Yesterday, Sharon and I headed out again to Forest Park to run Wildwood for our last big run before Hagg Lake. When we arrived at the Germantown Rd. trail head we saw Olga and her friend about to start their run. They were doing essentially the same route as us....11 miles round trip to Newberry Rd (the end of WW) and then back the other way for another out and back on Wildwood in the opposite direction. Sharon and I were doing 23, although Sharon was under the impression that we were only doing 22. I didn't let on that it was really 23 until we did our final turnaround and I had to confess that we really had 6 more miles to go and not 5-1/2. The weather was perfect. Kind of foggy with a light mist, but warmish. The trail was muddy and we had a lot of fun barreling through the frequent mud pits. I've been experimenting with fuel and specifically have been trying to eat more solid food. I consumed 2 fig bars, 1/2 a pbj sandwich, one bag of sports beans, some crystallized ginger, 3 succeed electrolyte caps and drank most of the half strength Ultra I was carrying in my 2L hydration pack. We finished with a 12:15 pace, which was quicker than our 20 mile run pace 2 weeks ago. So I'm pleased with my longest run since the Portland Marathon last October.

Saturday night Marc and I watched "Fire on the Track", a documentary about Pre. If you've never seen it I highly recommend it, even if you think you already know everything there is to know about him. Its very motivational. Before we watched it, Marc said that today he wanted to to run the length of Wildwood (30 miles), but that if it was raining he'd just do a longish run from the house. (See, only runners run in the rain and he's not really a runner.) After we watched "Fire on the Track", he said, I don't care what the weather's like. I'm running Wildwood. So this morning, the little guy and I dropped him off at Newberry Rd, with plans to pick him up 6 hours (and 30 miles) later at the zoo. Turns out he missed a few turns so probably really ran 30 1/2 miles. It took him 5 hrs 45 minutes. Not bad for someone who isn't really a runner. And I'm sending in his registration for the Peterson Ridge Rumble 60K. I can always run it next year. (Don't tell him but I'm on a secret mission to have him do SOB and Where's Waldo too. Between us we can knock off the whole Oregon trail series.) For now, my schedule is unchanged, but I'm still considering my options.

There's still time in the day, but I think I'm going to skip my normal Sunday recovery run. My right ITB is just a bit tender today. I got in a good walk at the Zoo anyway. And since Hagg is 2 weeks away, there's really no point in pushing it.