So with the Bull Run 50 miler just one month away I am starting to peak out on my training. I took a few days off after the Holiday Lake 50k. However, recently I've gotten some back to back high mileage weeks of 30 and 50 miles.
Saturday I did a nice 5.5 hour run in Prince William National Forest on the South Valley Trail. The route consisted of two 11.5 mile loops. Starting at the Turkey Run Education Center we headed clockwise on the South Valley Trail until we reached the TREC again. Along the way we found a cooler full of goodies left by fellow VHTRC runner Toni Aurilo! We didn't steal any but we knew that some friends would be that way soon. So after a quick bathroom break and refuel we headed back out counter-clockwise and soon ran into Toni and her fellow runners one of which is apparently a general in the army! They quickly filled us in on their 20 mile run they were doing and then the following exchange happened something like this:
The General: "Haha well Toni told us it was 20 but it looks like it will be 23"
Toni: "You say that every time we do this run and its always 20 miles so SHUT YOUR PIE HOLE!"
The General: "Well..."
Toni: "SHUT YOUR PIE HOLE"
Moments like this are awesome cause they are totally non-serious and fun. It's one of the many reasons I love running with VHTRC people. Anyway, so while doing the loop in reverse we stopped at Toni's cooler since they had already passed by. Inside were some chips, beef jerky and coke. After eating a little bit we pushed on. Miles 17 to 23 were pretty brutal as we were purposefully setting an easy pace and it was getting hot outside. By this point I'd been on my feet over four hours and I started to get a little cranky. Anyway good run, good training.
Today, even though I was still pretty tired I went for a 90 minute run and ended up going out for about 11 miles. The first 2 miles or so were a little rough and my legs were not very fresh. The good thing was it was a perfect day for a run out, and it was the first day this year I've been able to ditch the long sleeve shirt. I felt pretty good and at the half way point ate some shot blocks and a fruit leather. On the way back things started to get pretty tough and I slowed down a little bit but still managed to put through to the end. The reason for doing this 10+ mile run so soon after a 20+ mile run is to get my legs used to running while they are tired. Doing a 40 mile training run at full speed could be a really easy way to get injured, so a good way to train instead is to do a so called "bonk run" which helps simulate the later miles.
One month to go for Bull Run! Very excited!
