Paying for It

In preparation for my mountain 50k, I've been putting in runs with a lot of elevation gain.  I had one week over 5,000 feet and the next over 6,000 feet (maybe even 7,000 feet).  That is a lot for me.  I felt good doing it, but I think I'm paying for it now.

I've felt awful all week, when I've tried to run.  Today, it continued.  It was a tough weather day in that it was kind of cool, yet still humid and the sun was blazing.  I headed out to Trexler to run.  I figured that I didn't have a lot of time, so I'd probably cut it short and cut back through the zoo.

I took it slowly at the start.  I went up the early big hill nice and easy.  It was a struggle though.  The legs just don't have it any more.  I'm sure the heat didn't help.   I didn't feel great at all.

I ran past the bison pen.  It appears they are now gone for some reason.  I made my way up the long, slow climb.  Once again, the dogs barked at me.  That always disrupts an otherwise peaceful run.

While I did fine thus far, the quads didn't feel strong.  I knew the bigger hills might give me fits.  I was kind of getting a little exhausted too.  I enjoyed some downhill after the great open view.

One cool thing is that I was able to adjust my watch, so that I can now see my total ascent for the run (in real time).  That is a neat feature for trail running.  I'll keep that on during my races.  It is more important than pace for those type of races.  It seemed fairly accurate too.

I made it up some the of the smaller climbs before the big ones.  They weren't easy though.  I was feeling drained.  I thought maybe I could will myself up the largest climb.  I made it about 2/3 of the way up and it was just too much.  A good part of this climb is mental and I surely didn't have that today.  Being stronger physically is a big plus too though.

I just felt so worn out and the legs were dead.  I started up the next climb, but had no energy.  I ran some of it and walked some more of it.  Then, I had to be cautious on the steep downhills.  I was almost out of control.

I finally fixed my handheld, so at least it wasn't leaking.  I was able to get more water than the last few days.  I enjoyed the coolness of the creek crossing. 

I headed to the long hill toward the zoo and was so wiped out.  I ran some of it, but walked a lot of it.  I tried, but my body wouldn't respond.  It was very disappointing and discouraging.  In fact, this is what it used to feel like for me running here.  It felt like old times.

There was some nice downhill by the zoo as I cut across.  I was approaching 1,000 feet of elevation gain.  If only I had run all of that.  Oh well, at least I got up it.  My pace was slower than usual, but at the same time, I can't say it was too terrible.  Had I done the whole loop, I probably still would've been under 1:30.

It is quite the climb up from the zoo back to the Environmental Center.  I wish I was stronger, so that I could see if I would be able to run the whole thing.  I never have before.  It was a 300 foot climb in about half a mile or so.  That is tough.  Again, it was a mixture of running and walking (mostly walking though).

I was just happy to be done and at least get a semi good workout in.  I got more elevation too.  That said, I haven't been doing a lot of miles, but the climbing is clearly wearing on me.  It is two weeks out from my race, so it is time to back off.

I thought about big runs tomorrow and Sunday, but that obviously isn't happening now.  I need to listen to my body.  I might go to the BCR run tomorrow, for some easy miles.  If I do, it will be a short run and mostly I'll be there simply to catch up with everyone.  On the plus side, it is supposed to be another hot weekend, so I don't mind skipping runs, from that standpoint.  I'm not sure if I'll run 5 times between now and the race.

6.11 miles - 59:42 (9:46 pace)