Training in Montana

I went for a little run.

Woke up at 4:45 and did my morning ritual of toilet, contacts, get dressed. Toilet wasn't an emptying experience like normal and I paid for that later. Got out the door at 5:17 am with 2 liters of gatorade in my Nathan pack, lots of starburst jelly beans, a clif bar, and a 5 hour energy. It all combined for perfection. I was very blessed with the weather. A shelf of thick clouds overhead until mile 21, but it let the sunrise peek through around 5:45 then no hint of sun for hours. There was no wind to speak of, but a slight chilling breeze from the North which cooled me on the return. I ran the same route as a few weeks ago, just went another mile further. I quite like this new route as the first 7.5 I'm very familiar with but the next bit is new and gives me elevation, seclusion from people, and expansive space. From mile 2 to mile 14 I passed three houses. Love it. I felt pretty good on the run, although my stomach had a few sharp pains early on. At mile 7 I realized those weren't just gas pains and I stopped for pit stop #1 on the side of the road. Thank goodness I had a wet wipe, but knowing I only had one I tore it in half which was wise. Just before mile 14 I had my second and final pit stop on the side of the road and used the other half. I felt much better after both stops. At the last stop I was almost half way so changed my drenched shirt and headband and it was nice to be dry again. The return was into a slight North breeze and it was so refreshing that when I got back to my house my shirt had hardly any sweat at all. It was only damp to the touch. Amazing. At mile 21 the clouds finally gave way to sun but with that breeze in my face I stayed nice and cool. Took 1/2 of the 5 hour energy around mile 20 and it was a great pick me up. I believe! Taking the whole thing would shock my heart but 100 mg seems about perfect for me. My return pace was pretty decent which surprised me. My right foot gets a blister/callous on the outside of my big toe knuckle but it never got worse thankfully. I was able to plug away. I only walked a few times and that was only on the hills. I just kept running slowly, mostly around a 9-9:15 minute pace.

After not being able to run on Monday because I was overcoming a sickness to being able to do 11 and 28 this weekend makes me very happy. I don't know how I'll run another 24 miles beyond what I did Saturday but I'll figure it out. The good news is that with all the elevation at Bighorn there's lots of engaging different muscle groups while walking up steep mountains.

AP: 9:39

Garmin log