Training in Montana

4 Noon Y TM miles. Did the Hills workout which I've never done before and I'm not sure why. It's a great way to simulate outside a bit better and I know it will have a positive impact as I run outside more often.

6 miles in the dark from home with fine snow granules pounding into my eyeballs. It was actually really nice, and the white illuminates the night quite well. Legs felt much better than the past couple weeks, and I ran strong today. It felt great.

AP: 8:15

10 miles up my favorite hilly route this clear dark morning (which turned into a glowing Eastern sky). I felt fantastic for the first time in weeks. My first mile was 30 seconds faster than normal and I quickly got into a nice rhythm. It will be interesting to see how/if this impacts my 22 miler tomorrow.

AP: 8:16

Ugh. Worst long run I've ever had and I'm not really sure why. I've frequently done back to back 10 miles then 20+ the next day. Maybe I'm just not in as good as shape as I've been in the past. I drove 30 minutes to the only trail in town and parked at a different place than normal so I could have more trail time. Maybe that was my problem. Normally I've hit that parking lot 6 miles in, so my trail time has been only 6 more miles. This time I ran farther than ever on these trails. At 12 miles I was ready to be done. I walked a lot on the way back to the car. At 3 hours I took two salt capsules where I'd only been taking one each hour. I think that second one helped me as I felt a bit better the last 30 minutes and ran most of the time.

I was planning on 22 but I started late and I needed to pick up my wife at 2:30 to head out of town for the weekend, so I gladly cut my run a couple miles short. Bonking on a training run is new for me. I'm guessing this will happen a lot in the next 14 weeks as I try and get up to a 28 mile run. Right now that mileage seems like an absurdity.

AP: 10:15