Training in Montana

Very weird to have such a long layoff, but a break after the marathon made sense and last week was very busy for me. I've recently accepted a different volunteer position in my church which will keep me pretty busy for the next five years, so I'm hoping that it doesn't affect my running too much. Time will tell.

Got out this morning for 4 miles. Plantar Fascia was a bit tight on the right foot but nothing more than that. Left hip flexor felt tight at the beginning, but warmed up quickly. That was it for the little niggles. The rest of the run went fine. Pretty slow on the up, and max of 8:30 pace on the return trip. It felt okay. Not good, not bad, but nice to be out for a run. I've decided not to pursue a September marathon as that would be a bit much right now for my family, but I want to train for "nothing" harder than I have before, i.e. I want to up my base mileage just for fun and keep my Saturday runs to 14-16 miles. That's a lot higher than the past, but would make it easier to ramp up my training for a race should the opportunity arise. I'm not sure if this will work but that's in my sights at the moment.

I hit Boot Camp today at lunch. It was tough and I'll be sore, but I'm excited to be back at it. I didn't push it with leg exercises as I can tell their still healing.

4 miles this morning. I both love and despise Boot Camp for how sore I feel afterwards. It's nothing like the DesNews marathon soreness, but it's pretty good. My upper forearms are sore from shoulder-touching curls, my upper butt muscle is sore from speed skaters plus one-legged toe touches with a medicine ball, etc, etc. Great workout.

Today I ran without a watch and I felt pretty good, much better than Monday. Not sure how my running will play out over the next few weeks as I transition to no future race, but my mindset is much better than after last year's September marathon where I didn't do much for a couple months. I'm ready to get back into it. I'm pondering starting up a new training cycle for a late fall/early winter 1 person marathon. It would be just for fun, a way to keep me on a training plan but without the expense or pressure of an upcoming race. We'll see.

6 miles this morning. Felt much better than Monday's run and I had to slow it down on the way back as my legs were naturally in the 7:20s and it's too soon to be running MP again. I backed off to 8 and continued home. Nice run.

AP: 8:14

Went to Grand Teton National Park Friday-Sunday for my wife's family reunion. On Saturday most of us drove to the Moose-Wilson road and the Laurence Rockefeller nature preserve so we could hike to Phelps Lake. I left while the others were waiting to park (limited parking on purpose - very stupid idea) and ran the trail. When I got to the lake I kept going around to the West and ran up, almost to the Death Canyon overlook. I turned around at 4 miles and headed back to the lake and found my wife and her family. I had intended to run the rest of the way and get 8 miles in, but decided to just walk with the family instead. Good idea.

The run was great. Beautiful scenery (although very rocky and rooty so I tended to keep my eyes focused down) and a great single track. Lots of grass, ferns, and weeds brushed against my legs so the compression sleeves were an added bonus. On a few downhills I practiced running fast, as that killed me in the Bighorns this year. I need to practice that more often, I just don't have too many trails in my fair city and the mountains are 1 hour away. Anyhow, really enjoyed this run. If I lived close to the mountains I would be a 100% trail runner.

After the hike we went to String Lake, a family favorite (my wife's family is from the Jackson Hole area so all of these places have 100+ years of history for her). While trying to use our 12V air compressor to blow up a floating mattress, I conceived a brilliant idea to use my keychain knife to cut the plastic inside the valve stem that was blocking the air from going in. It was a good idea, but the little knife doesn't have a locking blade. I ended up pushing too hard, the blade came back to it's resting position, and my thumb was in the way. I neatly sliced the left side of my right thumb and blood pumped nicely. I knew it needed stitches but didn't know where to get them. After stopping the blood with butterfly bandages and eating some lunch we got some calls to the Jackson Lake lodge and found a medical clinic that provided stitches. My wife drove me there and an hour and $672 later I had three stitches. She bought me an ice cream cone at the Colter Bay store because I was brave. I didn't even cry or scream out in pain once. My proudest moment of the day.