Training in Montana

The thumb is healing nicely and I figured it was time to venture outdoors for a run. The thumb felt good and everything else. Happy to be out running and thinking and pondering.

AP: 8:32

Ran without a watch at lunch, but I think I did the 6 mile course which is a bit of a stretch for me lately. Felt pretty good. 80 degrees or so, I was dripping sweat, and it felt good.

Last night I stopped by my running store to find a new marathon shoe. Not a training shoe, just to run the event. 3 ounces has to make a difference, right? At least mentally, but there is some physiological advantage when taking 30-35,000 steps in a marathon. Anyhow, I think next time I do one I'll run in the Brooks Racer ST 5. I tried them on and they felt pretty good. I think it will be worth a shot.

Speaking of my next 26.2, I'm trying to talk my wife into the Santa Barbara race on November 9th. It's a Saturday, it's in California, at sea level, and a mostly flat race. I'd love to try a sea level race on the flat. And for the elites (2:30 male, 3:00 female) you'll likely get your race comped. I don't know if I'll win this battle as we're still trying to figure out how to pay our summer fun bills, but I won't know if I don't try, right?

Took my 10 year old son on a backpacking trip. I'm counting the miles because it was a solid uphill, and I had 30 pounds on my back. Beautiful trip, will try and include some pictures later.

Return backpacking trip. In the morning we hiked halfway up a mountain, up a rock slide. That was gorgeous to be up looking over the valley. I was proud of my son for coming with me and then for being adventurous and going even higher. It wasn't steep and dangerous, but was a tough climb. We picked wild raspberries all morning and even took some home for the family.

On the return trip he had his backpack on for 1 mile but was struggling to keep a good pace on a steady downhill, so I took his pack. It was only 11 pounds, so I wore it on my front and my pack on the back. I then cruised the rest of the way. He struggled to keep up but he did, without complaining. Averaged 18 minute miles I think. My legs were pretty sore after, so it was a good workout. Wish I could go backpacking much more. Hopefully next year as my 3 boys are all old enough now. My wife wants to go, so I see a family backpacking trip in our future.