Training in Montana

4 miles this morning. I had a bit of a layoff so expected my legs to be fresh but they were dead. I'm guessing it's a combination of a lot of walking at the conference, and at Universal Studios, plus surfing on Friday then a long flight back home, then cutting a load of wood and doing a little bit of deer hunting with the family on Saturday. And maybe a little sleep deprivation last week. Regardless, my legs were not fresh this morning. It was a chore to get 2 miles out, easier to get the 2 miles back. Will hit Boot Camp at Noon today.

AP: 8:40

Noon: Boot Camp. Lots of running, as we alternated 3 track laps (17 per mile) for each upper/lower body station. All in all, probably another mile of running but it was much faster than normal. Decent workout, but not great with all the cardio mixed in.

Boot Camp today, ran about 1 mile. Lots of upper body, my shoulders are wiped out. Might get out and run tomorrow.

4 miles this morning before the winds hit, and before the weekend cold front comes in. I plan on hitting the treadmill for a long run Saturday at the Y. I've only done that once and it was painful. I need to load a movie on my iPod to make the journey seem shorter.

AP: 8:29

Hit Target yesterday for some running clothes - who knew? Champion has really upped their outdoors gear and they have some tops and bottoms specifically for running. Pretty good stuff, $25 a pop, which I can handle. It worked pretty well this morning and was even a bit warm, but I'll take hot and sweaty over chilled any morning when it's 30 out. I hadn't done 6 in a while so I pushed myself to do it. Boot Camp has my legs feeling leaden but I know that ultimately it's going to help a lot. The storm hasn't hit yet - should hit this afternoon. I still might just brave the weather tomorrow for a long run.

AP: 8:37

I survived 10 TM miles and you know what? It wasn't even that bad. I did 3 miles at one near the back, far from the TVs and fans, then my favorite spot opened up. The TM would've turned off after 60 minutes anyhow, so this worked out perfectly. The FM transmitters worked so I was able to switch between military shows and football games. The lady next to me was hauling butt - walked in and started going at 8.0 mph and didn't stop. Did 4 miles at that speed. When she was done I asked her what she was training for, and she isn't, but turns out she's a 3:09 marathoner, 30-39 age group. Wow. I am always so impressed when you ladies not just beat us men but kick our tails! I said I'm planning on the Bighorn 50K next year, and she's done the 30K before and loves it. She then gave me ideas on trail runs to do both in town and an hour away in Red Lodge. Turns out that where I went backpacking this summer is her favorite spot for a 20 mile loop, and that confirmed my suspicion that it would be an amazing run. I am definitely doing it next year.

I have no idea how long it took me or what my average pace was. I kept at at least a 1.0 incline, and mainly ran at 6.9, then a while at 7.5, then bumped it to 8.0 the last 3 miles with the last mile at a 9.2/6:30 pace. I was barely breathing hard, though, so I know it's not a true 6:30 as I can barely breathe on the road at 6:30 on the flat.