Training in Montana

I'm feeling burned out. I skipped yesterday and only did 5 today when 10 was called for. I was exhausted all weekend long, and the same happened in previous weekends, and I'm sick of it and my family is too. An exhausted Dad/Husband every weekend is not cool. Part of it is that I haven't been sleeping enough but I've still been getting up early to run. Part of it is that my mileage has increased a lot over my normal mileage. And last I checked I'm the oldest that I've ever been. I'm supposed to have my highest mileage week this week before a 2 week taper but I think I'll back off most of my runs this week. I am not looking forward to my 50K and that's unusual for me. If I'm not looking forward to running I'm too tired and need to back off. It's too bad that my race is just a few weeks away, but c'est la vie. During my run this morning I was questioning why in the world I was signed up for it and if I could switch to the 30K. I don't think I'll do that but it is tempting...

AP: 8:36? 

6 miles (supposed to be 8). Kept it slow mainly because my higher gear is missing right now. I think I'll find it next week or so. Beautiful morning chasing deer and wild turkeys.

I won't run tomorrow so my monthly mileage is set. This is by far the most miles I've done in one month - at least 30 more than my previous high.

AP: 8:49 

Amazing how one day off running often makes all the difference in attitude. Most of yesterday I was feeling more enthused about running so I decided I'd try to do 10 miles today and 14 tomorrow. I got to bed at a decent hour, got up early, and I kept it a nice even pace this morning and felt good all the way. My AP ended up faster than I thought it would be, and that's a good sign that it felt nice and easy but was a decent pace. Hopefully I'll feel the same tomorrow morning.

AP: 8:41 

14 miles in under 2 hours. Just barely. The last 200 yards I was sprinting with all I had to get under 2 hours, and I made it by 3 seconds. That was fun. Just before turning off the main road heading back home I was just over 1:53:xx and my simple math said if I did a 6:xx mile I might beat 2 hours. I'd been doing 8:30-9:00 miles this morning with no plans for speed work, but I turned it on and just before I got to my house I was racing the clock. My last little kick clocks in at a 5:08 pace. Pretty sure I can hold that for about 100 yards downhill, like today. That was fun and nice to see I had a good kick on my 24th mile in 24 hours. 

AP: 8:34

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/184834552