Training in Montana

Had a hard time waking up today, so slept in until something woke me at 7:05. Got up aiming for 5 miles, but at 2 miles my iPod dinged at me so I stopped and saw a meeting reminder for an 8:00 conference call which I'd completely forgotten about. Who does Monday 8 AM meetings? Hoofed it back home as quick as I could and thankfully the call had problems starting so I joined as normal. Not sure of my AP but it was healthy on the way home. A warm morning, my muscles still tired from the weekend.

5 sluggish miles this morning. Apparently I'm still tired from the weekend as yesterday I couldn't get up, and today was tough to wake up and tougher to keep running. I stopped a few times and walked but I kept going. Nice and cool temps - perfect.

AP: 9:36? Can't remember.

Grand Teton Relay, runner #9. Passed/killed 2 people on this leg, running up 539 feet from 7200 feet elevation to nearly 7500 feet. Felt good, was lucky and didn't get the heat that earlier legs had, and I pushed it up the hill as much as I could. Tried to keep my HR to about 165.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/108573466

4 AM run: Leg 21, 4.15 miles. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/108573452. I thought it was a 3.6 mile run but the maps were updated and I failed to see that it was now a 4.3 mile course. It was odd as I ran 2 miles on mostly flat & booked it, then had to jump in the van for 0.5 miles to avoid a busy highway, then get dropped off and go the rest of the way up a steady incline. I was expecting 3.6 so to see the "1 mile to go" sign at 3.1 was tough to stomach, especially in the dark, and I could see the van brake lights 1 mile up a hill. Yuck. It seemed almost as tough as the previous run. I think I only got 1 kill. AP 7:48.

1:30 PM run: Leg 33, 3.01 miles, up "The Pass". http://connect.garmin.com/activity/108573440. This was the toughest uphill of the course, up 1166 feet over 2.9 miles, which is the last 2.9 up on the infamous Teton Pass. It was brutal. I quickly killed a girl after the transition, and my next kill was in my sights. I thought I was keeping a steady pace but apparently I went out too fast. I passed the guy just after 1 mile and I thought I would put a steady gap between us, but I heard his footsteps way too close behind me and he passed me after 1/4 mile and then he gapped me. I walked a few times, as walking was almost as fast as running, but I kept going and made it to the top. We actually got to run downhill the first 1/2 mile of the pass on the Jackson side, and that was fun. I had a few seconds at a 5:35 mile trying to catch somebody. Overall, a good run, and a great relay. AP 11:37.