35 Miler and Eating My Weight In Junk Food

"Common sense is necessary....more so than high tech. Race to the finish not race from the start, pace yourself, run your own race and don't get sucked into someone else's, walk when you need to, run when you can, eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we will hurt." ~ Keven Sayers

Monday, October 10th 2011: 5 miles @ 10:30 minutes per mile.
Tuesday, October 11th 2011: 10 miles @ 11:25 minutes per mile.

Wednesday, October 12th 2011: 35 miles @ 12:37 minutes per mile. This run was so beautiful that I couldn't help but take tons of pictures. I ran along the Arizona Strip dirt road and some other side trails. The moon was almost down when I started running:


Take my word for it, these pictures don't do justice to how amazing the scenery is in this area. The deep red mountains against the deep blue sky just can't be captured by a camera.


I always start this run wondering if there will be anything to photograph that I haven't already. And yet there is always something new that I've never seen before. Even the different lighting or clouds make each trip unique. We got lots of rain last week and I loved how some grass cut tracks through the mud:


I focused on going very slow to conserve my energy for the long run. When I felt like I was at a comfortable pace I slowed down even more. If I'm going to make it through 100 miles I will have to take it very easy and never exert myself. My jumping was a little rusty - it took me four tries before I got this (bonus points for my farmer tan):


There are rarely any flowers here, but with the rain they sprouted up all over. An inconsiderate bug may have (did) crawl up my shorts as I was sitting on the ground to take this picture:


Earlier in the year I ran 34 miles at quite a bit faster pace. Initially I was a little discouraged but then realized that when I ran that far earlier in the year it was around 25 DEGREES cooler. But this time I ran through the heat of the day, and the high temperature for the day was 83 degrees.

In the last few miles I took a new side trail. It was a steep two miles in deep sand but the view from the top was worth the sand I got in my shoes:


Right before I got back to my car I came across a large puddle of water where I could see a reflection of the mountains:


Including my running time plus time stopped to stretch, go to the bathroom, and refill my water, I was out on the trail for more than eight hours. When I finished, I didn't necessarily feel good, but I also didn't feel bad. I felt like I could have gone father if I wanted to, but another 65 miles is kind of hard to wrap my head around.

Thursday, October 13th 2011: Rest. I felt starved for calories. During the day I ate toast, a Butterfinger, a maple bar, an In & Out combo meal, a taco salad, and cheesecake. Now if that isn't a reason to run, I don't know what is!

Friday, October 14th 2011: Rest.

Saturday, October 15th 2011: 20 miles @ 11:35 minutes per mile. I felt so good during this run and took lots of pictures that I'll show you in another post.

This week was a big psychological boost for me in preparation for the ultra. By slowing my pace a little I was able to cover lots of miles and never felt sore. I've noticed that my focus has become doing each run smartly so that I can recover quickly and be ready for the next run. I feel good.

Are you watching baseball playoffs?
Without a doubt! Nothing better than baseball in October.

Is junk food one of your weaknesses?
I never met something from the bakery that I didn't like.

Ever had a close encounter with a bug?
Having a bug crawl up my shorts wasn't as bad as when my hand got stung by a bumble bee and got so fat that my hand looked like the Nutty Professor.