11 Days To 100 Miler and Sleeping On Treadmill (Literally)

I finished a good taper week with 30 miles. The Antelope Island Buffalo Run 100 miler is 11 (ELEVENNNNNNN!) days away. March 22nd - the big day. Your mind starts doing weird things in the last few weeks before a 100 miler. You feel so scared. You feel so excited. Your brain is CONSTANTLY thinking about things like:

1) What should I pack in drop bags?
2) How can I make sure I don't go out too fast?
3) What should I name all the blisters I will get?
4) What shirt will best hide throw up stains?
5) Will I cry when my legs feel like someone is pushing them through a paper shredder?
6) How many hours post-race will it take before I can eat a cinnamon roll?

Monday, March 4th 2013: 6.5 miles early before work. I had the pleasure of being joined by Logan, Karrie, and Shane. I may have been asleep the whole time.

Wednesday, March 6th 2013: 13 miles around Hurricane Rim and Hurricane Canal Trail. My original plan changed due to a closed road but I saw these awesome goats before moving to a different trail:

Tell me these are not the cutest things you have ever seen on four legs:

From there I headed to the Hurricane Rim Trail. There are sections of the trail that are fairly challenging and technical. This makes it hard to get into any rhythm and the miles are slower. Every once in a while you get rewarded with some smooth single track and amazing views:

I decided I'd take a side trail I've never run before, part of the Hurricane Canal. Settlers to this area built a long canal to bring water to the city. The canal is no longer used and is now part of a trail. This trail involves going through some tunnels that were part of the canal.

The last part of the trail involved a long, steep climb along some pretty exposed trails. I got to the top of the trail and saw this sign going the other direction. I got to go UP "The Drop".

Saturday, March 9th 2013: 10.5 miles up Dalton Wash Road and Guacamole Trail. It dumped lots of rain all Friday night so I knew Saturday's run would be pretty sloppy. I started at around mile 65 of the Zion 100 course. The Dalton Wash Road has a few steeper sections but overall isn't bad at all.

The higher I climbed, the worse the conditions became. I was okay with the miserable conditions because it was good to practice suffering before the 100 miler. The road was steep, muddy, snowy, and very slick.

Brrr.

The Guacamole Trail is beautiful, whether it is dry or covered in snow.

In conclusion, my daughter thought it would be a good idea to sleep on the treadmill last night. She hung her clothes up on the arm bar. Shockingly, by morning, she didn't think sleeping on the treadmill was such a great idea. (This is what I feel like doing every single time I'm on the treadmill also.)