A Tough Run

Today I attempted my final really long run before TRT50 miler. Attempt, because I didn't do all the miles I set out to do. Mentally I felt a bit fried from the time I woke. But I headed out the door anyways as this is my weekend to work and there wouldn't be any other time besides today to get this run in. Off I went to the Overlook.

I headed down to No hand bridge and up to Cool. On this 7.5 mile trip I actually felt really good. Really strong on the climbs, I was working on my power hike and everything felt right. Mentally at this time I was more focused then I had been when I woke up. At the Cool fire station I turned around and headed back down to No Hands Bridge where once there I immediately turned around and headed back to Cool.

I was maybe a mile up the climb when my stomach started turning and I even got some goose bumps. My stomach was not feeling good, and I knew that I wouldn't make it to the port-a-potty across the 49 crossing not far up a head. This is not good, so I did what any trial runner would do; I went. And you know what, my stomach felt better, which meant I physically felt better. I hurried on my way now able to run once again. No more stomach pain!

I kept power hiking and making my way to Cool, I would hike small sections and then run. I knew with each step I was getting closer. But my quads were not happy with me. Maybe I wasn't as recovered as I thought, or maybe it had something to do with the hill repeats on Monday and also the mile hill repeats on Tuesday where I covered 10 miles total that day. Working the legs I was!

I arrived at Cool, took in a gel and started back down. I let the flow of the trail take me and slowly settled into a nice pace. I was actually really focused. I breathing wasn't labored, my effort felt right, but my legs felt like they had no power. I arrived back at No Hands and made my way to the Overlook.

Here I was feeling the combined effects of the hills earlier in the week and also today's hills. My legs would not respond. On top of my legs not wanting to respond I ran out of water 2 miles from the Overlook. Now if you have never been in this area, this is not a good thing as the canyon is very hot and just sucks everything out of you. I still had a bit of climbing to do. I just put one foot in front of the other, always moving forward. I ran some of this section, but honestly not much. I was running on empty. I arrived back at the Overlook and immediately soaked my legs in the nice cool canal.

In the end I logged 22 miles for the day. Not bad considering I already had 22 miles in my legs with a good deal of quality in them as well. I think that I didn't fuel properly which ultimately lead me to feeling the way I felt. I needed to eat more which would have helped the situation. But like the saying goes "It is the tough runs that make us stronger!"

This was a tough run; I won’t beat myself over it as I know if I had fueled different things would have ended differently. I just hope not to make this same mistake at Tahoe.