5 Weeks to Go and Counting!

I am getting more edgy and anxious by the day… maybe even a little nervous. This weekend I crossed 5 weeks before the big day. After the Mt Washington race I changed my training dramatically and I feel it was for the better. Unfortunately I’m not sure my training error was discovered early enough to be really ready for Pike’s Peak… okay truth be told I’m not I’d ever be really ready for Pike.

Since NH I have abandoned the hill training on my treadmill, I have abandoned the thought that I need to train myself to run slower in the mountains and I have abandoned the distance runs on my local streets and I still needed to take about 5 pounds off my frame. In their place I have begun doing all my hill workouts on real hill trails like the Tower Trail to the summit of Sleeping Giant State Park; I have focused on speed once a week… I do 0.8 mile repeats at 6:00/mile pace (I realized on Mt Washington that the size of the hill automatically slows me down); I drive somewhere every weekend to do a long mountain trail run like Mt Greylock on Saturday; and I have brought my weight down to near 145 lbs. I am very fatigued so I go to sleep earlier (that’s good) and am eating much better (tons of fruits and veggies) to combat that issue. The fact that my muscles are regularly sore and I am fatigued tells me I am again making positive progress towards getting ready.

Last week I ran hill repeats at Sleeping Giant and the people walking the Tower Trail thought I was crazy. I passed some of them 5 times in their walk up and back down and they would just shake their heads as I’d pass again. It was very good hill work and since it was on dirt trails it was good practice for making sure I was making good choices of foot placement… you can easily roll an ankle or fall (done it many times) on a rocky trail filled with erosion ruts and potholes.