Week Ending April 24

Mon - 0 miles. Work and kids all day.

Tues AM: 5.5 miles intervals. Workout was mile, 3(1,200, 1,000). My workout ended after the second 1,200 (for the record: 5:39, 4:00, 3:23, 4:31). Halfway through that second 1,200 rep, I cut a wet grassy corner, lost my feet and skidded straight into a metal sign post. Made impact with my left shin and felt a huge surge of pain. Got up and hobbled back to my car. Upon getting home and cleaning the wound up, I discovered that it was much worse than I had originally thought. I had a huge gash and a puncture wound that offered insight to the inner workings of my lower leg. Pretty nasty. Hopped back in the car for a trip to urgent care. Four stitches later and I felt like a lucky man. Could easily have been a broken bone, but ultimately it was nothing more than a bad gash and some bruising. That's not to say that it didn't hurt like hell. Doc told me to stay off it until at least the next day, which brings me to the second run of the day:
PM: 1 mile. Attempted six on the valley trails, but turned around a half mile in after I finally convinced myself that I was being ridiculous and that this was not a good opportunity to run through pain.

Weds - AM: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls long. Woke up early and was relieved to find that my leg looked and felt okay, relatively speaking. Was expecting to see a cricket-ball-sized lump, but the swelling was relatively mild. Heading down the road, I bumped into my new neighbor Mike Enger who was also running into the park. Ran the loop together at a conversational pace.
Noon: 13 miles (2,700'). To Soderberg via 38e/Shoreline, then short loop on valley/Nomad before heading up Towers - Secret Trail - Westridge - Rock - Audra Culver - Southridge - home long. Leg throbbed on the downs, but felt like it was just superficial bruising. Definitely dodged a bullet there.
PM: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls long. Second lifetime treble. Yeah, playing catch-up a bit. Felt like my second run of the day used to when I first started doing doubles: creaky.

Thurs - AM: 7 miles (1,600') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg - home long. This run was a disaster. I could barely muster the energy to maintain a running cadence on the uphills and even had to stop at the waterfall steps to gather myself (2 miles in). Felt completely wiped the whole run. Not a good sign for my PR attempt on the hill later in the day.
PM: 10.5 miles (1,900') hard. Towers TT. 30:25. Warmed up with a very easy 3.5 miles on the valley trails to see if my legs were feeling any better than in the morning. They seemed to be okay on the flats, but anything upward facing was still way harder than it should have been. Quads just felt beat. I gave it a go on Towers nonetheless and proceeded to have my arse handed to me. The opening rollers felt okay, but as soon as I got on the steep stuff it was clear that this was not going to be a good day: No power and lots of burn. I pushed out a hard effort anyway, and took what my legs gave me, which was the hardest 30-minute run I've ever had on Towers (2:50 to turn, 8:45 to Stout, 16:43 to Herrington, then pretty much gave up). Not to worry, just one of those days. Sam ran away from me yet again to post an impressive FKT of 28:32. He now officially owns me on Towers. Mrs Malmberg reset the FKT for the women with a 34:16. I'm renaming the hill Malmberg Mountain. They can have it!

Fri - Noon: 10 miles (1,400') easy. Bluesky TH to Arthurs TH + mini Arthurs/Mill Creek loop. Another day, different legs. Felt smooth.
PM: 7 miles (1,600') easy. Soderberg - Spring Creek - Heerington - Stout - SpringCreek - Falls - home long. Legs much better again.

Sat - AM: 16 miles (500') easy. Ran 12 miles to the start of the Fast and Furriest, then ran a 21:xx with Chester, my neighbor's dog, who slipped his collar four or five times. To the amusement of many, he slipped his collar 100 meters from the off, turned around and ran back to the start. Tried to kick down Celeste in the last 100 meters, but Chester was pretty much done. 1k with Alistair in the kids race afterward.

Sun - AM: 20 miles (2,900') easy. Out with Ryan and Eric for an early morning out and back on Bluesky, picking up three of the four loops (no Wild) and coming home long.

Total: 100 miles (14,600')

Firstly, huge props to teammate Darcy Africa for dismantling (8:25) the female Rim2Rim2Rim FKT in the Big Ditch. Just last weekend Krissy Moehl and Devon C Helms took a few minutes off the record, and then Darcy cruised through and set what looks to be a pretty convincing standard. Great to see the women going toe to toe and getting competitive with these things. Would be great to see Darcy and Krissy running at Western States (as I believe they would like to), but that's a discussion for another day (or an exhausted discussion that needs no further wasted breath).

Secondly, props to Sam and Jenn Malmberg who continue to set the standard on Towers. Both were in action this Thursday, and both reset their PRs (and FKTs). The new standard there is now 28:32 and 34:16 for the men and women respectively. Impressive stuff. Really hoping these guys put together the races I know they are capable of on the Real Big Hill down south in August.

My running week wasn't the best. I started out with a zero on Monday, maimed myself on Tuesday, and then felt the need to play catch-up the rest of the week, which didn't do much but make me tired. Thursday - after a treble on Wednesday - was a disaster. I'm not sure I've ever had such tired legs, but things opened up a bit for me from there as the week progressed. I remember going through something similar last year as the miles took their toll midway through the WS buildup, but then things turned around and after a long taper I was raring to go. Hopefully things will play out the same way this year. Six more weeks of work, then three weeks to get into racing shape.