19 days to go...

I woke this morning and the first thing I did is get the laptop and check the status of the MN Leadville entrants. Looks like only Al Holtz remains, but from what I hear, the weather conditions were wet, very cold and even hail. Sounds like it is a cold day in hell? (You know, that day that never comes.) OUCH. As if this race is not hard enough? At least they all had the courage to start. Then I noticed my countdown timer said 19 days to ST 100. I keep having the Johnny Cash song "25 minutes to go" once I got down to 25 days... Only in that song, it is before his execution... Not a good comparison but it just sticks in my mind.

Had a very solid Saturday of training. Met Phil at RTA in the morning and did a few loops, went grocery shopping, swimming and ate a late lunch. Then played tennis, walked for 2 hours, and went to RTA at 8:00 PM. After 1.5 loops, I met Adam, shortly thereafter Jimmie and then Steve Quick. We were under a 14-minute for the first mile and I stayed with them a very short while, as they were faster than I as this was essentially my 14th hour of moving for the day.

I continued for just under four loops and never saw them again. I was very pleased my average pace was 17:06 per mile for the night. The moon was so bright. And the views from some of the RTA peaks were outstanding. This gave me 19 miles of running/walking for the day and my second week over 50 miles. The knee has a little stiffness but no pain.

Today calls for long bike ride and a long walk. . I am already physically tired. Even though I thought I was recovered from last Friday and the hard week, this long day left me more fatigued than I anticipated. Only one more week then taper and repair to prepare for the race.

Going to be out at Hyland on Thursday night for my last intense workout before I taper… Some think a two-week taper is a little long, but I really pushed it hard for the past three weeks and I want to be very fresh 19 days from now.

Carry on…