19 days to go...

I woke up this morning, and the first thing I did was get the laptop and check the status of the MN Leadville entrants. It 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 dared to start. Then I noticed my countdown timer said 19 days to ST 100. I kept having the Johnny Cash song "25 Minutes to Go" once I got down to 25 days...  Only in that song is it before his execution... It's not a good comparison, but it just sticks in my mind.

Had an excellent Saturday of training. I met Phil at RTA in the morning and did a few loops. I also went grocery shopping, swimming, and ate a late lunch. Then, I played tennis, walked for 2 hours, and went to RTA at 8:00 PM. After 1.5 loops, I met Adam, Jimmie, and Steve Quick shortly after that. We were under a 14-minute for the first mile, and I stayed with them a concise 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 delighted. 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 over 50 miles for my second week. The knee has a slight stiffness but no pain.

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

I'm going to 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…