On the Trail

Today I am sore.  That good kind of sore where I can tell I've been back on the standard triathlon training plan this week.  Got in a couple of good fast runs and a few bike rides.  Tuesday had a 5k tempo run on the treadmill at an 8.6 speed (6:56 pace, 21:50 total time), so that was nice.  I need to do that or faster every week if I actually want to be able to break 22 minutes on the roads at my next 5k.  and I actually need to sign up for another 5k this spring.  Also on Tuesday I had a big project go live at work, so about four months of my productivity is open to the members now.  It was a pretty cool project so I'm glad to see it actually go live.  And Bigun and I had an Indian Princess tribe meeting that night, so Tuesday was a big day all around.

I think I'll be able to make it to the RAM practice tonight for the first time in a couple of weeks.  I'm certainly ready to get back in the water amongst the speedsters.  I kind of need to take it easy today, so I'm going to skip the planned run and take tomorrow as a total rest day too.

My marathon maniac t-shirt came in yesterday!  I'm all geared up now and ready to run with the other crazies.

Saturday should be fun.  Got nothing going on during the day, but in late afternoon things are going to get interesting.  It's the Umstead 100 race day, and Tammie Massey is coming down to run it again.  Two years ago I was in SC with the fam when she ran it, and last year I was down in Columbia at my cousin's wedding that same weekend.  But this year we're in town and all systems are go!  Each lap is 12.5 miles, she's running 8 laps total to get to 100 miles.  Starting at 50 miles, which might be around 4:30 pm, she can take on pacers - non racing partners to run with her for company and encouragement.  I'm going to pace her for 2 laps.  So what could be more fun two weeks after a marathon than running 25 miles on incredibly hilly trails with an old friend?  Nothing.  I'm not calling it another marathon or even officially a 2 day taper, but those hills are not for the faint of heart.  I am glad to be completely recovered from the tobacco road marathon, but 25 miles in Umstead is no joke.  I'm hoping I don't need another recovery week after pacing her.  I am still really excited about it.  Blogger meetups are the best!