Last week I focused on kinda easing in, starting by throwing myself into a big day then backing off to let my body realize we’re doing this stuff again. This week I tried to focus on higher endurance events and really throwing myself into it. There’s not a whole lot to say about it, it was a heavier week than I’ve done in a while, but the payoff was worth it. I went back and did that mountain half marathon I started my training with, opting for the steeper routes up to really dig into some elevation work and I gotta say it was only a quarter as difficult as it was last week. So much so that:

It’s Not Just a Phase, Mom!

The ease-in phase is over and I feel like I’m in a good place to start off the next one, which means this higher elevation and distance route is going to be a daily thing for me when I run. So far I like doing this thing where I’m alternating between running and biking and see no reason to stop doing it. I keep the biking interesting with VR which not only helps make me look really coooool but I can sync my bike up with an app that uses Google Street View and look at some interesting places in full 360 immersion for hours rather than just stare at my garage door and hate my life. This week I did 45 miles of the Dalton Highway in Alaska which was really nice and serene with decent hills to go up and over. After like two hours of it you almost forget you’re wearing a big dumb brick thing on your face. That being said, as soon as spring hits I’m digging my real bike out and will be doing actual rides, because the real thing is always better. I’m kicking around the idea of maybe even doing a little tour this year; I’ve always wanted to and it would only be a benefit overall.

I look forward to my days having these good views, cause I gotta say running through the local weirdo culty HOA neighborhood trail was starting to get mega-old. These aren’t the ‘coolest’ or most prominent mountains around me, but I’ve always deeply appreciated these kind of rolling high desert foothills. They’re a good place for the good vibes.

Nothing beats mountains. Absolutely nothing in the world.

The Page This Week

I’ve been plugging away at a kind of ‘trail journal’ from my races, kinda more or less how my first ultra went, some time I spent on the AT, and going back to that same race down the road. It’s been taking a while to puzzle it all together, but they’ll start popping up throughout the week most likely, unless I get stuck like I did this week.

I have thoughts on things regarding the technicalities of all this training nonsense but I have to be in the right mood to delve into that. I think I have a limit on how often I get all preachy, but they are in the pipeline… Just don’t know which pipe they’re in at the moment. Till next time!