In Dayton for work this week so another gap in posting, but a good week for road work. The Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday tours were seven, ten and nine miles, respectively, all toting ten pounds of hand weights (thanks to the loaner from Dave – I keep them in my desk at the office). Better yet, I paced them all at sub-nine minutes and averaged a whopping 35 feet of elevation gain per mile. An embarrassment compared to Reunion, but double what I usually achieve here at home.
The return home was problematic. My second flight was seriously delayed and I didn’t get back home until just before 1AM. Woke up around 7AM and despite feeling groggy, I strapped on the full twenty-six pound load and headed out for a ten mile run. Feels like I am starting to shake the ennui from the past few weeks because even without setting a blistering pace, I surprised myself by running the whole time and stretched it out to eleven miles.
This crushed the previous pound-miles record and set the bar at 286. Not only can you feel it during the run, the stress of toting this extra weight around lingers well afterwards and I still feel the impact in my calves and quadriceps. I really hope this enhances my hill-climbing capacity because the big run is only seven weeks away now.
My brother-in-law Jeff continues to be a research engine and sends occasional e-mails with fun updates. The last one this week shared that I am the only American entered in the Bourbon Run (there are, however, three Americans signed up for Le Grand Raid). This awesome news means that just by finishing I will be the top American, lol! I can read the headlines now, bemoaning the sorry state of American athletics when a fifty-year old diabetic leads the country…
Hmmm, perhaps there won’t be too much coverage around this race in domestic media sources, but it is a hilarious thought nonetheless.
No comments:
Post a Comment