Bad Weather Run

It's been three weeks since my last post. I laid off running for about a week after the Grasslands - did a lot of walking, stretching, and yoga/Pilate's. The past two weeks have been pretty solid training (with the exception of a business trip to Denver where I just drank for two solid days -- but we all need that sometimes, right?!) Anyway, things are going pretty smoothly. I still feel the IT pain nearly every day, but now it's more of a dull ache. I also feel it during my long runs, but it comes and goes - mostly when I get into a hilly section of a run. I'm not completely over this injury - it will probably stay with me for the months to come. It has taken forever to heal, but I am 100% better than when I was first injured - and at least I can now run!

Speaking of running, I had an interesting hill workout on Wednesday with my buddy Matt. The forecast that afternoon was for torrential thunderstorms, hail, and possible tornadoes. So what did we do? We went out and ran anyway. I met him at Flagpole Hill and we did 8 very hilly miles in Flagpole Hill and Norbuck Park while the heavens were unleashing their fury for nearly two hours. I was soaked to the bone and numb after two minutes of being out of the car. At that point, it did not matter anymore. We just ran. Up the hill, down the hill, to the tree at the top of the hill, and down to the tree at the bottom of the hill -- repeat, repeat, repeat. At the end of the run, the mud was getting pretty bad. Thankfully I had to pick up the kids at 7:30, so I was able to cut the workout a little short.

Matt did not seem disappointed. We both knew that we would have not even attempted that workout if we were both not there to push each other. He's been an invaluable training partner and mentor for the WS100. He's run 3 or 4 100 mile races and has paced someone at WS100 in the past. I've learned a lot from him.

The family and I are going to my cousin's wedding in Louisiana this week. Sara and Joe are in the wedding as flower girl and ring bearer. I am so excited to visit my family and see my cousin get married. The seem like a perfect match. In between the beers, the cajun daiquiri's (my favorite), crawfish, my Nanie and Netta's cooking, and the wedding festivities I will work in a few runs. I've run along the Mississippi river levee in the past which is a pretty interesting run. I need to do some checking around to see if there are any other cool trails in the area.

I have decided to not run the Freestate 100K in Lawrence, KS. The thought of driving 9 hours on Friday - then running for 12 hours on Saturday - then driving back to Dallas for 9 hours on Sunday basically made the decision for me. I'd like to do this race one day, but not this year. So instead, I'm going to run 40-50 miles with some running buddies at the Cross Timbers trail near Lake Texoma on that Saturday. It's a really tough trail and I am looking forward to experiencing it. And it's only 2 hours from the house instead of 9. I'll let you know how that goes.