Finally, a good weekend.

I needed this weekend.

As bad as a run I had at HAT this weekend, I needed to finish it. I thought going into the race that a PR was doable, but realized that morning that the course had changed. I was also dealing with a pain in my butt and lower back from a few days before. It bothered me so much that I thought about dropping out at the 17.3 mark, but kept going. It was only 13.7 more, right? Luckily it eased up as the race went on. I finished about 15 minutes slower than last year, but it was my longest run so far this year. That's not saying much with a 100 miler a little less than 7 weeks away. I do, however, have several back to back weekend runs of 20-15 miles one day and 10-15 the next, with at least one of those days being on the MMT course.

I'm not out to win it, I'm just out to do better than last year, and so far, training wise, I'm way ahead of where I was last year. Nutrition was good as was my pacing. I just need to get my head out of my butt sometimes.

Following up Saturday's run with 11 miles on the BRR course - Fountainhead to Hemlock - was also good motivation. It was slow going, but the last time I was out there, I bailed after 2 painfully slow hours. Nutrition was okay, but it was good to get on a runnable trail instead of 'hiking' 11 miles, which is what I basically end up doing at MMT. The quads were feeling it yesterday, was are the Achilles, but a good walk, some yoga, light stretching, and soaking the feet seem to help. I look forward to getting in a few miles after work.