Week 3

Well... nice to see old friend Badaxe Will on board. I am the "Dog" he refers to, lots of history there... but mostly my running nickname, Roadog. I greatly appreciate his support, my guess is that the last 15 miles of this race is going to be an ugly delirious stagger into the night... I will be finishing (I hope) in the dark, but more on that as we get closer to race day. This past week saw more rest days than the first two ambitious weeks and more variety in my running. I ran up North Pack Mountain, short and explosive... mile and a half with 1000' of elevation gain, a lot of "up" as we say. Did it in 32:37, not my fastest ever (sub 30)... but quicker than expected. From what I've been reading, hill repeats and speed work are not mandatory for ultra-marathoners but recommended. So be it. Only ran three times, yesterday was my long run of 16 miles that went from hot (87 degrees) and humid to heavy drenching thunder squalls the last few miles... it's amazing that you can go from be cooked to borderline hypothermic in minutes! Builds character I guess. Took it real slow, worked on hydration and eating (hard boiled eggs).  Food and drink are critical components of this endeavor... I need to learn to manage them well or I will fail. No cycling this week, I needed the rest. Three weeks in... not much speed, but good mileage... the long runs are ramping up quicker than expected. After all, this is all about running long! Three runs for 24 miles... lost another pound. Keep on pushing...