Last few weeks review...

The last few weeks have seemed like a whirlwind. Obviously juggling my various daily activities was probably more like procrastinating my important yet not urgent tasks. A lot of my school work piled up and I had to set aside my "two a days" and my bouldering breaks at Eastern's climbing wall and hunker down. Luckily I was still consistent in my morning training and it worked rather nicely into a taper for my race this weekend.

I ran the Sunflower Marathon in the Methow Valley on saturday and it was a beautiful course with awesome trail and very minimal gravel road stretch. As usual I got a little caught up in the mix as the gun went off but I felt like I was holding back more than usual. I had let several of the other marathoners go ahead thinking I would see them again on the back half of the course. At around the 10 mile mark I felt the affects of not having trained on long very runnable terrain (as was the terrain up to this point). My IT band (that I thought was healed and strengthened sufficiently) was screaming at me and I had to turn it down a notch. The temps soared (90º F +) and I found myself reaching for my empty water bottle more than once. At one point I actually threw myself into a creek and started slurping the bacteria infested waters like a mangy dog. That lasted until my hamstring started cramping so I got back into my slowed rhythm. Passing through the last aid I downed a ton of sports drink and fueled up with some Gu and worked my way up the final climb. I succumbed to yet another temptation as I passed a cattle watering troff and submerged my upper half while fighting the urge to take a drink. That helped me to cool down and get to the end of the final climb with just enough energy to bomb the last hill, pass a bunch of people (some marathoners and a few relay runners) and finish strong and in the top ten of a huge field. 

Looking back now I can't complain much because I did just run a marathon and finish relatively competitively. Today I feel great and got a really nice training run in this morning which tells me that I probably left way too much on the table... but that's ok. I am not willing to tear an IT band to win a race. Furthermore, running is about embracing my natural surroundings, and celebrating health. It's not about winning races or not getting 'chicked' (which did happen this weekend). This is is something I hope to be able to do for a very long time to come (and I don't mean getting 'chicked').  Now that the rush is through I can go back to my thick of thin things routine and maybe even back to my two a days  and bouldering sessions.  Next up: West Coast Trail in July!