"That magical workout"

Sharpened is exactly how I feel sitting atop a 350 mile June. This week I didn't hit my mileage goal of 105-110 but hit 96 miles and that is fine with me. I think once upon a time I would have desperately tried to hit that 105 mark and tack on a useless 9 miles just to hit a number but now I see that 96 miles is plenty and I can't make up bad workouts. I think I'm getting smarter.

This week was pretty timid on the workout end. I only had an up tempo run and a long run.

Monday:
13.4 mile 8:15
Tuesday
AM: 7.1 miles 7:26 (up tempo)
PM: 7.4 miles 7:48
Wednesday
AM: 10 miles 7:43
PM: 5.1 miles 8:08
Thursday
AM: 8 miles 7:34
PM: 5.2 miles 8:11
Friday
9 miles more to follow
Saturday
OFF
Sunday
30.5 miles 8:36

This week I found myself in a stare down with *that workout*. That one run that is going to all of a sudden all at once change you from training to racing shape. Everybody has one in a training cycle, for some it is a 20 mile run before a marathon or a track workout that will affirm your 5k pace. For me I had picked a 35 mile run that would be roughly 1/4 scale of Badwater. I was supposed to do the workout Friday morning but I was out until 11 Thursday night so I opted for the sleep Friday morning. Quickly I decided I could borrow my neighbors treadmill and run in my garage for hours on end until I hit that magic 35 miles. I did just that Friday night and recreated the first big climb up Horseshoe Meadows (first 23 miles of Badwater). After 90  minutes I had lost my mind and decided to bonk. I am not a very good treadmill or evening workout kinda guy and I reminded myself that.

With that said I still had a 35 mile run to get to but wanted to take a complete rest day. So Saturday I took off and decided to run long Sunday morning with the 10 mile team and on my own. I woke up early and put in 10 miles before running 13 miles with the team. I for some silly reason did all of this on 1 Gu and 32 oz of water. I was actually pretty surprised how good I felt despite my horrific fueling. After 23 miles we had a quick team meeting and apparently the others saw it in my eyes, I was still on the road running. They saw the look of someone who is completely thrown themselves into a challenge. As we broke up I sucked down 2 Gu's and took off. I made it 3.5 miles and realized how low on water I was so I headed back. I bonked really hard but still ran 10 min miles back to my truck.

It was so refreshing to be in that situation and know exactly how to react. Slow down, conserve your water and wet your mouth, take a quick 30 sec break every 10-15 minutes. The key I knew, lower my heart rate, and reduce my effort level. I hung it up 4.5 miles early recognizing the hole I dug myself into. I didn't do a darn thing for the rest of the day. I stayed home and ate a monstrous breakfast/lunch. I didn't feel like a failure, I felt like a had put in a good effort. I was sad that I didn't have a 35 mile run under my belt but accepted it.

This morning though, I found out that I am 100% prepared to rock Badwater. Hear I was 350 miles into June, 30 miler the day before and I'm running 7:45 min/mile for an easy run this morning. Here I was 17 more miles than the rest of the 10 mile team from the day before and I'm leading them the run wire to wire. To follow it up I had to do about 5 hours of yardwork today (we currently own 2 houses...). Once I got home I changed into shorts and shot out the door for a quick 30 min run and felt good. Who knew a 8 mile run could be "that" workout for me.

I feel fit, refined, strong, and ready to race the Badwater 135. 3 more weeks until the starting gun goes off and I'm stoked.