April 18 to April 24

This is race week! The first ever Cheyenne Mountain Trail Race is this Saturday at Cheyenne Mtn State Park, located on the south end of Colorado Springs. A 50K event run 100% on trails. Having run the race course a few times and with the training that has been done, I am feeling confident at this point. With work only on Monday and Tuesday, I should be rested by Saturday.
The key for a taper week is to cut the miles, but yet not get sloggy stale. This means that the 21 miles or so that will be run before the race will include some short distances of speed work and a few hill repeats. The taper week also means healthy eating, which means clean food...no sugar, no extra, heavy foods that will only make me feel puffy and too full. (Plus with the concept having malodextrin gels in the race, there is no need to put in extra fuel.) One last ingredient is to drink plenty of water, but again, not so much as to get too puffy or having to go to the bathroom every two minutes.

Monday; April 18: Off to work early so this was a day off.

Tuesday; April 19: Your basic "gettin it done" 5 miler with abs, chest and back weight lifting.

Wednesday; April 20: Home late last night so the dogs and I slept in til 530am and then out the door at 630am with Traysen. It was an easy 7 miler at the house with brief periods of pushing the pace. All systems were feeling great so we are lining up for a good race on Saturday. One of the highlights of the day was around 545pm when it started raining!!! Yes, we got rain at the house! A chilly, snuggle with the dogs kind of drizzler.

Thursday; April 21: Off to Colorado Springs this morning to run with the JD and the Garden of the Gods group. Traysen even made the trek at 430am! With that bit of rain from the night before, we opted for a roady run, but have no fear...it was laden with the monster hill of Ridge Road where it was Traysen's goal to beat everyone to the top ...with Mom attached! After those first 4.5 hilly, huffing miles, we finished out the 8 miler with an easy trot. A bit sluggish today but yet a good "keep the legs turning" kind of run.

Friday; April 22: Most folks and most training programs will have you take the day off before a race, especially one of 31 miles. And while this works for most folks, I opted to go out for an easy 6 miler with Traysen (after weight lifting). One of the goals for the race on Saturday was to arrive at the day feeling well trained, fresh and not sluggish and lethargic, which is what happens when I am not exercising. (Sluggish and lethargic are different than feeling "over trained" and tired.)  Having read and talked with several runners over the years, tapering for a race is  individualistic and each runner must determine what works for him/her.

Saturday; April 23: Race Day! In a nutshell, it was awesome!!!! But more specifically, Epic Endurance Events owner/race director, Andrea ,,,,,,, designed the Cheyenne Mtn Trail Race 25K/50K with the goal of providing runners with an "epic" experience. And that she did. The race organization was perfect: course well marked, more food available before/during/after the race than anyone could consume, packet pickup was easy, plenty of porta potties,aid stations well place, staffed, supplied,  etc. and the announcer of the race was still going strong late into the afternoon!
Sleeping in til 430am, I leisurely made my way to the race start by 715am,  chatted with a few friends and made a few last minute pit stops. At 8am sharp, we 50K runners were off! As usual, those first 2-3 miles were a sluggish event, but quickly it was determined that this was to be a good day of running and I knew my goals would be obtainable  verses not a chance. (The goals being: 1. finish the race 2. run the entire course, 3. race as well as my body would allow, 4. enjoy the race, 5. be home by dark.) After the ole bones had warmed up, the pace picked up and the running was comfortable, even the hills were easily tackled. Around 8 miles into the race, the 25K front runners started passing us slower 50K runners. Well, I couldn't let a bunch of scrawny boys get too far ahead, so the pace picked up even more! I kept telling myself to slow it down, but the legs were not listening. The good news is that I knew I would still run the entire race well, even having pushed a bit harder than I should have in the first half. And so it was...blazing through the first 15.5 miles in an easy effort at a faster than normal pace. As the ole legs rounded the corner for the second loop, I knew it was time to pull it back a bit. The legs were already trashed but the energy level and the rest of the body was feeling just fine, so I knew that pulling the pace back would help in accomplishing the mission of completing the race, running the race, and enjoying the race. Needless to say, that second loop was a bit more challenging than the first loop; however, it was quite peaceful running since most of the time I was on my own with no other runners in sight. (more on this in a minute). There was one "super sinker section" during the last 10 miles that almost had me crawling...I was still running at that point but it was not pretty ..not at all pretty. And it was during this brief (about 3 miles or so) section that I knew there were two upcoming hills that were going make me walk...no getting around it. The legs were hanging in there, but they were aching ...the rest of me was doing great. The good news is that I had kept my wits about me all day so far and was ok with the slight revision to the goals. Also, I had recently read an article by Shawn McDonald,  titled "Relentless Forward Motion." The main focus of the article was on how to incorporate walking breaks into your ultra training and racing. Now, anybody  (Lynne, Lori, Dee) who has run with me will tell you two things: Sarah does not like to stop the run and Sarah does not like walking during a run. However, having read Shawn's article was a key component to keeping my hard head glued on correctly during today's race. A few of  of the concepts he mentions is that even elite runners incorporate walking (which I already knew), train with walking breaks in your running (which I try to avoid at all costs but they happen sometimes) and most helpful was his concept of easing back into the running after taking a walking break...meaning don't take off like a scared rabbit! Well, the little rabbit in this case was long gone, in fact, her little cotton tail was starting to droop! When I hit the first "killer" hill on the North Talon Trail, the legs had revived themselves somewhat (due to some downhill)  and I was able to slowly trot most of that hill but did resort to about a 3 minute walk to crest the top. Shawn's advice worked! I gently eased by into the run and within 3 minutes or so, I was back up to full speed and feeling great! On the second "killer" hill on South Talon Trail, the sequence was repeated and all systems were moving along quite nicely now since we were headed back to the finish (about 4 - 5 miles to go). With those few miles mostly a downhill effort and with the passing of the last aid station, the ole legs just cruised to the finish.
Here are some key highlights to the race: 1. trained on the race a few times 2. forced  intake  of 4 gels, 6 endurolite tabs, 5 ibuprofen and about 30 oz. of water during the race  and started intaking this stuff around mile 10; 3. did not stop at any aid station (except one brief 30 second pause to refill the water bottle) 4. walked about 5 minutes of the race and ran/trotted the rest 5. passed about 15 people throughout the race 6. came in 2nd Masters Woman (Masters is the old geezers that are over 40 years ) 7. and most importantly enjoyed the race.
Andrea and her team put together a great race, especially a first time event. They deserve a "job well done." (And some much needed rest!) Thanks to all the volunteers for being out there on a chilly morning! Next year, I will hopefully be in a position to volunteer at such a nice event.
What is next? Well, the one brain cell kicked a couple of weeks ago and I scrapped the Colligate Peaks 50 miler on May 7th...just too close to this race. I also scrapped the BlackHills 100K in Sturgis, SD in June. Basically, I am not ready for it...oh, I would complete the distance, but it would be ugly and given time away from husband, dogs, home, the travel involved, and the $$$$, I would rather wait til I know I can run a good hard effort. Next year! Soooo...that leaves me with looking at Leadville 50 miler on July 16th. A very hard race but with the training already done and the training ahead, this should be a good effort and I have always liked running up there. Over the next couple of months (after a reduction of miles for a week or so) lies many miles to cover, many hill repeats, tempo runs, and intervals to tackle....all while remaining injury free. No, the upcoming training  is not considered a "pressure"...more like I can't wait to go run!

Sunday; April 24: Out the door with Traysen to enjoy a couple inches of wet sloppy snow....at a leisurely walking pace! We covered about 3 miles and called it a day....the key here is that legs were doing much better after the walk. Instead of taking the day off and having achy legs all day, I find a walk or an easy run will often work the lactic acid, waste, wear and tear out of the legs and they heal much quicker.

Summary: The week was almost perfect! A proper taper and then a great race on Saturday. In 2010, I had only run two races and neither one lived up to the level of training that had been done. In analyzing the reasoning, I came up with the following: 1. train on the terrain,trail, conditions, etc that you will be racing and 2. to run better you have to focus on improving the running and thus reduce other obligations/time and energy draining activities. Well, for the first part of 2011, I did both of those things. (Actually started some of the reduction of obligations in the last two years, but further reduced outside distractions in an effort to train as well as I could.) The training on the course served a few purposes: one being that I knew the course and knew what to expect and most importantly, it gave me the confidence to know how the body would perform, given the difficulty of the course. The reduction of obligations also served a few purposes, many of which carried over to all areas of life, not just in improving my running. By not being so overwhelmed I have been able to keep up with tempo runs, intervals, and hill repeats so the quality of the running has improved greatly. I have also been able to get more rest and not be stressed out with several things going on at once, all of which drain the energy and keep my focus on everything but training well.
A good friend, actually a few good friends, have so much on their plates, she/they can almost never relax and take time out for themselves. Sometimes we find ourselves in these positions by no fault of our own but often times, we self impose too much on time and energy...and often on our financial resources! And over time our energy is so drained we get nothing accomplished and/or we make mistakes in what we do accomplish. So, how do we reduce our obligations, commitments, etc? Quite simply: think about what you are taking on...Is this meaningful enough to me to add it to my list of obligations? Learn to say to NO to certain requests. This may seem selfish and harsh, but taking care of oneself is as important as taking care of others. Eliminate those things, events, people, etc that are not healthy for you. Yes, sometimes a friendship/relationship needs to be eliminated. Determine what is most meaningful in your life and focus on just that!

http://www.epicenduranceevents.com/

At the start, it was chilly!

The ole girl at work!

And then there was this guy from the 25K race. As he passed, I hollared, "you run like a girl!!" But he was gone and never heard my compliment!

April 11 to April 17

Back to work this week.

Monday; April 11: Up wayyyyy before daylight and out the door at 440am with Traysen. Yes, it was dark and cold, but this was to be the only time of the day I could get a run in. With a headlamp, it was actually a nice outing with no other "wild things" except me n Traysen! Just a 5.5 miler that was a bit ugly. I either was not awake, not sure I really wanted to be out in the dark, and/or my legs/body were still tired from last week. The remainder of the day did go better since the ole bones got some form of exercise for the day.

Tuesday; April 12: After the 20 hour day yesterday, today was a sleep in day! Wandering out of bed at 7am, it was out the door in Oakland, CA. A beautiful trails meanders along the San Fran. Bay and that was the bulk of the run, but I did venture into the Berkely Marina, around Chavez Park and then out to the Golden Gate Race Track (horses). A total of 15 miles. It is a nice change to run on flat, solid dirt (no rocks/tree roots), and at sea level!



Chavez Park, near Berkley Marina. This used to be a landfill but was turned into a park....what a concept?!



Children's Adventure Park, located near the Marina. This looked like too much fun! A real junk yard for kids!



Berkley Marina.

Wednesday; April 13: An all day flying adventure, ending the day in Newark...about two hours late! There was at least one cloud in the sky and that is enough to send Newark into orbit with never ending delays. I opted to go to bed as soon as we got to the hotel.

Thursday; April 14: AND since I went to bed at about 730pm on Wednesday night, the alarm went off at 3am! OUCH! That was 3am on the east coast and 1am in Colorado! OH yes, I am psycho....but this was not to be a day off from running. On the treadmill at 330am and back to the room at 445am. A quick shower and back to the airport for an early departure. As for the run...was hoping for 7 miles of hills on the treadmill but the ole bones were not even happy with a flat 6 miler at a less than fast pace! Just too early to get it going very fast! These types of runs are frustrating. The head has one thing in mind and the body just doesn't respond in the same manner. Even the "mind over matter" sometimes will not produce the results desired and today was one of those days. At least the 5 hour flight back to Salt Lake was better for the run. Being stuck in the cockpit for that long really allows the muscles to get very stiff. Luckily, the Airbus 320 has a roomy cockpit and I can get a couple of good stretching sessions in during the flight.

Friday; April 15: Did you all get your taxes done!?? It's that time again!
After yesterday's early get up, today was a sleeper in day and it was clearly 530am when Traysen informed it was time to go out. We finally made it out the door for a nice 10 miler and had a highlight of seeing about 15 elk within a half mile of the house. One even still had his antlers! The run went fairly well, especially in light of this being the first day home after a trip. Not a fast effort, but a steady trot with a bathroom break for Traysen.


"I know you have at least one more nickle in there!"



Saturday; April 16: What an awesome day of running! I met Michele from Team CRUD at Cheyenne Mtn State Park. We blazed the 5 mile loop for the upcoming race but still missed Lynne at the trailhead. Maybe we took that odd turn somewhere along one of those  numerous intersections? After tossing some clothes, it was back to the harder, hilly 10 mile loop; which we ran twice! On the first loop, we had plenty of chatter between us, huffing up the hills and cruising the down hill  easier sections. After dumping more clothes, out we went for the second loop and with much less conversation! For some reason? we noticed the uphills a bit more and the knees were noticing the downhills  on this loop.. On the North and South Talon trails I had the hairbrained idea to run that section in reverse from our first loop; well, now why did I do that? It was loaded with much more uphill! By the end of this loop, we were done, after 5 hours and 25 miles. A great run to say the least.

Sunday; April 17:  Traysen and I opted to get a later start of 620am; allowing a bit of daylight to show and ole Mom here to get some coffee in her! The first couple of miles were sloppy n slow due to some tired quads. After those early miles; however, we were cruising along for another 7 miles before Traysen decided he was done and ready for breakfast. After sending him blasting through the door to Dad, I went solo for an additional 6 miles to round out the day with 15 miles. The last couple of miles were a bit slow as the ole legs and body was tired. A good way to end the week.

Summary:  A very good week of running! The highlights: ran two very early runs when it would have been easy to sleep an extra hour; ran a good 15 miler on Tuesday; ran a full 40 miles over the two weekend days; ran a good 10 miler the first day home after a trip. The two down spots of the week: no weight lifting and no speed/hill work! Total miles for the week: 76.5 and yearly total: 904.5.
As I mentioned for Saturday, the 25 mile run was with a great runner, Michele. She has run a couple of 50 milers I have been considering for quite some time. After yapping with her for almost 5 hours, the Leadville 50 miler in July is now on the agenda! Quite a daunting race since it is 50 miles and it is in Leadville, CO, which means it starts at 10,000 feet MSL and climbs to about 12,000 feet MSL, four times! Michele described the race as "fun but hard." Sounds like my kind of torture!
http://www.leadvilletrail100.com/lt100races/LeadvilleSilverRush50MileTrailRunRace/overview.aspx

It is often a scary, daunting, nervousness producing thought when we are considering pushing ourselves further than in the past. This "pushing ourselves" can apply to a sports event, to an academic pursuit, or to a work related adventure or even the effort to lose weight and forge a lifestyle change, but the concept is almost the same. There is uncertainty that we will succeed, there is concern over how the "new territory" will feel or look like or how we will handle being in that new area. In the case of running an ultra as difficult as Leadville 50, there will be discomfort and there is concern over how we will mentally and physically handle that discomfort. But within each of these concepts of "pushing ourselves" lies the challenge of accomplishing what we set out to do and the thrill of success when we do accomplish the goal. In most challenges, etc, there is the path to the success....it is not just the accomplishment of the goal.....in training for an ultra, the path is the training involved. While it can be done, waking up one morning and deciding to go run a 50 mile race is not a good idea.....to be successful at this challenge, in the long term, it takes years of running experience and in the short term, it takes a dedication over the course of several months to put int he training miles and the right kind of miles. So, how do we all "push ourselves" mentally and physically? Well, in most cases, you just have to make the commitment, have a plan, and then implement the plan, all the while, never losing sight of the goal.

April 4 to April 10

Being home all week should yield a good week of running; however, the reason I am home all week is that the bronchitis forced a few days off from work....Yes, most people would refrain from running while dealing with bronchitis, but then  again we all know I am not most people, have not one ounce of common sense, and have a bit of a hard head! The Vicks Vapor rub steamers are working to clear the lungs and I am resting as much as possible...while still running, cleaning house, taking care of dogs/husband, laundry, fixing my truck, and sewing.

Monday; April 4: A very slow trotter of 10 miles. I was just happy to get out the door and actually feel like running! Traysen bored with the whole slow effort but in support of Mom, he hung in there.

Tuesday; April 5: Back in business today! It was the first yearly outing for the Pikes Peak Road Runners group that meets in Garden of the Gods, at 6am. Dave Sorensen heads up this gathering and over the years, it has grown and served as a means to get people out of their wintry cocoons.  Today about 100 of us showed up. As usual, we divided into groups according to trail or road and according to pace. I opted for the 8:00/9:00 min/mile group...which turned out to be an excellent choice. We buzzed around the flatter sections of the Garden for about 4-5 miles. A few laughs at my ability to cough and run at the same time! After departing company, I pressed on for another 6 miles to round out the day with a good solid 9 miles total. The run itself felt great...plenty of energy and the pace was just right.

Wednesday; April 6:  Alright...who is the beanhead who is tossing cig. butts out the window and starting grass fires in Teller Co??!!!! Last night was the second one of these in the last two weeks! With very little snow and now no rain, we are dry hayfield up here.....keep your butts to yourself!!!!
Oh..as for running.....well, down to the gym for back, shoulders and abs and then out the door....since I opted to run at home today (instead of chase Paul from Team CRUD up Longs Ranch Rd), the warm up of 2.5 miles left me at a neighbor's driveway that goes up....way upppppp.....so, hill repeats it was! A total of 11 of those bad boys, a mixture of shorts and medium lengths that left the lungs screaming!!! At least, the coughing is not nearly as bad and we are on the mend! A cool down consisted of romping through the neighbor's 70 acres (cross country style) and then a quick loop around Old Alyce's land....a total of 8.0 miles.

Thursday; April 7:  Out the door to run with the PPRR/Sunrise Strider group. A cool damp morning started the run and our run leader, JD, was in a wacky sadistic mood and took us on the "roller coasters" along the ridge in Garden of the Gods. Our first mile warm up (with lively conversation and one constantly barking dog) was quickly replaced with lung searing huffin' n puffin' up the switchbacks to the top and then a series of ups n downs along the ridge. JD at one point turned around and hollared, "why aren't you all jabbering any more?" I think one guy actually gave him the "finger." And so it went for about 4.5 miles....pushing the uphills and recovering on the downs....After parting company with our group, I didn't waste any time and headed right back out onto the trails for another ...much easier.....5.5 miles to round the day out with 10 total.



The ridge of hills in foreground (lightly covered in snow) was the scene of the crime induced by JD.


Friday; April 8: A very rare day off from running at home! These are real treats from the standpoint that I almost always take Traysen out for a walk in the woods...coffee cup in hand. Being a perfect spring morning (no wind yet), we strolled down the back side of the property in hopes of finding "squirrel" antlers since most of the bucks have shed their racks by now. Although we did not find any antlers, Traysen was able to find a treasure or two of old bones from ?

Sunrise behind the house, over looking Slater Creek Valley.

Saturday; April 9:  The run via the Team CRUD folks was to leave Memorial Park in Manitou, run up Rampart Range Rd to Williams Canyon Trail, intersect Waldo Trail, around Waldo, across Hwy 24, and then back to Manitou via the Ute Pass Trail....whewwww....that is a bunch to type much less run! Honestly, only a 18 mile romp with plenty of up and down hill (although I think the route in reverse would yield more interesting climbs!). This run went quite well, with plenty of energy and the legs felt perfect. It was only off/on coughing that proved to be the greater challenge.....the whole bronchitis thing is better but still a nagging hack. After dumping some gloves and a shirt at my truck, it was back into Garden of the Gods, up to Balanced Rock, and up to the Siamese Twins and back to the truck, adding another 4 miles to the route. A total of 22 miles today, a bit short of what I was hoping for of 25 miles. The limiting factor today was definitely my clogged lungs. Just too much coughing....The highlight of the run was that I ran almost the entire distance, with a couple of very short (less than 1 minute) walking breaks on some really steep sections.....nothing fast, but a steady trot the whole way.



Williams Canyon Trail views.



Sunday; April 10:  No sleeping in for this girl! Up n at 'em at 4am. Down to the basement for weight lifting for 45 minutes and then out the door with Traysen. Quite chilly and windy, we were bundled like it was February! A leisurely 9 miles with the ole boy, seeing an assortment of "squirrels" and then he was bored. After depositing him at the house, it was back out for 6 more miles, of which the last 3-4 sucked! Just tired, legs tired, lungs working too hard, and lots of miles under the legs. The good news is that it was the only "rough" segment of running this week.

Summary: An awesome week of running despite battling some chesty, breathing, wheezy, coughing thing going on. After doing some online research (all of which must be correct, right?), the conclusions are that we have a case of exercise induced asthma (EIA), maybe  not chronic bronchitis.  The differences are vague  but in this case, it is a dry cough associated with cold, dry air (Colorado!), brought on by exercise (running!), and consists of the dry cough, wheezing, shortness of breath, and chest tightness.....From my readings, chronic bronchitis usually is NOT a dry cough (goop coming up...yuck!), fever, chills,  as well as similar symptoms of EIA. The good news is that the treatments are very much the same....an inhaler with corticosteroids.....i.e. Advair, which I am already taking. The other piece of good news is that both "issues" are managed and should not be life style limiting....meaning I will continue to run and deal with it. Which brings me to the point: Sometimes we are dealt some "issues" that will frustrate us, discourage us, limit us, and do an assortment of other "negative" things to our heads/bodies, and sometimes the greater challenge is dealing with and making adjustments for these issues rather than give in to them and have our lives become something we don't want.  Having a lung issue may limit my ability to run very fast, especially uphill at altitude (which is pretty much all of Colorado), but I will continue to run as best as I can and continue to try to improve.
Total miles for the week: 74.0
Total miles for 2011: 828.0;  which is 158.0 miles more than last year at this time!

On a totally separate note: It is Master's Golf Tournament week in the Atlanta area. As a kid,the family used to go to the practice rounds and it was always a treat to see the beautiful course. Times have changed and so have the crowds at the tournaments.....getting tickets now is quite difficult, but my dad was able to go to a practice round this past Tuesday. Wished I could have gone with him....maybe next time?



Augusta National in Georgia. Wonder if they would ever let me run the course? HA! Yeah, for about 2 minutes before the police hauled my little behind away!

March 28 to April 3

What is that saying? April showers and May flowers? In southern Colorado, we could use some of those showers; meanwhile other parts of the country are drowning!


As for running this week:  Working all week will enhance the checkbook as well as produce the much needed recovery week. The goals this week will be to reduce the mileage considerably but keep a few key (read faster) workouts in place.  Part of the recovery week is not only physically, but mentally. Even though running is an absolute passion and there is never a day that I do not want to run, it takes quite a bit of mental toughness/effort to get out there for several miles/hours at a time. Given work, husband, dogs, house, errands, etc, it is often a juggling act to combine everything and satisfy the passion to pound the dirt. So, this week of no particular mileage in  mind, just some 4-5 good quality runs and two weight lifting session is also a mental break.

Monday; March 28: Off to work again. (I am going to need a "recovery" month from work soon....April seems like a good time to take that break!

Tuesday; March 29: A very long day of work produced a day off from running. Two days in a row! Happens to the best of us.

Wednesday; March 30:  Up in the middle of the night, it was a 5 miler on the elliptical. A non descript effort to "git 'er done."  Flying all day again, with a long leg to Salt Lake and then down to San Diego and back to Salt Lake. San Diego is really a  pretty area and the running there is awesome along the water. There are several hilly areas to the south east of the airport and I hope to one day explore those on foot.

Thursday; March 31:  Slept in today, being in the hotel in Salt Lake. Out the door to do battle with the traffic and intervals, a nice 6 miler with 8 intervals of various lengths. Having ended a 4 day trip yesterday, but staying in Salt Lake, the ole body was slow to wake up. It would have been easy to give in to the sluggishness (is that a word?), crawl back to my room and then saunter off to work. BUT! That's not me! So, the first couple of miles were "not so pretty" but then muscles came to life and off to the intervals I went! All 8 actually went fairly well... or at least my lungs and legs were wailing for oxygen, so I must have worked hard right?

Friday; April 1: I quit running!!!!
Guess I can't even pull that April Fools prank! The only way to stop running is to shoot me like a race horse!
Spending the day in Jackson, Wyoming, it was out the door for a nice 8 miler in the elk refuge. The whole town is very quiet right now  with the ski slopes closed and mud season in full swing. Talking with the van driver, I learned that the resort is hoping to expand the trail system just to the east of the main hotel. This is great news since the running will be even better in the summer. Lots of trails with plenty of wildflowers, vertical terrain, and the usual assortment of rocks and tree roots!



Not quite winter; not quite spring.


The sign leaving the airport. Did I mention the hotel van smells like a barn full of horses?

Saturday; April 2: Well, the bronchitis is back again! Honestly, if I knew what triggered it, I would avoid it! Nevertheless, a descent weight lifting session started the day and then out the door with Traysen. The plan was for some hill repeats, but just not enough lung capacity to suck enough air! So, it was a leisurely 7 miles today. Not good, not too bad, just trotted along.

Sunday; April 3: Well now....this seems to have turned into some sneezy, wheezy, coughy, achy, breaky, I'm cold....no wait,, make that hot ....thing that I seriously don't have time for!! Finally some relief was found in the afternoon by using steaming pot of water with vicks vapor rub in it....Yes, I looked rather silly with my towel covered head over the pot. but this calls for desperate measures...I gotta get back to some good running!
As for the weight lifting/running this morning: a sluggish 45 minutes in the gym for chest, legs and abs and then I pretty much just walked 5 miles with Traysen.......

Summary:  A little more than bargained for on the recovery week but with work and then a dose of illness, not too bad. My good friend, dang near sister, Robin, was flying a rough trip this week with quite a bit of redeye flying. She called me on Saturday and asked, "how much pain do you endure on these long runs?" (She had earlier in the week indicated her trip was yielding itself to good running.) I explained to her that, first and foremost,....work will absolutely mess up your running, but we most likely will never make a dime running so we had better stick to driving airplanes and run as we are able. Secondly as for dealing with pain while running....it all depends on the pain..Is it an ache associated with an injury or an achy muscle. Or is it an off day where the body just isn't wanting to do this. Are you overtrained (and that differs with each individual?) Are you tired from flying on the back side of the clock or from sitting in an airplane seat too long? For Robin, (and this is most likely common), it seemed to be a combination of work related fatigue and an achy muscle or two. She took some ibuprofen and no doubt completed what she was set out to do that day.
Robin had also asked how I combine running so much while flying our crazy schedules. . It basically comes down to choices. Personally, I choose to rest as much as I can and run as much as I can on layovers .....and do nothing else. All of my groceries are carried for a 4-5 day trip; no shopping for stuff that is not needed (read no shopping!),no touristy sight seeing  and no beers after work with the boys. I rest and I run on my layovers. Again, it all comes down to choices.....
Total miles for the week: 30 miles and two weight lifting sessions.