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A week of running and a BIG BONK

While I continue trying to get my thoughts together for a Badwater race/crew report, I’ll briefly update on a great week of running. I managed another 100+ mile week, but the best thing about it was the different locations that I put in miles. I ran 34 on the Badwater course, 22 miles summiting and descending Mt. Whitney, 4 easy miles around home, 22 miles running on Mt. Baldy and 25 miles on the trails in Santa Barbara. I did much more hiking than usual, but that’s because these runs/hikes were much more agressive than anything I “usually” do. Spending time power hiking up big hills is very important preparation for a hilly AC100.

It would be really difficult to pick which run was my favorite.

Badwater was awesome because I love being at that race and all the miles I put in there on Monday and Tuesday were in an effort to help Jimmy get across the finish line.

My easy run around home… well that definitely wasn’t my favorite, but those miles are still important ones!

Saturday’s run/hike at Mt. Baldy was a blast running with five awesome women who are all kick ass ultrarunners. We did a wild 22 mile loop and summited the “Three T’s” (Timber, Telegraph and Thunder peaks) and Mt. Baldy, doing some killer hiking and fun running.

Today’s run on the Santa Barbara 9 Trails course started off great. It’s a 17+ mile point-to-point run that I had planned on making a 35 mile round trip. I drove up there super early this morning and met up with a large group, including Eric, Benjamin, Guillermo, Mason, Stu and Howard. Eric had warned me to expect a long, hot day on super hilly course – each 17 mile segment has about 5,500 feet of elevation gain. I ran the first 17 great. About three miles after our turn around, I started suffering. My stomach was fine and I think I was hydrated enough. But I just couldn’t get myself to move forward. After all the crazy running and hiking I’d done this week and the very little bit of sleep I’d gotten, my body was finally telling me enough was enough. A couple miles after that the wheels just completely came off. I death-marched for a few more miles until I was able to get off the trail and Eric was kind enough to arrange for me to get a ride back to my car. Twenty five miles is a great day, but since I was planning on running 34 and since I fell apart so hard, it does feel a little like failure.

I know I need some sleep and some days of easy running. This week will be a recovery week. I don’t know that I’ve ever needed it so much.