Harvesting Hay

Time to put some hay in the barn!

Last weekend I ran the In Yan Teopa 10 mile trail race on Saturday (thanks Larry and crew!) and a single loop at Murphy-Hanrehan on Sunday. Not enough miles to prepare for a hilly 50 miler coming up in 4 weeks.

I'd toyed with the idea of doing a second lap at Frontenac to get 20 miles in on Saturday, but knew I'd end up socializing after the race and bag it in the end. (I was going to post a race report, but realized that it was basically sounding like a cut and paste job from last year. If you're wondering how it went, here's the 2008 version - the only differences this year were that I knew more people, skipped the electrolytes and gel (mistake), felt hotter, and ran my slowest time ever). I also figured that I would benefit more by doing a longer run at Murphy the next day on the actual race course - hoped to get at least 20 miles in but was absolutely starving to the point that it was distracting after only 1 loop. So, I pulled the plug and got home just in time to watch an awesome finish to the Vikings game!

Well, now it's time to put some big miles in over the next 2 weekends before tapering. I'm thinking a shorter run (maybe 10-ish miles, not sure where yet) this Saturday and 2 laps at Murphy-Hanrehan (about 28.5-29 miles) on Sunday. I'll probably park at the horse camp so that I have access to my car (aid station) twice each loop. If anyone wants to join me, we could leave a car at the main lot and have 3 aid stations/loop. I'm a slow runner and won't be worrying about pace this trip - just getting the miles in. Probably end up between 15 - 16 min/mile average at best. I know that it's the same day as TCM - good luck to those of you running!

So, who's in for a lap or two at Murphy-Hanrehan this Sunday?