The Countdown to Western States…with the Flu?
What a wacky week… JB and I took a very much needed day off last Monday after some grueling back to back weekend running. We were feeling refreshed on Tuesday so we hit the gym for a recovery run on the treadmill and a weight session. JB then did a 20 minute sauna session to get his body used to holding on to salt for the upcoming Western States 100 mile race. Well 24 hours later, JB was in a full blown fever of 102.6 with muscle aches and chills. The flu in June, 2.5 weeks before the biggest race of the year? After a trip to the doctor, and the obligatory question: “Could this be the dreaded Swine flu?” The cultures came back negative for flu of any kind. But JB did not feel better and in fact took another 2 days before the fever went away… How’s that for heat training? So what was supposed to be his last big push for training, turned into coughing up chunks of yellow ick and laying in bed obsessing over his split times on his lap top. He is feeling a little better today… but when should he start running again? This is the question we are both wondering…
Calm Before the Storm
Meanwhile, I continued my training (alone), which in someway was kind of a revelation. On Saturday I needed to run a 2x 60 minute uphill lactate threshold run… So I went to the base of Mt. Tamalpais (2700ft peak) and with the guide of JB via cell phone (I got lost a few times), I found myself exploring a great singletrack trail that went to the top of Mt. Tam with the most gorgeous views of San Francisco. On Sunday after waking up and wanting to linger in my cozy bed, I made homemade berry scones, had some coffee and again found myself planning a long run alone.
Wanting to stay in bed on Sunday.... but only a for a few minutes
I decided I should start getting to know my 100 mile course for the race in August, so I decided to run the 25 mile loop of the Headlands Hundred. This loop you run twice at the very end… not easy, mentally or physically. So off I went and I pushed it fairly aggressively to see what it would feel like come race day on tired legs. The thing about the Marin Headlands is you are always climbing or descending with very little flat stretches. I ran a little over 26 miles in 5 hours exactly. I figured the loop is good for about 4000+ feet of gaining and descent- so it was a great run, albeit a bit slower than I wanted to run by about 30 minutes.  I have another 5 weeks to really push my training and to peak for this race… so hopefully I will feel even better come August 8th.
View of San Francisco from the Coastal Trail/ SCA trail intersection
