Weekly Scoop October 1 - 7

Monday
Rest day as I required recovery from a weekend of traveling, microbrew consumption, a bevy of kids sporting events and my 25th high school reunion.

Tuesday
Blowing Springs
11 miles ~ 1,000' vertical
1h45m @ 10:12 pace
A regular Tuesday morning run with The G-Unit but the dude was feeling it today. He made me work some. Good to see a running buddy on the mend find a new gear.

Wednesday
Bentonville
6 miles ~ No vertical
47m33s @ 8:39 pace

Just wanted to blow some cobwebs off with another road effort. I plan on incorporating some road grinds into my training as I ramp up the weekly mileage totals. I find this allows my body a break from the demands of the trail and helps me feel fresher as the mileage builds. Plus I was short on discretionary time today. I dropped my wife's car at the dealer for service and ran to a lunch meeting with fellow NWA Goats. It was a kick off for our guys running the Arkansas Traveler 100 the following weekend. 

Thursday

Crystal Bridges 

8 miles ~ 600' vertical

1h16m @ 10:13 pace

Ran around the museum trails and a bit on Slaughter Pen near Cub and NE A Street. The plan was to cover some smoother trail at a slightly casual pace since I was now pacing at the Traveler in two days. 

Friday

More rest, saving the pegs and glycogen for the Traveler tomorrow.

Saturday

Ouachita National Forest - Lake Winona Area

16 miles ~ 1,200' vertical

2h50m @ 10:39 pace

The plan was to drive down and meet my runner at the midway point and pace him for 20 miles. Only he decided to run completely out of his mind and blow through that aid station more than an hour ahead of schedule and in first place overall. We caught up at the next stop and moved steadily from mile 54 through 70. Arkansas stud PoDog Vogler made the pass for the lead at mile 62 but I delivered my boy safely back into Powerline in a solid second position. Read more about the adventure in my blog. 

Sunday

Blowing Springs

11 miles ~ 1,000' vertical

1h55m @ 11:00 pace

I looked at this as a chance for a weekend double of sorts and kept things at a relaxed pace, just wanted to stay easy and move forward. It was a late night Saturday returning from Central Arkansas and I was a bit tired. Good way to end a good week. 

Totals

50 miles ~ 3,800' vertical

8h36m @ 10:21 pace

It has been a while since my last 50 mile week. Pumpkin Holler 50k is in two weeks and I feel ready to put in a solid performance there. After that I begin a focused increased in training for Lookout Mountain in December. Physically I feel good, nothing out of sorts, just a couple of normal aches here and there. I have slacked off on my diet (a bad thing) but at least I realize that and can make the needed adjustments.