Dates: 5/23/22 – 5/29/22
Training Week: 25
Miles: 23.6

Commentary: This week I wasn’t quite sure what to do as far running. Ideally a runner shouldn’t increase their weekly mileage by more than 10% a week. I was doing great at this until the wheels fell off and I had a few low mileage weeks. My peak weekly mileage was 34 miles, but then it went 11 miles (boo!), 31 miles (yay!), 4 miles (super boo!) and 24 miles (good?).

I ran on Tuesday and had all intentions of getting in one more run before the Bryce Canyon 30k and one recovery run the day after. I figured that would give me close to 27 miles for the week, which was about 10% more than the week before.

My husband was supposed to be out of town for the weekend, so I invited my St. George friends to join me. They were beyond excited to go camping for the weekend, and even offered me the couch in their RV for the weekend. Wednesday after work I started my drive down to Utah. I had some minor vehicle issues, so I didn’t even make it past Salt Lake City before I made a rest area home for the night.

Thursday I worked remotely and finished my drive down Panguitch, UT and met up with my friends. I thought about running, but we were having such a good time getting caught up that I didn’t. On Friday we wandered around Cedar Breaks National Monument and also checked out a small grove of bristlecone pines, some of the oldest trees in the world. By the time we got back from exploring I decided it was too late for a run.

The 30k had me a wee nervous because right before the race I discovered it was 19.5 miles, not the 18.6 miles that I anticipated. Why an extra mile made me nervous is beyond me, but it did. That morning we got to the start line just in time for me to pee and start running. I walked on almost all the uphills and ran the downhills at a decent clip. The views were great, the aid stations were awesome, and I felt amazing the entire race!

I told my friends it would take me at least five hours to finish, minimum. I managed to finish in just under five hours! My wonderful friends had a beer waiting for me and bought me pulled pork tachos (tater tot nachos). Later that I night I started drinking Screwball whiskey with our camp neighbors and may or may not have ended up drunk. Oops!

The weather on Sunday wasn’t the greatest, so we went to the local movie theater (it only has one screen!) and saw the new Top Gun. Oh, and I was stupid sore from tearing down the hills during the race, but it was worth it.

The best part of the weekend was the confidence I gained because of the race. With the hiccups in my training I was unsure if I would even be close to ready for the Beaverhead 55k. After hiking/running almost 20 miles and feeling great, I realized I would be fine. It gave me that little boost I needed to dive back into training with no worries.

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