Dates: 9/19/22 – 9/25/22
Training Week: 4
Miles: 45.1

Commentary: Monday morning I woke up feeling like a cold was coming on. I probably started getting sick because I increased my weekly mileage by like 1,000,000%. Minor detail. But it could also be due to my hippie stuff flushing all the nasties out of system. Thankfully, Mondays are rest days. I started on Zicam and Emergen-C every three hours, and I drank a ridiculous amount of water. That night I slept great. I took it easy on my run Tuesday morning and felt alright afterwards. Yay!

Wednesday morning I had PT, and I’m pretty sure my doc was trying to kill me. He had me do 100 single-leg squats on each leg using this Shuttle machine thing. By the end of it my legs were toast. But I still had to do my interval run! The run went well, but damn was I tired afterwards. By the end of the day I was still so beat I decided to forgo my Thursday morning run.

As Thursday progressed I became more and more sore from the stupid, single-leg squats. That night I met some coworkers at the local brewery to support a fundraiser for the Teton Regional Land Trust. I had a singular beer, and it jacked up my sleep and made me feel like crap all day Friday. My right leg and glute were still sore as well, but I managed to do an easy four miles.

Friday night I went to bed at 7pm. That’s how tired I was. I woke up at 4:30am, gathered my running gear, and drove to Grand Teton National Park for my long run. Although I had done the Cascade Paintbrush loop before, I wanted to do it again because it’s so beautiful. And the first ten miles is a steady climb up to Paintbrush Divide. My 50-miler starts off with a small hill, and then rolls right into a ten-mile ascent. Look at me, training specifically for my race!

For the first 5.5 miles I was able to run here and there. Then I hit the trail junction and started the steeper climb to Lake Solitude. After a short break at the lake I started the climb up to the divide. There was no running to be done, only hiking. Once over the divide, I was able to do quite a bit of running.

Parts of the trail were quite rocky, and soon I was tripping over rocks at regular intervals. Deep inside I knew I should slow down so I didn’t eat shit like I did coming down Table Rock, but I didn’t. My right foot caught a rock, propelling me forward. As I shot forward the two outside toes on my left foot smashed into a rock. I cursed. I screamed. And I hobbled for a bit until the pain wore off enough to start running again. I also almost rolled my right ankle twice.

Still, the run was great, and despite my left foot and right ankle, I felt pretty good afterwards. I did take it kind of easy on the run because my lungs weren’t feeling the greatest. My inhaler helped, but I could still tell they weren’t at 100%. Going home was better than usual because my husband had finally returned! I love that guy, and it was sooooo nice to kiss his face again.

My long run was also an opportunity to try out a bunch of new gear!

• Compression arm sleeves
• Ultra run toe socks
• Running shorts
• Wool blend tank top
• Weather resistant running pants
• Uncrustables (not gear, but I did want to see how they did fueling me)

The arm sleeves were supposed to help with my hands swelling, which they did not. But they did help keep my arms warm when my windbreaker was too toasty for my core. My running vest does a good job of keeping my core warm, and now I have arm sleeves to keep my noodles warm. The sleeves are easy to take off, and they stow nicely.

The toes socks are amazing. Injinji knocked these out of the park. I don’t think I’ll run trails in anything else. Sooooo comfy! My new Janji running shorts were super comfy, and I love the material and all the pockets. The Janji pants were the perfect outer layer to wear over my shorts. They also don’t weigh much and pack down nicely. The Janji tank top felt good and got the job done, but it already started pilling where my running vest sits. The Uncrustables were great, too.

I’m thinking I have most of my gear dialed in the 50-miler. A few more test runs and I should know for sure. It feels good knowing I made wise purchases and didn’t waste my money.

On Sunday I did my usual post-long-run run up and down Sidewinder. Afterwards, Strava informed me I was now the local legend of the trail. Huh. I don’t feel very legendary, but I’ll take it.

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