Burning the candle at both ends

Another low mileage training week. Working 13 hr days during this refueling outage is starting to take a toll on the system. When an off day does come, I’m in recovery mode and low on motivation due to being fatigued. I’m starting to think that planning these 2 upcoming races during such a demanding month at work was a little too much! Nonetheless, I will just have to dig a little deeper and find the strength to plow through this challenging time. I’m still managing to get my long runs in, but my weekly millage buildup and weight training is suffering. Last weekend I spent another day at FATS and did not have such a great day. With the gas shortage in the Southeast due to the last few hurricanes, I found myself waiting forever in a gas line to fill-up on the way to the trails. By the time I made it to FATS, I lost a lot of time and was in a hurry to hit the trail.

The great thing about trail running is all your worries melt away within the first couple of miles, with the feel of dirt and pine needles under your feet, and the sight of nature as the back drop.

Everything in life becomes simple again, and the thoughts consuming your mind melt away as you get lost in time on the trails. This would soon end when I hit the power line section and a twinge in my left hamstring reminded me that I did not get a good stretch before running. I immediately stopped, walked around a little, and took 15 minutes to stretch. I was upset with myself for getting in a hurry and challenging this nagging hamstring injury.

I was very careful the next few miles not to push it as my legs started to warm up and get into a comfortable pace. I stopped on the lower section of Brown Wave to give directions to a couple out riding the trail for the first time. I read on the SORBA web page of a dog called Rocky who went out with his master on trail rides at FATS. Unfortunately, Rocky passed away and was buried in his favorite place. When I stopped to take a gel and S-cap, I noticed Rocky’s tombstone on the side of the trail. I said hi to Rocky and briefly pondered how delicate life can be. Don’t let a day pass without getting everything out of it for tomorrow may never come. Sounds like a saying or song from something.

After about 5 hours of running, I called it the day and went home to cook my family some homemade fettuccine alfredo – Which made for an excellent lunch the next day at work.
I did get some hill training in while my daughter was at dance class, and a couple low mileage runs in during the week. This new hill I do my hill repeats on is a killer – Soft sand which makes the legs burn from exhaustion. This coming week I will back off my long runs to be ready for the FATS-40 next weekend. I plan to use this race as a long training run for the Pinhoti 100 in Nov and will be a good indicator if my nagging injury will be manageable. Attached are a few pics from the hill I do repeats on and the trail at FATS. I wished I had a stepper and longer hill, but considering I live in the Southeast between the beach and mountains, I’m thankful for what I have.
TAB

Hill repeats: Bottom looking up!

and up.....

and up.....



and the top

Back down into the sunset

FATS: Intersection of Skinny & Brown Wave loops

Somewhere on Brown Wave

Skull corner going back to trail head