Countdown to Jemez 50k (actually 33.2 miles)

In preparation for Jemez I ran 63.2 miles last week. Did my normal easy Monday, track Tuesday (miles repeats), trails Wednesday, easy Thursday, off Friday and then the weekend consisted of 24 miles on the trails Saturday and Muenster 15k Sunday afternoon.

I felt good on Saturday at Northshore. It was really hot and humid but I'm gradually getting acclimated and I drank a ton of water and Nuun on Friday to get ready. Ran about 12 miles with buddies and 12 by myself. The last 5 were the hardest, it was getting really hot out and I was by myself. I kept thinking, "You're over-reacting Michelle, you're totally fine. You're legs aren't even tired...you're just hot and ready to be done. The faster you run, the less you walk, the sooner you'll be done." It was true...my legs weren't really tired, everything else was though.

Spent the rest of Saturday at home with Evan wearing my compression socks, drinking water, and napping. A perfect Saturday! ; )

Sunday turned into another crazy thunderstorm day. Stacy and I met at Starbucks in Trophy Club and as soon as we left it started POURING. Can't see out the windows, pouring. It was like Grasslands '10 all over again. You're driving to a race thinking, "this is crazy!!"

Once we got there we were just freezing and I was realizing how very unprepared for the cold I was. I hadn't even brought pants to change into afterwards, only a skirt! But the good news is I LOVE LOVE LOVE running in the cold. We heard they were going to delay the start of the race because it just started raining buckets right at noon but then K2 and someone else just went and stood at the starting line. Hahaha! Everyone else quickly followed and we were off!!

Waiting for awards after the race.  It was FREEZING!!

I stayed behind my friends the first mile because I knew it was going to take at least a mile for my legs to figure out what they were doing and I hadn't done any warm-up miles. The first mile is uphill and into the wind. Still ended up with an 8:13 first mile and I knew right away that it was going to be a good day for me. After about 1/2 mile my breathing calmed down and I felt really strong. It's so funny how you just know right away what kind of a day it's going to be.

The next 3 miles were straight north into the wind and it was CRAZY. It took me about 1/2 mile to catch up to Brad and Rick and they were alternating taking drafting turns. I stayed behind them for awhile and then said I would take a turn. I wasn't totally sure if I would help, being so much smaller than them but I think it did. Working together as a team we caught Kevin who was battling those winds all alone. He caught on to our train and we continued our 4 man rotation. It was great fun and I was just smiling at the ridiculous nature of the whole day.

Finally we turn and the wind is at our side and we hit the hilly part of the course. From that first hill I knew my climbing legs were ready to work. I got ahead of the guys in the hills and it became a game of me trying to not let them catch me. It was great fun and really challenging. I had flashbacks of my second leg at Texas Independence Relay because the terrain and my effort level was really similar. I got really tired after the last major hill but I kept thinking about TIR and how I was able to hold on there so I could hold on here.

Getting back into town you had to go north again and that sucked but I saw Laura and Denny and that helped me stay focused on my form and working hard. I saw them again on the last straight away and Laura yelled, "3 blocks to go!" I pumped my arms and ended up with a 6:45 pace that last .3. The aide station volunteers had told me I was 4th woman so that really kept me pumped and working as hard as I could. K2 was yelling "GO DRUM" over and over and that really helped too.

This was the most fun and the best I've felt at a race in a really long time. It was just awesome. I really the most proud that I was able to put forth that effort after 4 hours and 40 minutes on the trail the day before and finishing out my highest training week ever with 63 miles.

My AG medal (Thanks Laura N for the pics!)

4th Female Overall, 1st Age Group (30-34)
Mile splits: 8:13, 8:39, 9:07 (all into the wind), 8:12 (yay, we turned!), 7:55, 7:50, 7:30, 7:54 (back into the wind), 2:01 (last .3, 6:45 pace)

Jemez is May 21 so I start a really gradual taper now. I hate tapering and truly feel my strongest on high mileage weeks so it won't be as serious a taper as I did for Houston.