April update

So April has flown by. Probably because I’ve been running so much, not too much, but…

I have had 3 good high mileage weeks to start the month off capping it off with a 52k run this past Saturday, running from Penetanguishene to Barrie. Now that the weather is improved somewhat, the trails are finally clear of ice and snow, so trail running is going to be the order of the day most of the time now.


Last week was the peak so far of my running, getting in 115k, but this week is a down week as the taper starts for O24 on May 2nd. Nice to know that next weekend I can just run and not worry about being out there for hours. It’s also Pick Your Poison this coming Saturday, Joan is running one loop to get back into the swing of things, so I’ll just go and support/watch for the morning. Then get a run in on the afternoon.

My first decent trail run (single track) was this past Sunday. I was little concerned, due a left knee issue that I had picked up over the past couple of weeks, but as it turned out my knee was better on the trails than on the road. I think the high mileage on a cambered road was doing the damage. It was great being on the trails again and plan on going out regularly now. Hopefully the weather cooperates. There is some cool temps coming for the remainder of the week.

The training for O24 has been good and I hope to get at least 100 miles there. For some reason there is always something that comes up that prevents me from doing what I want there. Maybe it will be third time lucky!

As for preparations for Bighorn? Things are coming together. Finally booked some flights and confirmed Oliver coming to crew/pace. The prices for flights never did come down and if they were to come down it would not have been the most desirable of flights and connections. I think I got a decent deal and was able to get the flight times I wanted. Leaving early June 17th via Denver and returning later on the 23rd, also via Denver. Hope to make a good trip of this on top of getting a nice buckle. A drive through Yellowstone also.

Goodbye March!!!

Last week I realized that it was only about 12 weeks until I run the Bighorn 100 in Wyoming. Although I have been getting in some decent mileage I was knocked back a bit last week with the dreaded “Man Cold”. I’d had a sore throat the week before and expected something, but I was hit hard and took 2 days off work. Last week, the only day I ran was Friday. I felt good running, but once I was done I felt like crap and realized that it was a mistake to run. I therefore took off the rest of the weekend from running. It was another cold weekend anyway and I really didn’t feel like running in the cold.
This week I thought I should actually put together a training schedule too. I can’t remember the last time I used an actual training schedule, but I figured that having it on paper I’m less likely to miss or skip a run. So here it is:

In another 4 weeks I will have O24 and hope to get about 100 miles there and thent he Horse Capital Marathon 2 weeks after that. Then it’s clear sailing until Bighorn.

There is a lot of high mileage (as far as I am concerned) in this schedule and its been a while since I’ve done this much.

The weather is improving somewhat, but winter is still trying to hang on with some sub freezing days still in the forecast, usually aligning to my long runs. I’m still not quite over the cold, but at least I can get out and run now.