Upward Over The Mountain: Week In Review: 7/30-8/5: Nothing Short Of Thankful

   After battling through the residual fatigue in my quads for most of the week, I'm glad to say I'm feeling more and more like myself everyday. Last weekend's race still lingers in my mind with the stinging "what-if" mentality that often skews past events; but fortunately this time I'm able to ignore it and hone my thoughts in on whats most important to me about each running endeavor: smiling a lot and being completely present, wherever I am.

   I look forward to continuing to train and improve my fitness level over the next month leading up to the Run Rabbit Run 100. I need to continue on working on the adaptability of my running mentality and remember that speed is not of the utmost importance, but instead it is the enjoyment of every outing that I look forward to and that imparts with me a certain satisfaction after every venture. I am nothing short of extremely grateful for all of the folks that I get to share this time with, and I hope in the future I'm able to cast all self inflicted pressures off of myself to allow myself to best live in the moments that each experience in these marvelous places provides.

   Having said that, my goals for the Run Rabbit Run have changed a bit from when I last spoke of them. I just want to go out completely comfortably, listen to my body, maintain a certain comfort level (and unspoken tolerance for suffering) throughout the entire day, and come away from the event deemed "qualified" for the Hardrock 100, and the ability to continue running and training for adventures in the near future that I can share with some of the people I love the most, and some friends-to-be that I haven't yet met.

   Anyways, heres what I've been up to:

7/30- Monday
   Couldn't even lower myself into a chair without a handhold due to soreness in my quads...

7/31- Tuesday
   7 casual miles with Luna near Twin Lakes, 1:10, 500 ft

8/1- Wednesday
   9 miles with Luke and Matt, Missouri Lakes Loop, 2:20, 2,800 ft

8/2- Thursday
   Nothing

8/3- Friday
   More of the same...

8/4- Saturday
   Headed up Hope Pass with Luna from Willis Gulch for an hour then came back down in half the time, 7 miles, 1:30, 2,000 ft

8/5- Sunday
   16 miles with Luna and Sandi on an out-and-back on the CT headed north from Timberline Lake. A good bit of fatigue, grateful that Sandi and Luna were full of energy and able to pull me along. 3:35, 3,700ft.

Totals: 39 miles, 8 hours 40 minutes, 9,000 ft