Week 18 (30.6) - Holding On

Only 30 miles this week. And 4 days off. I'm not too happy. This wasn't in the plan, but I've decided that a light week this close to the Triple is probably more positive than negative. I need to get to the starting line injury-free. My tooth is fine after a trip to the Endodontist, but I've been feeling a little "twinge" behind my left knee and the ankle pain is back. Nothing major. Just reason for caution.

On a positive note, on the three days that I did lace-up my shoes, I ate sports beans or a gel before the run and did just fine. On Saturday, I doubled the amount of carbs and felt a noticable boost. We ran for two hours and seven minutes at roughly a 7:45 pace. The muscles felt fine, but my joints felt banged up. For whatever reason, I've abandoned ice baths and am paying for it. Tahoe's 55 degree water temps should remedy this. I expect to spend lots of time standing in the cold water.

Russ Secker, who ran across France a couple of summers ago and will be doing his "Triple" as a single 78.6 mile run, met with the few brave Tahoe souls Saturday at Progress Coffee and gave us a detailed description of the courses. The thing that struck me was how hilly it's supposed to be around the lake. Russ figured that walking up the bigger hills would save the legs. The problem with this idea is that I'd already planned to walk down the big hills. (Sounds like I could be doing quite a bit of walking.)

Russ figured that the altitude, which has always been at the back of my mind, is only a problem when running up hills (...and I also assume when running too fast). Mad dog wrote that you can't simulate altitude, but I don't think this is true. I think that anytime you're running hard enough that you're in oxygen debt, you're by proxy training for altitude. And all the heat of the 2008 summer has put my heart through the paces.

The first race is now 12 days away. I'm trying to decide whether to buy a new pair of shoes. I have one pair of Mizuno Wave Runners with about 50 miles on them, but no other shoe with less than 300. I've been thinking about buying a Nike+ shoe and a Sport Band. Since my Garmin 301 crapped out, I have to guess on mileage. Since miles aren't marked on the first two Tahoe courses, I'd have to run by feel alone. I'd rather have some idea about how many miles are ahead of me. There's a 14-day weather forecast online and if it holds out, we can expect 37 degrees at the start. Last year, there was ice on the road during the Sunday race. It's a fine line - 37 is good / ice is bad, but either beats the heat of the past Texas summer.