Keep Moving Forward

Ryan asked in the comments of my last post what I have coming up so here you go...

First off, I've had a good month as far as training goes.  As of yet, I have not become someone who puts in big mileage months.  Most of that comes from the ITB injury I had in February that continued until the beginning of April.  April then brought McNaughton so I tapered and rested in April, then a month later was Ice Age so another month with a taper and a recovery.  I played it a little cautious in June to make sure everything was going to hold up ok and it did, so I moved into July with a bit more aggressive outlook. 

I logged just over 150 miles, hit the gym for weights at least once a week.  I joined a yoga class that is once a week and have on a few occasions hopped in on the pregnancy Yoga DVD that my wife does. Sometimes you have to swallow your pride and do what needs to be done, being more flexible and balanced is my need and Yoga helps me with that :) .  I've also turned up the hill work.  I'm a flatlander so as much as I wish I could knock out huge climbs and descents , I simply do not have that type of terrain here, so I find the biggest hills I can and just go up and down as long as I can.  Also, on days where I do weights, I hit the stair climber and/or the treadmill on its biggest incline for an hour.  I've made sure to get in speedwork once a week (a big thanks to Olga for the help there).

Next up is the Mt Hood Pacific Crest Trail Ultramarathon on July 28th.  I'll be running the 50 miler.  It was going to be a little get-away for me and my wife, but some things came up and she will not be able to travel with me.  I'll be going solo on this outing, camping for a few nights at Clackamas Lake.  I feel good about this event.  As of now I am going in healthy and feel prepared, two things I have not had going into an event yet.  I'm shooting for a low-to-mid nine hour finishing time.

After that will be the Flatlanders' 12 Hour run on September 2nd.  The event is put on by the SLUGS (which I joined), so I am excited to get out there and meet a lot of the members. My friend Howard will be running the event too. This will be the first time I will be doing a timed run.  1.4 mile loop over and over again.  The event is really close to my 29th birthday so I will be shooting for 58 miles.  Before I started in this long distance running I would put together little triathlons that would add up to my age, but since I've done well over 29 miles on lots of occasions, it seems silly to just go out and do 29, so I'll double it and maybe a little further..hopefully