Every training run is different. For me, running 28 miles can take as little as 6 hours or as was the case yesterday, closer to 11 hours! Having said that I was especially happy with my effort yesterday. I attempted the Pawnee-Buchannan Loop, an infamous 27 mile loop through the mountain past Ward, CO, with over 6,000 feet of elevation gain, highly, highly technical (think crawling over rocks on all fours at points), and all at high altitude, toping out three separate times around 12,500 feet LAST WEEKEND. And yes, I said attempted. Rarely do I not finish the amount of miles I set out to do. Last Saturday I went to run this loop with my sister Heidi. It went comically bad. First, before I even started I had 73 miles on my legs for the week so this loop was probably not the smartest idea last Saturday. It was rainy, it was cold, I wiped out (twice), I badly dislocated my pinky and rolled (not sprained, thank god) my ankle and bruised and scratched up my knee. Oh, and due to increasing pain from my dislocated pinky (that happened at mile 3...), we turned around at mile 7 and headed back to the car.
Best thing by far that came out of that overall fairly miserable run, was getting to hang out with my sister Heidi, that was the redeeming value for the day! And it was fortunate she was with me as we ended up at the ER getting x-rays to see if my poor little pinky finger was broken or dislocated (it was at a 45 degree angle which I was pretty sure wasn't a good thing!). Turned out dislocated and doctor was able to put it back in place.
However, this "failed" attempt didn't sit well with me and I decided to run the loop yesterday, which will big my last "big" effort before the Moab 240 coming up in a few short weeks (Oct. 7 - 11th). The weather was much better than the previous weekend and I was very grateful for that, more than anything so that I could enjoy the absolutely fabulous views! As usual during very scenic runs I took WAY to many pictures which slowed me down but was well worth it! Due to how rocky/technical the majority of the 28 miles were I wasn't able to do a lot of pure running, but my legs are sore today, reminding me of the effort required to climb and descend that much on technical terrain. Since pictures are worth a thousand words I've put some pictures and video below of my adventurous day in the mountains!
Overall, it was a fantastic day, what a gift that I get to see all of this in less than 12 hours! Don't get me wrong, it was A LOT of work but as always, so so worth the effort.
Great confidence booster going into Moab 240, feeling ready as I'm going to be for that incredible challenge. Time to start finalizing plans and getting drop bags packed, food purchased, etc.
Final note is that my sister Rachel, who is coming out from Michigan to be my "crew chief" for the entire Moab 240 race is going to try and find a few times during the race to post updates on this blog. Also, if anyone wants to follow along "live" you can do so by tracking me via the Moab 240 website (https://www.destinationtrailrun.com/moab) - see "Live Tracking" Link. My Bib # for Moab 240 is #253