6/4/18

I slept extremely well over the weekend and I feel rested. Rested enough to run today but I won’t. I have a trip coming up this weekend that will involve some pretty serious running.

On Sunday, I’m going to Vermont with my mom for a week. We’re staying in a 3 bedroom condo in Jeffersonville, near Burlington. The resort is about ten minutes’ drive from a trailhead for the Long Trail. So although I’m training for a road race, I will be doing some trail running next week. I still have to look at the elevation profiles for that stretch of the Long Trail. It might be pretty intense, in which case I’ll have to adjust accordingly. I want to run the miles that my training plan suggests, but it gets a little complicated when translating road miles to trail miles. Effort is different and time is different. Effectively, a 10 mile road run could potentially be much easier than a 5 mile trail run, depending on elevation and terrain.  So I have a little research to do. If the trails are too tough for my training, there is a rail trail that is nearby, as well. Whatever the situation is, I’ll be in beautiful scenery in the mountains. And the weather will be gorgeous.

On Saturday, I ordered a new pack because my Camelbak is getting a little crusty. It still works almost flawlessly but the straps have always worked themselves loose during the course of a run. By getting a new pack that hopefully won’t have that issue, I hope to have one less thing to think about during 100 miles. Because the hydration system aspect of my old pack worked so well, I chose to go with Camelbak again. My old pack was the Dart; my new one is called the Ultra Pro. It has two 17 oz. front flasks and a big storage area in the back, which I’m going to fill with a 1.5 liter reservoir that I also purchased. This new setup will give me the same reservoir capacity, plus 34 ounces of capacity in front flasks. An advantage of the two front flasks is that I can have an electrolyte beverage in one, and water or soda or whatever in the other. It also increases my range. I can go further without having to stop for refills. And hopefully the pack will sit nicely on my body and not chafe and not have to be readjusted constantly.

Overall, I’m very excited about both of these new happenings. I’m still working on the job search, but this vacation forces me, in a good way, to only look so far in front of me. Before I knew I was going to Vermont, I was looking way ahead into the future and foolishly predicting what it would be like if I still didn’t have a job. That’s just a waste of time and energy. Now I have something immediate to look forward to, to prepare for, and to be excited about.

Mileage this week is lighter than last week. 10 tomorrow, 6 Wednesday (maybe with Jesse), 8 Thursday, 16 Saturday, and 10 on Sunday (in Vermont!).