Monday, April 30, 2012

Shattered

Shattered, after my last twenty-mile run. For this runner, twenty miles is a big training run. I had an exceptional long run about a month ago that tricked my nascent runner-ego in to thinking the Bishop 50k was in the bag. On said outing, Travis, Emmett, Will and I cast off from my house on Bath Street at 5:55 a.m., ran straight to Tunnel Trailhead, and within four miles were trotting through the steep Santa Barbara front-country trails as the sun crested the range. By the twenty-mile mark, Travis and I (Will and Emmett pulled out much earlier) had gained a total of 4,000 feet, managed to NOT injure ourselves, and finished with a smile on our faces. I remember a particular moment of hubris where I said "let's just keep going, Travis. A marathon isn't that much further." Then life happened, the shop picked up pace, and the cumulative effect of long-distances on trail sapped my stores of psyche. Finally, last week, I bottomed out. My version of "bottoming out" pales in comparison to the gut-busting travails of real trail-runners like Anton Krupicka and Geoff Roes, but I did experience a pervasive sense of flatness, inability to fully recover, and constant hunger. So I took some days off, drank gallons of water, and slept a lot. Problem solved—or so I thought. The couple of days leading up to Saturday's run saw me working long, hard hours, including a frustrating day on Friday where I had to slog away in the shop till 10 p.m., then get up early on Saturday to finish some odds and ends. Then, after going home on Saturday afternoon, I rested for about 45 minutes, rustled up enough energy to wake up, and began to eek out my twenty-miler. Travis felt a little flat as well, but man, that guy has STORES of energy. I won't give you a blow-by-blow. Just know that we finished, and as fate would have it (or planning), the run ended right around the corner from Daily Grind, home to the finest baked goods and smoothies in Santa Barbara. Now begin the taper...

2 comments:

Travis said...

Here's the stats from the run: http://app.strava.com/runs/7536752

Thanks for coming up with the idea to do this! That's one of the best trail runs I've ever done from my house. Even if it was physically and psychologically punishing toward the end.

Travis said...

Stats Here.