What is the WHat?

Is what I was listening to last weekend on my long run, which was supposed to be a 12, but ended up as a 13.5+-ish out and back on Benton Crossing Road. I had forgotten how much I enjoy listening to audiobooks while runnning - and has made me re-think my decision to cancel my Audible subscription, which I wasn't using since I stopped commuting last fall. Fortunately the audiobook of "What is the What" is something like 20 hours...that's about 120 miles of listening pleasure. So, not too windy, and not too hot either, which made for a pretty good run, though I was definitely feeling wearysome by the last mile.

The rest of the week was very busy at work, and it was my "down" week in the good ol' training plan. Hence, lazy bum that I am, I only did one 4-ish mile run in Mammoth (which is like 7 anywhere else), and nuthin' more. Hah!

Today was a 9-mile run, kinda chilly out at Benton Crossing, and ridiculous headwind on the way back, requiring me to put my head down and try not to be be blown backwards. Overall an 8:40-ish pace, which felt pretty good given the conditions, and my fr-icking IT band which was tweaky at mile 8.5, requiring a little walking before I could finish the last half mile. I hope this is not the start of something bad, since it's been feeling pretty good, what with all the (agonizing) foam rollering that I've been doing. May take the next couple of days off and see where it's at.

Bay Area 11

We were down in the Bay Area this weekend, so I got to do my 11 mile run at sea level, and on a nice, flat route down near the waterfront. Maybe it was the tough ten and two Mammoth runs last week, but this felt pretty easy and I ran it fast for a long run (8:45-ish miles). A very busy weekend, meeting prospective tenants for our rental, meeting a realtor, Mother's Day-ing, and whatnot, so it was nice to get out for a couple of hours by myself, and run by my old Berkeley haunts.

It's always tough at 8,000 ft

I don't think I have ever done a run in Mammoth that has felt easy, no matter how in shape I am. Yesterday, no exception. 4.65 mi. in just under 45 minutes. Including some walking up the steeper hills. Maybe it's because last Sunday's run was harder than usual, but my legs didn't feel so snappy, and it felt like work. Nonetheless, done and on.

Add 15 degrees

No matter what the weather is in Mammoth, you can pretty much add 15-20 degrees to that, and that's how hot it is in Bishop. So, today was pretty nice in Mammoth (60's), thus a somewhat sweltering 70 or so in the Bishop area, site of today's long run. Mr.BL and the boy went to Millpond park while I went for my scheduled 10-miler on the dirt roads next to the Tungsten hills.

It was definitely hillier than anything I've run lately, and hotter too (three weeks ago I was running wearing long tights, gloves and and a hat) - so it felt kind of hard. Still, I finished at around a 9:30 pace. Stats from SportTracks:


We drove down to Bishop afterwards for a taste of the big city, Eastern Sierra style. There's a new-ish store that sells used outdoor gear. Due to the fact that everyone here has way too much outdoor stuff, this place is quite the treasure trove. For me, lover of both outdoor gear and a good bargain (not usually words to be spoken in the same sentence), this place was incredible - three new running shirts (Nike and patagonia for a mere $20). Score! I shall return.

Goals for this week - do my prescribed runs on Tuesday and Thursday, hopefully some yoga on Weds, and aim to stay sane in what I know is going to be a crazy week.