Day 47,48 and 49: Push to exhaustion

It has been an amazing past couple days, athletically.

Saturday kicked off with the Warrior Dash.  A 3.2-mile adventure race at Copper Mountain.

While I train in altitude this was even higher.  I was out of breath within the first half-mile.  Of course, by that point I had jumped over a car and hurdled the bed of a truck.  The shortness of breath really showed in the switchbacks that went up the mountain.

I ran through 12 obstacles.  The funnest being the mud crawl where I dove face first into the mud.  It covered my classes and I even got a mouthful of mud.  It was a crowd pleaser.

The fire jump at the finish was scary.  I expected it to be some wussy pile or a candle but it was a big pile of burning logs.  It was very hot.  I made it with no injuries and for that I was very proud.

I survived the course in 45:38.  The event was a lot of fun.  The crowd cheered loud.  Melissa and I made shirts with our names.  A great idea.  Hearing it yelled out was a motivator.

If that event wasn’t telling my body I needed rest, the following 15-mile run spoke loudly my body needs some rest.  Soreness took over my body.  Somehow Melissa and I got out the door.  That was a big accomplishment.

I brought two gels for the distance.  I knew it was going to be tough and planned to walk at points.

That first point came at 5 miles where I took my gel.  My body felt pretty good to this point.  After 8 miles, it was shot.  I started thinking I should just walk home – which was a ridiculously far away.  My mind became weak.  I made it to 9 before I had to walk.  Melissa got me to push toward mile 10 where I replenished my energy with another gel.

Replenished may be an overstatement.  It carried me to mile 11 but that was it.  At this point, my San Diego half-marathon time had surpassed.  I declared at this point I couldn’t run anymore.

Melissa encouraged me to follow a run/walk routine.  Glad she can think on her feet because it helped me keep going for awhile.  I continued the routine to mile 13.3.

My energy depleted and exhaustion taking over, I declared running had to stop.  I walked the final 1.7 miles and completed the run in 3:22:04 with a pace of 13:28/mile.  That is the farthest I have run to date.

I might cut back this week.  Today I am resting.  I think my body is letting me it needs some rest.

Word of Advice:  Listen to your body.  Jessica Cickay of the Boston Running Examiner wrote, “rest is sometimes the most important part of training.” Paying attention to how your body is reacting to your training can help prevent injuries.

Get out and fill your passion bucket,

Kyle

My first Double-Double...hmmm, In n' Out