Running towards consistency and a Whisper to a Scream

I am finally getting consistent. It has taken me a while to get into a grove and start building momentum. I have nothing to blame but myself. Perhaps following the Western States 100 last weekend finally got me out of my slump and lit a fire. I have been very consistent since Sunday and I have started logging some "Twice-a-day'rs" which is a first for my entire history of running. I really like running twice a day it is interesting to run on legs in the afternoon that you thrashed 8 hours earlier. I find my legs sluggish and non-responsive on my morning runs but they are usually pretty peppy for the afternoon runs. I don't know if that is normal or just for me. I do run much harder and longer in the mornings. The two-a-days let me run 10+ miles a day and not have any adverse effects like overuse injuries.

Last Sunday I had an extremely fast run nailing 56:44 on my 11 km run. It felt great to break an hour again and my legs were super strong on everything (hills, flats, rocks whatever). Yesterday my a.m. was brutal I never felt that my lungs, heart, and legs achieved sync. My heart rate was through the roof and 10 bpms faster than normal. My hydration was low and my lungs burned the whole time. I would tell my legs to move faster and step higher, but like naughty children, chose to ignore my pleas and rather they unresponsively tripped on every little obstacle and totally dragged. It was brutal but it was one of those runs that serve an important purpose and remind me that this is an endurance sport and there is a large dosage of enduring required to do well.

This morning found me running on a cold and rainy Canada Day (Happy Canada Day all my friends north of the 49th). I started out with the thought that I am going to focus on my uphills since the rain slows me down on the descents due to slippy rocks. So I hammered the uphills very hard. I felt OK and the first two summits were smooth but I ran out of gas on the third. It was an average run with a time of 1:00 hour even but my legs did have a little more spunk then the day previously. I then helped a neighbor move into a place down the street and I have decided that I am going to take the night off and Celebrate the great Country of Canada and then tomorrow I think I will run two very laid back runs to rest me up for Saturday's long run.

Today's song is a classic 80's and arguably a one hit wonder by Icicle Works. The song is called "Whisper to a Scream (Birds Fly)". I wandered upon it while spending time boosting my 80's collection a bit and forgot what a sweet song it is. I think the song is going to somewhat represent my training this year. My training barely would even be considered a whisper at the moment but it is going to build into a scream as I prep for a major 100 miler. I believe I will be running the Bear 100. I may also look at theStormy 50 or 100. I have a lot of work to do but I hope I will be screaming by the Fall! Enjoy this forgotten under-rated 80's classic!