Still on the Upswing?

While I wouldn’t consider myself fully recovered, I do feel that I’m on the way back. Why do I think this? Well, first of my runs from Saturday through Monday were all in the ok category, and that’s a huge improvement over the previous week’s runs. Then came yesterday.

Last evening after work, I hit Umstead again and right out of the gate I was moving (I guess if you need a boost it’s a good idea to start a run through a crowded parking lot). I pushed at a decent pace for two miles up the Company Mill Trail when I man into a runner wearing a Montrail hat running the other way. I ran an easy two miles back to the parking lot while chatting about races and various runners. It turns out he knows some VHTRCers. After we got back to the parking lot I went off and rolled through two or three miles on some great dirt roads through the park at slightly easier than tempo effort. I finished up with another three to four miles at 50k race pace on the beautiful single track of the Company Mill Trail. CM is great, especially the direction I ran it. The first couple miles are hilly, windy, slightly technical, which are a great deal of fun to run if you’re pushing the pace – it’s like a roller coaster for trail runners. (It’s also beautiful at a leisurely morning run pace.) The last two or so miles have a larger portion of flatter, less technical that are fun towards the end of a run. The good signs from the run include not only the facts that I ran further and faster than I had been, but also the fact that I wanted to run and enjoyed it. :-)

Today, I didn’t get up to run in the morning. However, I kinda want to run down the halls where I’m working. I’m thinking I still might to get out for a short run tonight. I won’t do anything long or hard, as I don’t want to relapse, but I’m thinking a little shake out would be nice.

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2. A Blur Ok, super quick update here. (1) I have no idea how much I’m running these days, only it’s not much. (2) Without time for long runs or even runs everyday,...
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Bryon Powell is the Editor-in-Chief of iRunFar.com, which he founded five years ago. Also the author of Relentless Forward Progress: A Guide to Running Ultramarathons and a contributing editor at Trail Runner magazine, he's quickly approaching 10 years as an ultrarunner and 20 years as a trail runner. These days he calls Park City, Utah and its trails home.
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