I was totally wiped out from yesterday’s 50K, so I started my Juneathon with a recovery run. I was sore and very slow to start. It might have been 80F, I’m not sure, but it felt nice and hot. I’m two weeks away from a 40-mile trail race, and yesterday was my last really long run. Now the taper. I’m scraping the barrel right now, edgy. I will be focused this upcoming weekend on a trail run at Coopers Rock Park in West Virginia, on a great trail system where I can run a simulation of the first fifteen miles of 40-mile mountainous trail race. I’ll have creeks, steep grades, snakes, nettles, narrow single-track on really rough trail. I’m zeroed in on this race, and while I ran today, I worried about how sore I was from the run yesterday, and whether or not I would be sufficiently healthy enough to give the race a solid go. It’s my favorite race, and this year marks my fourth running of it.
The first mile was painful, so I pushed a bit harder. I found myself climbing small hills easier than going downhill. So I ran harder on the second mile, taking it onto a railroad track in the sun. The third mile was uphill, but I pushed through it. I decided to do a couple of 1/10 mile sprints to loosen myself up. That helped. So slow, so lame, but I felt better. I did a little neighborhood cool-down jog and ended it. I could hear CCR playing “Proud Mary” on a radio at a backyard BBQ. Juneathon is indeed going to keep on burning. Or, maybe not so much.
Fifty State Banana 