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So just wrapped up 61 miles over the last three days as we push ahead deeper into this training. The unique nature of a 6 day stage race leads to our attempts at these back to back (to back) hard efforts. Bill Bowerman would not approve of TransRockies training, as the "hard day, easy day" approach is traded in for the "hard day, hard day" one.
My last three days have been spectacular for a few reasons. I wish I could say first it was because my fitness is so great that I am in such strong shape that anyone owning a pair of running shoes should fear me, but that is not the case. Fitness is improving, I am sure of that, but gains are small, inches when I want miles. "The secret is that there is no secret." Ha. Very true. No shortcuts, just lots of running.
Spectacular because I've endured this. It feels so good to come home to these places I know very well, the rooms inside of you that you simply don't need to access when you're walking down the sidewalk as a Normal Joe. These places where you're short on breath, your head is spinning from discomfort, the mind says no, and each step onward simply says yes. An agreement with yourself. Busting down some trail, climbing, turning, eyes wide. The finish, the end, leaning against the car in staggering relief and fatigue, no one in the world knowing what you just did. I spent much of my young life in this way, and returning feels like home.
Our run yesterday was unforgettable. After three years of consistently covering many miles in Flagstaff, I had thought I had seen it all. Yesterday blew me away. That was the highest I have ever run, just about 12,000 feet. Looking down, there was my town and it looked the same as it does when I fly over it in a plane, a miniature city, pieces you want to move with your fingers like toys. There were even clouds below us. Next, and I will try to do this without getting all mushy and cheesy, but that was the most beautiful run I've ever been on. The first five miles through meadows with thick green ferns as high as my shoulders, grassy fields with wildflowers, white aspens lining the way. From the top of the climb, the mountains in full summer explosion, the sky clear. And finally, the experience, grinding away, up, up, at 11,000 feet with the numbing fatigue, the mind working slower, thinking in bursts, incomplete thoughts, single words, the slapping wind, a silent black and white movie with my gasps and my spacewalk stride, Neil Armstrong leaving dusty footprints behind.
Spectacular indeed!
Yes I am glad I am here. Home being places I have never been before.
Recovery now, and back to work.

Mike