Mon - 6 miles easy valley trails. Cold again. Went with a thermal underlayer plus an outer layer to try and generate some heat. Got a good sweat on. Legs felt as good as they have in weeks. Barely any pain or soreness anywhere. How refreshing.
Tues - 8.5 miles (2,200') easy, but hard. Some heat at last, well 70s at least. Went with the beanie, long sleeve thermal with tech long sleeve over that, and gloves. Starting to feel a little more at ease in the sweat suit. Good run today at an upbeat pace, although legs a touch heavier than I would like at this stage of the game. Couple more sweat runs, then out to Nevada/Cali for some real heat.
Weds - 6 miles easy. Valley trails.
Thurs - 9.5 miles (1,700'). 2.5 miles easy down to Soderberg from home, then hard effort up Towers with 25 others from FCTR. Pretty disappointing 30:29. Thought I was good for a PR, but wind, heat and dead legs made for a really poor run. Worked hard for a poor result. Not exactly what I would call a confidence builder, but then Western States is 100 miles, not 3.5 up a hill, so chalk it up to nothing in particular.
Fri - Travel day.
Sat - 7.5 miles (1,200'). Five Lakes Trail in Squaw.
Sun - 14.5 miles. Foresthill to Rucky Chucky on Western States course with Ian Torrence. More on the weekend runs later.
Total: 52 miles (5,100')
Legs were predictably lethargic this week. This follows a pattern I have become accustomed to through other tapers, so I am fully expecting to be firing on all cylinders come Saturday. Nothing to do now but jog around a bit and enjoy the beautiful locale.
