Training Log - Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Once thing's for sure, my training regimen over the last 4-6 weeks can barely be called ultra training. I am hoping having dialed back the training over the last few weeks will have helped me get rid of some of those nagging injuries. I did receive a second medical opinion confirming that I indeed do not have a sports hernia, so that means starting an anti-inflammatory regimen once a day to try to get the inflammation in check. At least that's what the doc suggested. Having raced at least one ultra every month for the last 16 months, taking a little break is probably not a bad idea. I have the desert stage race coming up in two weeks and I'd rather be too rested than too tired. 6 days, 150 miles of pure "fun in the sun".

Richard came over to my house at 6AM this morning for a short "recovery" run around the UAH campus. He had packed his running pack with the amount of weight he expects to carry during the desert race. I only took my pack with a couple of pounds. It was already extremely humid and 74 degrees. We plan to go through the list of mandatory items this evening to see exactly how much stuff we will need to carry day after day for 6 days. It's going to be crucial to start practicing running with the pack and the expected weight. Waiting until race day to run with a pack is a very bad idea.

I will continue to run for the next two weeks, keeping the mileage low, but carrying the gear I expect to carry during the race. Hopefully, that combined with our southern humidity will prepare us somewhat for the things to come in Moab, Utah and Grand Junction, Colorado at the 2011 Desert R.A.T.S.