Progress

Slowly but surely my legs are feeling stronger and stronger. I recovered well after the 18 miler a couple of weeks ago, and stacked up some good miles last week. I hit up the hills around the house on the regular all week in preparation for another Saturday sufferfest over in Damascus. After a leisurely morning kicking it around Camp Z (complete with breakfast at Sharpie's), Ginger and rolled over to Damascus. She was on her way to a little overnighter backbacking trip with Yellow Dog, so she dropped me off at White Top in the VA Creeper Trail. From there, I breezed down the trail to Straight Branch where I refilled my water. I headed back up the Creeper to the AT trailhead at and began the climb back up onto the ridge. That section of the AT, which heads back south to Damascus, is mostly runnable with a few climbs that'll get the ol' heart rate up. There are not too many good views, but here's one of them:

I arrived back Damascus around mile 21 and then headed back up the truck at the Straight Branch parking lot. Total mileage for the day was a solid 25. I didn't eat nearly enough, so I was feeling a might bonkish (as Mac Brown might say). But, that's OK. I needed a little suffering to get used to what it's gonna feel like on longer runs. This ain't about strolling in the park, right.

I took Sunday off. Spending the day cutting grass and doing a little bouldering was a nice change of pace. So far, this week has been spent on the hills around Camp Z. I'll knock out another 20ish jaunt on the Creeper/AT on Saturday and then take it a little easy next week. I'm going to run the New River Marathon next saturday to try to make myself push the pace a little bit. Then, it'll be off to Leadville the following week to train on the course there.

All in all, I'm feeling great about the training so far. My legs are holding up to getting the mileage back up to normal. I still have almost 4 months before the big day arrives in Leadville, so I'm feeling confident that I can get ready in time. Time will tell.