Training Journal 11/26--12/2

Monday, November 26, 2012- Sunday, December 2, 2012: This was week of the North Face Endurance Challenge in San Francisco!  What a roller coaster of an adventure!  Riding highs of being in a cool, new city and sharing many exciting moments with the Salomon Team and getting to hang out with Mr. James Varner in Mill Valley.  I am afraid that to fully express this experience I need a handful  more exclamation points!!!  I didn't know if I would run the race until the morning of the race.  I know, Ian, you said don't decide the morning of....but I was only very sure that morning.  I decided to do the race the night before really by default (got everything ready just in case).  When I woke up, I knew I would run as far as I could, even if that meant dropping.  To give you a little history, I was in the ER 8 days before the race with blood clot issues (luckily not life threatening as far as the hospital could tell).  It meant that I was dealing with pain with every movement of my leg, including calf pain and swelling and pain in my thigh.  For more on the race and my injury, see my TNF50 race report.

Photo by Greg Vollet. Thursday's run in the Marin Headlands.

Monday: 7 miles mapping with James in the Marin Headlands, about 1,600 feet of climbing. Easy pace: 1 1/2 hr

Tuesday: day off ( I was instructed NOT to run until the pain was gone in my leg)
Wednesday: day off
Thursday: 7 mile run with the team on the TNF course. About 1,600 feet of climbing. 1.25hr
Friday: 3 mile run. Leg still really hurt. 25min
Saturday: Finished the race!  Despite a crazy week!  46 miles, 10,400 feet of climbing.  (Course was modified due to weather, shortened a bit). 8:01:00
Sunday: day off.  My calves were very, very sore for several days. Could barely walk.

Totals: 
Running miles:  64 miles, 103km
Running Elevation Gain: 13,600 feet climbing.  4,145 meters
Cross training:  freaking rest. Overrated.
Total Time Running: ~11hr

Leg Pain!