Small World

There was a Krieger Family Reunion this past weekend.  As a result of many of the visits with relatives that I've not seen for many, many years, it became apparent how interesting our lives cross paths!

Discovered that my father's cousin is a neighbor to long-time Iowa Master's runner, Jim Schleisman...who has won his age group at Boston Marathon several times.

My cousin, from the Portland, Oregon area, works with the current world 100K champion and recent 8th place finisher from Western States 100, Amy Sproston.  My cousin was surprised to find I was so familiar with the name...I've heard many interviews with Amy on podcasts like 3 Non-Joggers.

Many of my cousins are runners, as well, with a wealth of experience at different distances including a cousin's husband that's quite good at ultras!

I was able to get out for 6 miles yesterday AM and the 3 mile hike in the evening.

Barely Running

I have found the week to be incredibly busy and stressful and that resulted in a significant drop in mileage.  I've lost focus after the Black Hills event and can't seem to generate the same drive to train as I did during the build-up.

There is the need for me to become "bike fit" now as I will be riding several days of RAGBRAI with my son's team.  But I have also entered a 5K race on the 21st in order to get my first chance to race as a 60-year-old!

6 mile run in late afternoon (after volunteering all morning and early afternoon at a bicycle race) and a 3 mile hike after dusk.

40 miles for the week

Obligations

Much time spent today fulfilling obligations.  Troubleshoot computer problems, have the son's dog spayed, city council meeting for new contract operations, grill sweet corn and chicken breasts!!

Piper

Iowa Elotes...grilled sweet corn with sour cream, cayenne pepper, and cheese 

But I still worked in a great 7 mile run before the sun heated things up too much...so hardly a lost day after all.

Trash Talk

Coolest part of today is the morning, so I grabbed the dog and hit the trails as soon as possible.  The temps were manageable and even a bit of a breeze.  I moved along fairly well until I began to come across several areas where 4th of July partying must have started last night.  Ended up with 3 grocery bags full of trash, redeemables and recyclables!

4 miles so far and we''l see how comfortable it is after the fireworks tonight.

Back In The Saddle

Warmed up today with a 3 mile hike then headed right back out for a run.  The run went well and I was able to feel relaxed and sustained a steady pace for an additional 6 mile loop.

The heat is coming into play regarding when to run (earlier the better) and my consulting work at the city of Plymouth has already affected my usual freedom of when to hit the trails!

There were photos posted of the finish and awards for the Black Hills races.  It makes me realize "what could have been" to see photos of many of the same runners that I ran with or passed during the part of the race before I couldn't continue.

I ran with this guy during several portions of the course.

Heating Up

It's definitely July, the heat has been turned up.  Whereas, I had to deal with the heat in South Dakota last weekend, I seem even more sensitive to it now in Iowa.  The past couple days have not felt very good as soon as I hit the road.  The shade and trees help once we reach Lime Creek but I still feel extra pressure and flushed  in the face.

The workouts are still just easy efforts and I don't intend to start more earnest training until next week.  The opportunity to race again as soon as I hit 60 is tempting and I need to check into some races after the 15th.  But another concern, I have committed to riding several days of RAGBRAI with my son's team so I should get a few more bike miles in before the last week of July.

4 miles in the AM and a hike at dusk planned unless it stays too hot.

Recovery Week Summary

Not much to blog about this week after trying to understand what happened in the Black hills.

There were several other posts, by runners that participated, that helped give me better perspective on what was a truly unfortunate weather situation. I ran for quite a few miles with Dan from the state of Washington and had some nice visits with him.  Here's a video that he posted.

The workouts this week were mostly geared towards recovery and dissipating the lactic acid build-up.  By mid-week I felt as though I could run and did take a couple opportunities to roll along again.

50 miles for the week.