Run, Koper, run

(Show distances in kilometers / miles ) Not much to report on, I'm afraid. The previous week I did the 50K Coyote Ridge . It was a great race but, probably as a result of it, I got a cold afterwards. On top of that the weather started getting worse: not exactly super cold, but no shorts-and-t-shirt temperatures anymore either, plus fair amount of rain. So I decided to take some days off from running. In fact I only did two runs by the end of the week; both of them on a treadmill. I thought I would step it up the following week, but it didn't really happen. For once my cold was still there, crappy weather was still there and on top of all that I didn't really feel much like running. Now, not feeling like running is not exactly a novel feeling to me. I do get that every now and then. Often all that calls for is to reach deeper for some extra motivation to get this ass off the couch and go running, rain or no rain. But those rare few times I think that's a sign to ta...

«The mountains are calling and I must go» — John Muir First the 160+K week in Yosemite , then a recovery week and this week I had the Coyote Ridge 50K coming up. Therefore I decided to take it easy. In fact I planned to do a bit more running before the weekend race, but ended up with only two short, fast runs (Tuesday & Thursday). Friday evening I drive to a motel in Mill Valley, where I am staying for the night. The race is at Muir Beach, which is a 1.5 hours away from where I live and I don't want to risk such a drive in the morning (the race starts at 8am). Iam planning to go to bed once I get there, but I am hungry and instead go out to explore. The motel is just next to a cutely named Strawberry Village, where I find a pizzeria and have my private pasta party. After dinner I go to bed but I don't sleep much. The motel is just next to a busy highway, so for me it's too noisy to sleep. But I'm used to sleeping little before races. Problem is, I didn't ...

Not much to report; after last week's running craziness my body demanded some rest. In fact my shins were in serious trouble. Usually I'm a fast walker but now I had a hard time liming through pedestrian crossings before the light would turn red. Grandmas would sweep past me. In short; things were not looking good. On Monday I had a sport massage scheduled. The masseur seemed to know a lot about injuries and he suggested a couple of things, mostly to take it easy and go see a doctor if it didn't improve in a week or two. I wasn't happy about that as on the weekend David, a friend of mine, was visiting and we were planning to go hiking. Moreover I still remembered vividly how at the beginning of the year shin injury put me out of commission for almost a month. And now it seemed worse. Moreover, it seemed I was coming down with a cold, coughing a lot and here I again had memories of last year's cold, with similar symptoms, that took forever to heal. Not good. B...

(Show distances in kilometers / miles ) Ok, time to sum it up. This was a week completely dominated by my trip to Yosemite, where I did just over 100 miles of running over the park in four days. You can read about it in the posts about Day 1 , Day 2 , Day 3 and Day 4 As you may recall from my fist post this whole thing, apart from being a lot of fun, was kind of a test before my 100-mile ultra next year. And by the way, I'm becoming more and more convinced that I'll go for Rio Del Lago in the end. Anyhow. It's a bit early to think about goals but a rather obvious one would be to break the 24h mark. I read somewhere recently that setting goals based on "round numbers" is silly and is asking for trouble and instead one should base them on one's abilities, previous races etc. I agree with that wholeheartedly. However, how can one resist the 24h goal? Not only is it a super cool goal in itself, allowing one to boast having ran 100 miles in one day ;), but o...

(Show distances in kilometers / miles ) I forgot to mention in the last post that I started developing some cold. I have a sore throat and I'm coughing. I guess all the running in the not-too-warm weather is finally getting to me. In any case, I sleep pretty badly this night. And I have to get up early because it's the last day and having done both the north and south parts of the Yosemite valley I decide I'm done with it. I mean, sure, there are plenty more trails, but I think I saw most of what I wanted. Well, maybe except for Sentinel and El Capitan , but I was close to both and doing the same trails again just to reach them doesn't seem like a great idea. Instead I decide to head to the Head Hetchy Reservoir , which is supposedly fairly different than the Yosemite Valley. It's a 1.5h drive so I need to get moving in the morning. Hetch Hetchy Reservoir ( Workout details ) The drive turns out to be interesting with plenty of twists and turns but eventually ...

(Show distances in kilometers / miles ) Yosemite Valley, north ( Workout details ) Another day, another 40km 25 miles to run... I get up earlier than the day before but this time getting out of bed is bloody difficult. It's cold outside and it feels warm and cozy in bed. It takes all my strong will to drag my ass out of it. But then I go for breakfast, have double hot chocolate and things start looking slightly better. My car is covered in frost and it's pretty cold. With my teeth shattering I go to the park. I prepare for the hike and set off in the direction of the Mirror Lake . The trail is easy and after a while I warm up enough and set into a steady rhythm. After a break at the lake I continue and soon meet a deer family and then I continue towards the Lower Yosemite Fall , which is full of tourists as it's just next to the road. I take a break there. Until now it was mostly flat and I feel great. In fact I feel as if it was too easy! One thing is certain; I g...