T-Minus 4 days

its technically tuesday, so 4 days until saturday.

Two big things happen on saturday while a large portion of the U.S. sleeps off an Independence Day-induce hangover.

The one important to cycling fans such as myself is that Le Tour starts Saturday. The field is wide open again this year. I'd make a prediction, but I'd be completely wrong. I hope SlipStream...er Garmin/Chipotle makes a good showing. No prologue this year. It'll be an interesting race. It's hard to believe its been a year since I was in London watching the opening ceremonies, the prologue, and stage 1.



The second thing, which is more important to me is that I run my first 50 miler. People keep asking how I feel. I don't really have a feeling about it yet. It still seems distant. I'm not nervous. I'm not excited. I'm not scared. I partially feel prepared and partially feel completely unprepared. All I can do is show up and run. And run. And continue to run.

Five miles tonight, but it was one of my worst runs in years. Mostly due to "stomach" issues. Seven miles tomorrow..er tonight, five on Wednesday, and three on Thursday. Then my training is complete. Early forecast is for 78 degrees and 30% chance of rain. I won't start believing the weather till around Wednesday though.

No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn

So I seem to be consistently a week late with these reports, which in turn causes me to miss updating on some of the lesser workouts during the week.

Anyway, last weekend for the summer solstice, I joined Coach Cane and his crew for the No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn Century in Prospect Park. It was the first century I had completed since Texas 4000. I'd done plenty of rides in the 80 mile range, but just hadn't logged a century. I really hadn't put a whole lot of miles on my legs this year either due to training for the 50 miler.

I met up with Ross and we rode over to the park together. Once there, I consulted google maps on my phone, we rode down to City Coach and we dropped off Ross' bag. We rode back up to the park with Jonathan Cane and met up with the rest of the group, including my friend Dave who I met on the memorial day weekend rafting trip and Johanna and Doug who I worked with at JackRabbit. We started riding at 7 p.m.

Starting out, we were hammering pretty hard and riding at well over 20 miles and hour. We had to slow down and the first several laps due to and ambulance treating a rider who had been hit by a car. The park was packed with people and we found ourselves dodging runners, riders, balls, and children. I got a flat fairly early on and Ross stopped with me while I patched my tube. We both lost a lap, but hopped back on the pace line when the riders caught up to us. As the sun set, the park began to empty, which made for easier riding. I flatted again around mile 40 and just swapped out tubes. I jumped on the pace line when it came around and continued riding.

I knew we had a quick rest break somewhere around mile 70, so I was trying to hold off stopping to go to the bathroom. Every lap completed, I wished for the stop because I felt like I was going to explode. We kept going and going. Eventually I got my wish and we made a quick stop and I was able to relieve the pressure, fill my water bottles, and grab a quick bite to eat before we were back on the bikes.

Around mile 89, I got dropped fairly severely. I knew there was little chance to catch the group and I was fighting even harder by riding alone. However, I was determined to finish even if I had to ride by myself. I started hammering hard (I don't know where I got the energy) and was able to catch the group after a couple of miles. I latched onto the back of the group, where I stayed for most of the remainder of the night. When I caught back up, Ross informed me that we had 4 remaining laps.

My legs were very fatigued and felt like jelly, but I just kept pushing. We were almost done. I finished out the ride with the group. Although I was 2 laps down from the flats, I ended up riding 117 miles due to the ride to and from the park. It was the first time I'd ever done that distance (nearly) straight through. I'd always had break. It was definitely a challenge and a struggle, but I hung and and finished. There was definitely something very cool about riding in the dark with the park mostly empty as well. That ride struck something in me. I think I want to try a few bike races.

We ended up averaging 18.95 mph, which definitely isn't too shabby. I'm in for next year!

Western States: Canceled

--Story--

For the first time ever the WS100 has been canceled. This must have been an excruciatingly difficult decision for the RD. People have been training for a long, long time and put in a lot of miles for this race. Knowing the disappointment and backlash the RD would face had to make the decision even more painful. I can only think of the disappointment if I were to receive news that my 50 miler had been canceled. Then I have to take that and double it. Runner's for the WS100 have trained much harder and much longer than I have for my race.

I can only wonder what they will do for entries in 2009. The fair thing would be to transfer all 2008 entries over and have a waiting list for new entrants. However, I was planning on throwing my name into the lottery, so I selfishly hope that they don't go the fair route. It will be interesting to see how this pans out. I also wonder if any of the other 100 mile races near the same time period (Vermont comes to mind) will see an influx of runners.

New Bike Gear!

I finally brought home my new purchases for my bike. Both of these made the migration from work to home today:




I can't wait to actually get them on the bike and then ride. Should shave off a decent amount of weight. I gotta pick up a new cassette before the wheelset goes on, but that should be happening soon.

On a side note, my awesome nephew PRed in the long jump at his meet this past weekend. I'm excited for him, and it'll be cool when he starts competing in other events and PRs in those as well. As a runner, I obviously want to see him tearing up the track, but he'll get there when he's ready.

The Human Body is capable of amazing things

This past saturday was my 40 mile run. The longest run of my life thus far. I went through the gamut of feelings during my run...everything to phenomenal to completely beat down and back again.

My friend Jim (who is also running the 50 miler) and I left Niketown just before 11:30 on saturday morning in high spirits. We were both about to embark on the longest run of our lives. I'd previously done 60K (37.2) a couple times and Jim had done 33 miles the weekend before. We entered Central Park at 5th and 59th and headed up to the northern end to meet up with Ramon (a RUN NYC and TNT coach) who was celebrating his 41st birthday by running 41 upper loops of the park (57ish miles). We ran into him on the west side and joined his entourage for about half of an upper loop before parting ways at 110th street. Ramon had already done 37 miles by the time we caught up with him. Jim and I could only hope to be feeling as strong as Ramon seemed when we hit the 38 mile mark.

We ran west on 110th until we go to Riverside Park and then proceeded north until we found a path down into the park away from Riverside Drive. We ran along the dirt path until it ended at the tennis courts, where we followed a narrow path around the edge of the courts. When that path ended, we found ourselves on a road just above the West Side Highway that didn't have much traffic but looked like a highway. Eventually, that spit us out up near 125th street where we navigated our way back onto the greenway. Continuing north we eventually made it up to the GW Bridge and walked most of the ridiculously steep path and road that led us up to the MTA station at the bridge. We ran inside, literally ran through the station, and picked up some gatorade and some quick snack food and started the traverse across the bridge.

Once in Jersey, we jumped onto the northern trail in Palisades State Park and began our assault on the woods. I started feeling very fatigued and a little nauseated, but continued running on. I mentioned my state to Jim and he agreed to slow down the pace and take it a little easier, but my condition continued to deteriorate. My pace continued to slow and I became more verbal about how bad I was feeling. Jim, always thinking of others first, stated that he thought we should walk for awhile. I agreed and we started alternating walking and running as my nausea continued to worsen. Eventually we were doing more walking than running. I told Jim he could continue running and I'd fend for myself, but he wouldn't budge.

We were closer to the park headquarters at the north end of the park than we were to Manhattan, so we decided to keep moving forward and make the 5 miles to the headquarters and reassess the situation there. As I continued to feel worse, Jim kept encouraging me. Eventually we came upon a staircase where I sat down to try and recover a little and to try and calm my nausea. As I sat there with my arms resting on my knees, I saw the skin on my legs begin to undulate wildly. Realizing I was hallucinating, I knew my day was over. There was no way I was going to finish the run.

After a couple minutes, I got up and Jim and I crossed a small service road and reentered the trees. Jim offered me a GU saying that the ginger might settle my stomach. Just the thought of trying to eat anything was making my stomach turn, but I knew I needed some sort of nourishment. I was completely falling apart. Minutes after taking in the GU, my stomach settled and I was back to running. I still felt very fatigued, but I was able to run again.

A few miles later at around the 20 mile mark, we reached the park headquarters just as rain started to fall. We entered the small building and refilled water. Jim found a vending machine and I grabbed a Mt. Dew, which I immediately drank along with another GU. As I regained some strength and Jim drank two Brisk Iced Teas, the thunderstorm unleashed its fury while we huddled under a small porch trying to decide what to do. I was feeling much better, but we weren't sure how long the storm was going to last.

There was a small break in the storm, so we decided to try our luck. The rain was still falling, but not very hard. We ran down the road and then entered the trail getting our first taste of the new terrain created by the rain. Mud and water were everywhere. My shoes were soaked through within minutes, but we continued running. The driving rain returned and brought thunder and lightening with it. The storm worsened and the light strikes were so close we could feel the heat. We had not choice but to press on, there was nowhere to take shelter except for a bunch of trees. The trail was covered in sometimes six inches of water. We continued on.

Eventually after a number of miles, thousands of raindrops, and countless lightening strikes, the rain subsided and we found dry ground again. With the absence of the rain came the reemergence of the heat. One foot in front of the other. The pace was slow, but we were still making progress. Eventually reaching the GW Bridge, we ran back into Manhattan and went back into the MTA Station to refuel once again.

Once again, I started feeling ill, but once again, a GU quickly settled my stomach and we were able to make some slow progress again. We continued down the west side debating how far we were going to run and where we were going to end the epic run. Eventually we decided to run all the way downtown to the Runners' Station located at Harrison and the West Side Highway, which would make our total somewhere around 42 miles. We were both beginning to feel the fatigue set in as Jim started calling some of our friends so that we could laugh at ourselves and tell them how bad we felt.

The sun began to set and the dark clouds began to roll in as thunder rumbled in the distance. It was now a race against Mother Nature's impending fury. She'd already beat us earlier in the day and as much as we wanted to hurry our pace to thwart her, we lacked the energy. With each slow step, our doom was sealed. Just north of Chelsea Piers the rain began. The pouring rain soaked us in an moments. We sought shelter for a short time, but decided to just get the day over with and went back out into the driving sheets of rain. For two miles we continued a slow, sloshing trudge down the West Side Highway. About a mile away, I knew I was on deep energy reserves and found myself grunting my way down the path. Eventually the Runners' Station came into view and Jim and I knew our long test of will had come to an end. I unlocked the station and we went in to wait out the storm and recount our run.

I was amazed I was able to bring my body out of the poor state it was in at around mile 13 and run another 29 miles. It was a test of both physical and mental fortitude that I was able to pass with Jim's help and encouragement. I was the weak link, but we were able to work through it and finish out the run. I think we both learned from the experience and it will benefit both of us on race day.

Thank you Jim. There's no one else I'd rather pound 50 miles out with. Let's crush this race and then look forward to bigger, tougher, and more insane. We both have trouble stating why we want to do these things, but I know we both understand.

Bunion Derby

I ordered this book a few weeks ago and just finished it the other day. There was an article in Runner's World a few months ago about the 1929 footrace across America, so when I saw this book on amazon, it grabbed my attention.

It amazes me that the runner's involved in this race were able to accomplish what they did in the conditions in which they ran. Day after day they logged 30-50+ miles. These guys didn't have the advantage of modern running shoes. There was no "air." There was no EVA. There were no medial posts. Their apparel was just whatever they owned. These guys were running in wool sock and flannel shirts. There were no bandaids for blisters. No body glide to prevent chaffing. Many of the "roads" they ran on were little more than wide trails. Their nutrition was sub par. Yet somehow these men were able to continue running day after day.

The book itself seemed to read more as, "this happened, then this happened, and then this happened" than a flowing story, however, the subject matter was interesting enough that it kept me glued page after page. I found myself rooting for different runners as the race progressed. I pulled for all the black runners as I read about the disgusting things said to them as they traversed through northern Texas and Oklahoma. I pulled for other runners as they passed through their hometowns being welcomed as heroes.

One of the things I found most interesting was the final appendix. I had no idea that endurance running was second only to horse racing in popularity prior to the advent of modern team sports. Thousands of people would show up to watch endurance running events during the early and mid-1800s. I had always thought that ultra running was a somewhat new sport.

Anyway, if you are at all interested in running and endurance sports, I'd suggest picking up the book.

So much to update

I have been lazy. Well at least lazy in updating. I have not been lazy on other fronts. I have a half finished Need for Speed Relay Race Report to finish from last weekend. I rode a nice 80 miler up north of the city on friday and then ran 40 miles through nausea, fatigue, two thunderstorms, chaffing, and side stitches all with a nice high ankle sprain. All that capped off with some sunday hang gliding.

Oh you have much, much reading to do...but first I have typing to do. However, I'm much too tired at the moment to bleed it all out through my fingers.

I feel the need for speed!

This past sunday was the Need for Speed Relay from Bear Mountain to New Rochelle. Once again our team was comprised of current and former JackRabbit employees. And once again we donned the name Spearheaders, which was inspired by our friend and former store manager Chris Bergland. Last year we took second place in the corporate co-ed category and we were looking to improve and win our division. All forecasts called for temperatures in the mid-90s, which wasn't too appealing for a race environment. As much as I love to run and cycle in the heat, I hate racing in the heat.

We left the city a little later than planned, but the trip up to Bear Mountain didn't take very long, so we were still at the start long before the start of our wave at 8:45. Immediately upon arrival, I saw two of our pacers from work, Bev (who beat me just days before in the race) and Kevin. Their team was returning to defend their win the previous year.

We took a team picture in front of the starting line and then bid Jim a farewell as we were sent driving to the exchange for leg 2. We were expecting Jim to blaze through his leg despite the heat. Jim came through a little later than expected and when we jokingly asked him if he walked, he confirmed that he had indeed walked at the mid-way point. He said the heat was intense and got to him for a brief period. We got him some water and then went back to the van to drive to the next exchange.

Jené, who has been battling various injuries for what seems like forever, ran leg two. The leg was on trails and was fairly hilly. Last year the leg was longer and it was infamous for losing runners on the trail. When we arrived, there was already news of runners lost on the trail. All we could hope for is that Jené dug deep to use her primal instincts to follow the scent of the runners on the right path. While other teams were sending out search parties for their missing runners, Jené cruised through the exchange and handed off to Russ.

Leaving the exchange area, sweaty, exhausted runners were tortured as they had to walk by a large, empty, refreshing pool behind a chain link fence where a few lifeguards were attempting tricks off the diving board.

Russ, the ironman, blazed through his leg like he was lazily watching TV. I'm fairly sure the blisters on his feet were due to the heat generated by his speed and not by the cotton tube socks.

While waiting on Russ, I quickly briefed Megan on the layout of her leg, as it was one of the legs I did the previous year. Russ streaked in, made the hand off and Megan shot up the initial hill of leg 4. We piled into the van, yelled support to Megan as we passed and then continued on to the exchange for leg 5.

At leg 5, we lounged in the shade and waited on Megan to come through knowing that we'd have little time to relax since she was only out for a short 2.9 mile jaunt. Megan handed off to Erik and we hopped back in the van to proceed to the next exchange.

As we were driving, I noticed a van partially pulled off the highway, but blocking the right lane. I noticed Bev behind the van and assumed their team was cheering on their runner or giving their runner support. I thought to myself that it wasn't very safe to be only partially pulled off the highway. We proceeded on to the exchange.

After lounging in the grass for awhile discussing the upcoming Finger Lakes Fifty with Jim, I went over to the exchange area where I saw Bev. She had a strange, almost confused, look on her face when she exclaimed, "You don't even know what just happened." She proceeded to describe helping a collapsed runner and calling 9-1-1. The guy had collapsed on the course was unconscious and was beginning to have seizures. His eyes were rolled back in his head and his lips were blue. They helped him as much as they could before the ambulance arrived. The runner was severely dehydrated and was obviously succumbing to heat stroke.

Erik came through bloody nippled and soaked with sweat. Even on a short run, technical shirts have their usefulness for those with sensitive areas. Christine grabbed the wristband and was off on her leg. We piled into the van and drove to the next exchange area, honking and yelling at Christine as we passed. Just before the exchange, the running route passes through a large cemetery (where Babe Ruth is buried according to Shay), and once again, there was a funeral taking place. I felt bad last year and felt bad this year. I don't know why they can't route the race away from the cemetery.

Christine came through and passed off to Shay who cruised out of the exchange area. A quick drive got us to the next exchange where Rich and I surveyed the area and I informed him of the stairs he had to climb on his initial run out of the exchange area. The rest of the team came up from the van and we all milled about in a soft grassy area waiting on Shay to finish her leg. She came through, handed off, and then we corralled her back into the van to drive to the last exchange knowing that Rich would be blazing through his leg.

As soon as we got to the final exchange, I started readying myself for my leg. I was hoping to run 7 minute miles or better, but I knew it would be challenging in the heat. Not only that, but I had ridden 60 miles on my bike the prior day and raced the 5 miler only a few days before. I felt good and figured I'd give it a shot. I put on my soccer/compression dri-fit socks, skylons, and my racing shorts. After applying a little body glide to prevent chaffing, I went to the exchange area to mentally prepare.


I did a little stretching and such to get ready as I watched for Rich. Soon he came through and handed off the wristband, which I now had to place onto my ankle for the anchor leg. It took me a few seconds to get it in place and take off. I went out blazing the pavement. My body was feeling great. I was hoping to pass a bunch of people and turn in a quick time for the team's final leg. My first mile was sub 7 minutes, and as I cruised downhill, I felt great. Just before I clocked my second mile I saw my first victim slowly running along. I cruised passed her as she bid me a quick "good job." I returned the camaraderie and continued my pace, which I had consciously slowed slightly to conserve some energy. My second mile was right around a 7 minute pace.

After a long downhill, I turned left and went up a short, but very steep hill. Remembering it from the previous year, I shortened my stride, leaned into it, and devoured the hill. I felt my quads a little fatigued as I went up, but it wasn't anything major. As the course continued through neighborhoods, I felt my pace slowing a little as my body started to succumb to the heat and humidity. I realized there was no way I was going to average the pace I wanted, but I was OK with slowing down a little.

I came up on the water station in front of a school and was handed an ice cold glass of water and a very hot gatorade. I quickly drank half the water and then poured the remainder over my head in an effort to cool off a bit. I then opened up the Gatorade and slowly sipped on it as I made my way through the school grounds and into a park, which marked the end of the shaded area of my leg. The rest of the course was along sidewalks on city blocks with little to no shade.

As I continued sipping on the warm sports drink, my stomach began feeling quite upset. I realized there was no one anywhere remotely close to me--in front or behind. The sun was beating down on me and the nausea was worsening. My pace slowed even more. I eventually had to take a quick walking break to keep my stomach from expelling its contents. As I entered the downtown area of my run, I passed restaurant after restaurant, which only exacerbated my stomach condition. I gritted my teeth and continued moving forward.

Eventually, I couldn't repress my stomach any longer and I began to dry heave as I continued my run. Knowing vomiting to be a serious condition, I slowed my pace to what felt like a crawl and used short walking breaks to try and keep fluids in my system. Although the dry heaving continued sporadically, I was able to keep from vomiting. As I looked ahead and behind, I was still seeing no other runners.

With a little over a mile to go, an SUV pulled off ahead and members of another team jumped out and gave me an electrolyte strip and a bottle of water. I thanked them profusely and continued what had become a meager shuffling of my feet. At a point that had to be slightly under a mile to the finish, I noticed another runner ahead of me. My stomach had begun to settle slightly, so I challenged myself to overtake the runner before the finish.

I noticed I was closing in very quickly on the runner. When I arrived next to the girl, she was doubled over and her face was bright red. I inquired if she was OK. She said yes, but her face said otherwise. I reluctantly left her behind, but we were near the finish line, so I figured if she continued walking she would be OK. When I saw the last turn to the finish line, I picked up my pace as much as I could with the remaining energy. My body wanted to walk, but I just kept going. I turned the corner and "sprinted" to the finish line.

As I ran through the finish, I felt my stomach wanting to punish me for the quick finish. I placed my hand over my mouth and was able to keep everything down. Immediately after finishing, my teammates started dumping water over me to try and cool me off. I had no idea how bad I looked until I was informed later. I sat down and drank water as I had water poured over me. After a few minutes I tried to get up but immediately had to sit back down because I felt so light-headed. Eventually the girl that I passed hobbled through the finish and the medics went straight over to attend to her.

As I complained about the heat, humidity, dry heaving, and my slow pace my teammates told me not to worry about it. Jim kept mentioning that he would tell me why it didn't matter. Once I sort of snapped back to reality, I was informed that after another runner collapsed on the course, the race had been canceled. Teams near the finish were allowed to finish if they wanted. Apparently we were only the 13th team to cross the finish line. I knew my blood sugar was low and immediately went looking for something sweet. I initially found an apple and started eating that, but then I found a chocolate chip cookie which I quickly devoured. After getting a little food down, I started feeling normal again and was able to grasp what had transpired. Many of the teams dropped out of the race, not many crossed the finish line, and more than one runner had gone to the hospital.

We waited around on the awards ceremony and found out we won our division (Corporate Co-ed), which was an improvement over our second-place finish the previous year. We also finished 9th overall. Only 22 teams out of 102 completed the entire course. My horribly slow pace on Leg 9 was still the 7th fastest time out of the 22 teams that finished the race, so I felt slightly better about it. We got our medals and our winner's plaque before loading into the van and making our drive back to the city.

My bike is annoyed with me...

I've been lazy and put off a spring cleaning for the bike, and it let me know a block and a half into my ride with a flat tire, a patch that wouldn't hold, and then a walk home. I placated the bike with a new tube and it then allowed me 60 miles today.

I rode over the GW Bridge, up to the state line, and back down. I wanted to go farther, but I didn't take enough fuel with me and I'm racing tomorrow. We got our first taste of summer with 95+ degree temps depleting my electrolytes and dehydrating me. My legs tried to cramp up coming back over the Billyburg Bridge, but I was able to stave them off.

I only almost died twice on this ride, so that's a plus. Some german guy on a mountain bike decided to blindly ride into the bike path on the west side highway. I almost skidded into him. As I rode off, he had the nerve to yell at me (in german of course). The second time was on my way back down from the state line. An old guy turning onto 9W decided that he didn't need to wait for me to pass before he pulled out onto the highway. Luckily, I expect cars to be oblivious to me, so the situation was averted with a quick swerve and a couple nasty glares at him.

Other notes of interest: I got a nice little shower when some guy in a mustang decided to clean his windshield when he drove by me. Its interesting that in a city of millions of people you can still run into people you know. I forgot how incredibly nice it is once you cross the GW Bridge and start heading north. I absolutely LOVE hot weather. I love to sweat. It feels great.

here's to a good race tomorrow. As much as I love the heat and LOVE running/riding in it, I don't like racing in the heat. Just one 5.7 mile leg for me tomorrow.

Strip Down and Start Running

I'm officially entered in the Chipotle Underwear Run. Should be interesting!

For those looking for cheap bike stuff, Check out Chain Love! It similar to Steep and Cheap and Whiskey Militia.

all three great websites. I just picked up some hiking boots tonight for cheap.

Girl Power!

First, a big congrats to Bev for beating me by 10 seconds this morning in the NYRR 50th Anniversay Run. The weather was pretty crappy, but the race was good.

Secondly, a big thanks to Bev. I doubt I would have run as fast as I did without the competition.

Mile 4 was the tough one for me. My splits were:

Mile 1: 6:36
Mile 2: 6:44
Mile 3: 6:42
Mile 4: 6:57 (ouch)
Mile 5: 6:44


We started out at a pretty quick pace. I felt good coming up cat hill, but I definitely felt like I was losing some steam as I neared the end of mile 3. As I worked up the hills through mile 4, I started feeling really bad and told Bev to not hold back on my account. She started pulling a little farther ahead at that point. I eventually started feeling good again and clocked that last mile back down where it should have been. All-in-all, a good race. I was just hoping to run a sub-35 time and ended up with a 33:44, so I'm quite happy with my pace and results from my first 5 mile race.

Next up, Need for Speed Relay on Sunday.

What 35 miles feels like.

That's right. 35 miles. I ran it on saturday. I've run farther twice, but both times were for the Knickerbocker 60K (37.2 miles). This was definitely the farthest I've run solo, and I also ran it sans ipod.

At Run Club, I decided I was going to go for 30 miles, but then I saw and discussed the impending weather forecast. I was initially excited about running in the pouring rain. I wanted to go find some mud and put the trail shoes to use, but then I was told it was supposed to hail. I figured I'd see what I could get in before the weather got too bad.

I left the apartment just before 1 p.m. The front wasn't supposed to hit until 4, but as I walked out the door the rain started. The rain came down light at first and then strengthened. Several cycles happened before I saw my first signs of lightening. I toyed with the idea of returning home due to the lightening, but decided to stick it out and see if it abated. Luckily, I saw no more lightening, so I continued over the Williamsburg Bridge and into Manhattan.

A short jaunt down to the Manhattan Bridge put me back in Brooklyn and on my way to Prospect Park. Or at least I thought. After correcting a few wrong turns, I made the loop in Prospect Park a couple times tromping through as much mud as possible. I left the park and ran over the Brooklyn Bridge and looped around the bottom of Manhattan.

After a quick stop at the Runner's Station (the new location is Harrison and the WSH), I made my way up to 14th street and made a quick stop at JackRabbit Sports to say a couple "hellos" and use the facilities. After that, I ran to the East side and made my way back home via the Williamsburg Bridge.

That was 35 miles. I was pretty tired afterwards, but I didn't feel any worse than I do after a 20 miler. I had no muscle soreness on sunday. The only thing that kept me from doing 20 on sunday was that I turned my ankle pretty bad at mile 25. Ten miles on that ankle has resulted in a fairly sore upper ankle. Its really amazing what I've trained my body to handle. 35 miles and my body was ready to go on sunday.

Two weeks until I do my 40 miler, which will be my longest run to date.

Wednesday is race day. I have to make the decision tomorrow if my ankle will be ok to run. I really want to race the 5 miler on wednesday morning.

In case you didn't hear, the 100m World Record was broken by Usain Bolt, who was running the event as speed work for longer races. He's not even a 100m guy!