The "M"

Thanks to Kate Skinner down at Frenchtown Physical Therapy, I am happy to say that I am back running again and better than ever. Still, with less than two months until the Missoula Marathon, I will not have time to get my mileage up enough to do it. So I had to find another goal for myself. It was not enough for me to just be supportive of my man while he runs his 50-miler (the Devils Backbone). So I went and signed myself up for the Pengelly Double Dip, a steep 1/2 marathon that I volunteered at last year.

I had a great week last week, in terms of running. On Sunday I went out and did 9 miles, the longest since the 1/2 marathon in February, and felt so good that I did it again on Wednesday. On Friday, I decided to try out the "M" Trail in Missoula, since that is where the race starts. In the immortal words of Lance Armstrong after completing his first marathon: "ouch." The trail to the M is less than a mile long, but so super steep that by the third switchback, I was walking every other one. It is a steep hike. It is a ridiculous run. But at least it was over fairly quickly. Then I figured it would take half the time to get back down, but no. It took the same amount of time for me to get down as it did to get up. I was trying to run, but it turned out to be this odd shuffle. Did I mention that it's really steep?

Anyway, so here it is Sunday and I'm supposed to be doing my long run today, but I'm still sore from Friday. Jim, on the other hand, worked a full day yesterday, then ran for over 4 hours, slept, got up and is gone again on another two or so hour run, showing no signs of being tired or sore. He left while I was still in bed, trying to get myself up. Maybe he's right, taking care of the kids is WAY more exhausting than work or running.