Week's getting longer

Well, sadly, week still stays the same in nature - 7 days 24 hour a day, but the workouts are increasing slightly. I only wish I had a couple more hours a day stashed up somewhere...

Monday I ran 7 miles and worke with weights at home (including lower body).
Tuesday was already described, with 12 total miles.
Wednesday was off (some tightness in hamstrings) and 45 min of yoga that helped me get loose again. This yoga thing really helps, I highly recommend it! I can feel how I get pretty close to what I was before with practice, and I feel the difference on the run. Even when I lift straight legs up for ab excercises, I couldn't keep my left leg upright without bending at the knee after the hammy tear, and now I can.
Thursday was 9 in the morning. I am so glad I found this bike path along the Tryon park, so when it's dark (what is always for my morning runs, and I can't go to the trails) I still feel in the woods. It gets me about 13 min to venture onto it, where the path takes away from the road and has no lights and no cars noise. It is so darn dark, there are places I can't see a thing 3 feet away (including under my feet), but the path is in very decent shape and I only caught my foot twice in the last 3 weeks. This Thrusady I saw 2 coyotees shoot into the park spooked by me. It gave me a little thrill. I also saw a deer last week. Just imagine it is a mere 100 feet away from the road! Where did they come from? Though I heard from neighbors we have coyotees in our own backyard.
I also went to the gym on Thursday. Ever since we moved and I cancelled my membership, I missed it. I belong to kind of people who needs inspirations and others around to work harder at things I don't particulary enjoy. Yes, Oleg is right, one can get an awesome workout at our home lil' "gym", but I get bored with 3 pieces of equipment and all by myself, I only walk in there when Alex is in (what luckily is every day), but I don't do nearely as much as I used to. So last week I had to meet someone at the 24 hr fitness club and I printed a 10 days free pass. Oh, yeah, I took full advantage of it! I tried new machine - threadclimber, used every leg machine and upper body thingy and learned quite a few new ab excercises by picking from other people.
Friday was 8 miles on the same bike path in half-dreamery state, working kinks of my emails to projected race sponsors, and in the afternoon I visited gym again, focusing on upper body and abs to leave the legs alone - what meant I couldn't laugh that night, my core was sore and hurting:)
Saturday was a long run of 25M. I met with Gail at the Zoo and her husband took us to Germantown, just over mile marker 24.5. We bumped into Sarah there, and as Gail and I started up and slowly worked our way into running, I kept thinking Sarah and her buddy would catch us up and we can run together. They must have started later as we were pretty slow.We talked for the first hour and half and then submerged each into our own thoughts. We walked some hils and ran others, were slow at some points and picked up at other sections, hopped over small logs and climbed over big downed trees, and the run had nothing unususal of what the long run is. The trails were in great condition with only marginal mud places, but it was quite windy, and trees made scary sound as if they were about to fall. Gail and I parted our ways at mile marker 6.5 (she took down the Aspen trail to finish 18 miler), and I put my i-Pod on to continue. Just as I predicted, after the Pittock hill (and sneaking to the bathroom amongst wedding party up there) I had opened up on a home stretch downhill and flat. I ventured to Japanese garden to make up half a mile to hit a perfect 25 (I am a sucker for round numbers), and only forgot how rediculously long and uphill the last mile on Wildwood is. It threw me off as it does every time, but I finished, in 5 hrs, as planned.
Gail and her husband Sid came over to follow me home and meet the puppy and see our new house. We spent some time working our training plans (she is training for WS100 this year), and then it was rest time.
Sunday Oleg and Alex got up early at 6:30 am (and I slept in!) and took a road trip for couple of days to Olympic park on north shore of WA. So I went on trails in light, for about 8 miles or so. I wanted to get a couple of more miles, but decided to spend extra time doing yoga, what I am about to start as soon as I finish this entry. This brought my weekly mileage to 69, a touch over planned.

On another note, as we talked with Gail and I shared my shaky RDing efforts, asking for advice, she mentioned I should put it on the blog. Having run, oh, I don't know, over 150 races by now, 40 of them been ultras, I always appreciated the work of RD, but never did I imagine what it really involves until I started on it. It seems little, only trail marking and clearing and organizing the aid stations - but this is a tip of the iceberg, really. Thinking of sposnorships, making contacts, getting a gazillion emails out, responding and not screwing up who I am asking for what and what can I give in return, beneficiary funds, having not only co-RD to keep in tune with but a club to report to and accomodate with, budgetting the race packets, thinking of awards (and what we can afford yet make it pleasant to runners), just constantly worrying how to make participants happy and keep the relationship with Forest Services, getting volunteers, be in line with Oregon Trail Series' rules and I can't even remember at this time what else...please next time you are at the race, thank the directors and organizers and all the volunteers (no, not me :), I am yet to get through with this, but those you go to, because they tried their earnest). It is a tougher job than I anticipated. I love getting emails and phone calls from people, especially those who embark onto ultraracing for the first time (and I even solicit training plans and advice for those), but it does take time. I wonder when my boss will kick me out for spending so much time on internet...