Scratching the itch.

Went for a longer run this morning, as per schedule for the Shoe 60km night trail race at the end of August. Figured, all I need is 20 this weekend, 25 next weekend - and 11 a weekend before the race. Just going for a comfortable finish, just because, no reason, just miss trail racing so much. But did re-evaluate my idea of jumping into a 100M race (Chimera was the plan on November 19) - the truth is, I have this non-stop bitterness that my "perfect run" at OD100 was sidelined by my injury. We got splits from the RD, and apparently, I was 2 minutes behind Linda at mile 50 (just as she passed me), just beginning to feel pain coming strong, 20 minutes at mile 75 as the pain escalated, and STILL ONLY 25 minutes at mile 87! That's after 2 horrific technical steep trail downhills where I used self-made crutches! I think that says I am a better trail runner, and she is a road runner. And all the next 40 minutes I lost on the final stupidly steep road downhill I hobbled!!! Same as I lost to the guys I was around with at mile 90 AS! Grrr...almost (almost is the key word) makes me want to come back and run better, but this is ultrarunning, things happen, and this is why we do it, fare and square. That said, I won't be in a good shape for November race, and I will only sabotage Figure show, which I am not backing away of, and I have some financial goals to make, so I won't be traveling to CA in November - I'll just run a local Warda 50 miler, chill for a bit and start training for speed, before adding on the distance. New year, new goals, old me:)

With all that, and since September will be backed off long runs (which make me retain water and fat as a body's mechanism for survival, when I will need to start basically dehydrating myself and pretty much starving too, yep, no secrets, those body shows are about as much fake as they get in the final month), I was looking forward my 21 miler. And it didn't disappoint.

I nailed it. I absolutely nailed it, every step, running through the rough local trails at the pace my best runs were done at, with no training, bunch of water, starting at 80F and 80% humidity and finishing at 90F and 60% humidity. It was awesome. Fluid, strong, brain never "went", I even got the words of most of the songs (which means I wasn't in a faze I usually am by mid-run). Crystal-clear and awesome. Hamstrings got tightened up, and my left knee has been bothering me last month, but with all that - perfect run, extremely satisfying, almost surprisingly awesome, and gives me so much confidence. No distance training, weird no-carb-low-calorie eating, lots of "pumping iron"...I still got it.

It, and that body show. Entertain yourself - pictures below are exactly 2 months into my training with Mo and Drew (8-2-11). I am not afraid anymore. I want to inspire. Anything is possible. A big shout-out to Ronda, who is about to embark on becoming a Lead-Woman, and who always keeps me honest. I also shared my "diet tips" with the local group, which I include here:

I wanted to clarify on eating stuff. I am not even sure (to say the least) what ratio Paleo claims to be going, and have no clue when talking about 40/40/20 or other percentage, which number goes to what. I don't have time for this. I believe in "eating what my grandma ate, on a plate the size she used". The way I alluded to Paleo was that I excluded simple carbs in terms of anything from flour, sugar, grain and starch (no pasta/bread/rice/white potato/sweets for the simplicity of the point). At the same time, I am not into bringing lots of fat, however healthy they are. That said, I don't jump on a wagon of lots of pork chops, fried ribs, beef steaks and so on. My protein source is chicken, tofu, eggs and fish. It worked for me. Eventually, everyone will find their own way. No diets are good - because they all are temporary solutions. Changing the way we think and live is the one and only path. My fall-outs are a slice of good cheese and a piece of 90% chocolate:)

And now - on to a Tejas Trail night race to hang out with friends and watch Larry run a 60k. It is a beautiful thing, this life!