I decided a couple of days ago not to register for the Lean Horse 100. Traveling to South Dakota (resulting in too much money spent on gas and hotel), only 2 weeks after the Howl (not enough recovery time), and the fact I had to abandon a long run at mile 17 were enough reasons to convince me.
However, after taking 2 days of rest after the aborted long run, I felt pretty good. I went to the track on Monday and did 150m sprints followed by 50m of jogging, repeated until exhaustion. After exhaustion set in I took off my shoes and ran 6 x 100m all out sprints in the grass. I felt strong in the workout, no apparent ill effects from the long run. The next day I was expecting my legs to be sore because sprinting/fast running usually does this to me, but I felt little soreness as I walked up and down the cemetery hill for an hour. As I walked the hill in scorching heat/high humidity, I realized I was feeling better than I have in a while. My hill walking days usually have traces of knee weakness, but my knees felt strong.
Today I plan on going back to the track to run the same workout as Monday. I want to increase my tolerance to fast paced running so that I can have a balance between running long and slow and short and fast.
I am contemplating running a 100 mile race in the autumn.
