Totally Gunned

I've been waiting for these couple of "do-nothing" weeks for awhile now and it's every bit as dreamy as finding cash in your ski jacket from the previous season. Since last Saturday's Gunner Shaw, I haven't even run to get out of oncoming traffic. It feels fabulous and my energy is definitely springing back. I was a bit in the closet about the fact that I was putting some training effort into Gunner Shaw this year but I worked hard for close to seven weeks. With a whack of mile and two mile repeats at "this-sucks" pace, it seemed I had to be benefiting. That was until the third week when I realized I wasn't seeing any improvements and that my track times were actually getting slower and my niggly injuries weren't exiting this thing I pretend is a temple. Even worse, I started dreading every run. Even the short, easy 40 minute lunch runs were as unappealing as Killian-style white Exo on a hog. Running in the Santa Monica Hills over my birthday was even tough to get into. If it weren't for the novelty of a new locale, I'd have been happier sipping coffee and watching the very special crew at Venice Beach.

A beautiful Saturday morning heading back down from Topenga State Park near Santa Monica

After a couple days off, I thought I might surprise myself and run well at this years Gunner Shaw. That morning though, I awoke feeling the same dread toward running that I had in the days before. As usual, the event was excellent. On a super fun course with beach, mud, the return of the giant puddle and what I refer to as "unleapable duck shit leap", this event was a blast. As for me, I ran the two 5k loops in just over 41 minutes and was completely and utterly GUNNED!

Thanks Jan Heuninck for the great action shot. You've given me the illusion of speed which I had little of that day.

Other than the cinnamon bun I actually drove all the way over the Lion's Gate for, knowing that this was my last run for a couple weeks was the only thing bringing a smile to my face at the finish line that morning. I don't plan to run again for about two more weeks but I'm looking forward to some more weight work with Marx Conditioning and a couple more Cyclocross races in the Bellingham area. As Monika (Marx) says, "It's time to recharge".