Washington Training Weekend Part II

I love camping.  Well... I should rephrase:  I love camping in my parents motor home.  Cowboy coffee... bacon, eggs and toast and all in the comfort of a 27'' home. 

Ian, Ashlee, Trent and I hit the trails at 10am for a MTB ride.  Day two of our training weekend here in Winthrop.  We decided to pre-ride some of the trails that would be in the trail running race the following day, up at Sun Mountain.  The weather was a bit cooler, but it was still quite muggy out. 

We ended up out for 2hrs on various trails all around Sun Mountain.  The trails here are super fun.  Nothing technical, however lots of single track and windy, twisty, rolling trails, which if you hit at high speed can make things a bit more challenging and mega fun!  The views, again, were spectacular!  It really is paradise here... I can't believe we have never been here to recreate before.  We are already planning out next trip in August.

My energy was good today, although my legs lacked any sustained 'POW!'.  I climbed steady and got into a rhythmn, but I didn't feel the 'jam'.  I just hunkered behind Trent and it reminded me of BCBR where days would go by and we would just do what it took to 'get it done' and kept plugging along.  It really was a fun day today and I thoroughly enjoyed the trails.  On top of that, I got in another 2hrs and build another back to back day into my weekend. 

I have been back and forth all day on if I should run the 50k tomorrow.  I feel like I could plough along and would have not problem getting it done, despite the fact that I have done nothing even close to tapering this week.  I have just two concerns:  1) My ankle is doing much better but not yet 100% and to top it off, I rolled it while running on Tuesday and it feels a bit tight still.  I can't jeopardize a set back.  2.)  Recovery.  I don't want to spend the next two weeks recovering from 1 race when I need to work on building hours and back to back weekend sessions with the limited time I have left till the Alps.  So needless to say it really is a common sense decision and I just have to let the ultra dream go this time.

We walked around the old western town of Winthrop in the afternoon and shopped, drank coffee and ate ice-cream.  It is the coolest place with old Saloons etc... then we all met up at our campsite for a pot luck spaghetti dinner and more wine/beer.  The benefits of not taking a race so seriously... no taper, you recreate as you please and can indulge in the cheap wine and great brew of the area!