A bit too much!

The past week was mostly spent recovering from Run Rabbit Run, but I had committed to running a 22 miler on Sunday, just a week after a 50 miler! Someday, I hope all these newbie mistakes will pay off in a truly kick ass performace that doesn't leave me hobbling!

I ran about a mile and half on the Monday after RRR and felt just beat down, again after my antics a few days prior I wasn't expecting anything else.

Tuesday I rode my bike down to my buddy James' house to proctor his CFP exam (only the big one left buddy!) and continue recovering by drinking Coke and eating cookies.

Wednesday I managed to get myself out the door for my first short run of 5 miles which didn't go as poorly as I had exptected and started feeling good about 4 miles in so the run ended feeling great. I soaked in a nice hot bath afterwards to continue to loosen up my hamstrings which had been really tight after the race.

From then on I took off, doing no running with the intention of hitting 22 with Gunner on Sunday. When the day came, I was not feeling great in the legs, but decided to give it a go anyways. We started off too quick but settled into a good pace about 3 miles later. The highline canal trail is easy, smooth hardpack trail with little elevation change so we were cruising along and chatting. About 10 miles in my legs started locking up a bit and I made tough work of the next mile to the turn around. We stopped and stretched a bit because I was cramping a bit and wanted to work it out.

What I realized about 3 miles later was that my legs were just beaten down, sore and achy. I shouldn't have made it out this far, it was too soon. In any case, I gave the Garmin to Gunner and told him to finish off after we agreed on a meeting spot. I just shut it down, jogging and walking back to mile 20 (19 for me though as I cut the trail on the way back). I was a wreck, not in a bad way, just sore. I need to be more specific in my recovery procedures.

So far, I've not run this week, but plan on playing some BooshBall a bit later tonight and maybe a short run. I'm going to ease right back up to the Denver Marathon with no taper whatsoever. Don't need it. I need to get back to a steady slow routine with gradual increases, and I think I have just the time to get ready for DM.

I'll be getting some new shoes this week and tomorrow I get to officially put my name in the hat for Western States. I have been getting that butterfly feeling in my stomach today just thinking about it. I'm ready *I think* to commit to such an endeavor...