Once in a long while, however, I do display a modicum of sense. This is one of those rare occasions.
With Midsummer Night's Run out of the way, I started looking toward the rest of the season to plan out the training that will (hopefully) see me through the Run for the Toad 50k. The calendar that greeted me looked like it was put together by some drunken frat boys taking on a bet:
Aug. 24/25: Free weekend to train. Somewhat still recovering from Midsummer.
Aug. 31/Sep. 1&2: Motorcycle rally in Michigan. Will probably be able to get a couple of 1-hr runs in.
Sep. 7/8: Wasaga Olympic Tri (Sat) and water safety volunteering (Sun). Can probably run 1.5-2hrs Sunday after returning home.
Sep. 9-15: Backpacking & camping in Algonquin Provincial Park. Probably no running, and must pack/leave almost immediately on return from Wasaga.
Sep. 21/22: Tour de King (Sun)
Sep. 28/29: Free weekend to train. Should be in taper mode for Run for the Toad.
Oct. 5: Run for the Toad 50k.
Even I could see that this was going to be sub-optimal if I planned to survive the Toad, let alone be able to turn around and run the Horror Hill 6-hour 3 weeks later.
We had originally scheduled the backpacking trip such that we'd still be able to do Tour de King, but that just doesn't look like a good idea - I probably wouldn't run at all after mountain biking through the moraine all day, and back-to-back longer runs will be my best bet to get through the 50k. I should just go run instead, though I will be sorry to miss such an awesome event.
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| Image courtesy of Patrick Ivan |
As for the trip to Algonquin, there's no way we're calling it off! We've got a lot invested in this and have been looking forward to it for months. Furthermore, hiking with a 30-odd pound pack on my back will probably almost exactly replicate the sensation of walking unfettered up the hills at Pinehurst during the latter kilometers of the Toad, so it qualifies as decent training. However, attempting an Olympic distance tri, water safety volunteering and then leaving for said trip all within 72hrs seems a bit on the optimistic side. We'll simply move it back by a week, giving us time to pack at a more leisurely pace. I can get a long run in on Saturday (Sep 14), we'll leave Sunday morning, then we can be back the following Saturday (the 21st) so I can do one final big long run on the 22nd before tapering.
It may still be a bit ridiculous - after all, I still haven't rode my tri bike since Welland and have an Olympic distance tri in 2 weeks - but it's not like I've never done anything ill advised before..
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