Up before the Sun

Hot breath on a cold morning.

100 Miles

Distance	Moving Time	Average Speed	Maximum Speed
1.9 miles	0:14.12	8.06 mph	12.86 mph

Our 100 mile mark came and went, and I confess, I did not shoot a video to commemorate it. Last week was bad for biking, between the rain and my head cold. I was lucky to get a few walks in. We didn’t get a single run in until the weekend, and it was nearly dark out when we finally hit the trail. A video wouldn’t have shown too much.

100 miles seemed like a lot to me at the beginning of  the season, but it really isn’t. It’s humbling to think that many teams run more than that in a single race. Those races are unfathomable to me. I can’t even wrap my head around the 1,049 mile Iditarod.

I’ll cut myself some slack. I only have two dogs. I can’t have an large team just yet. I don’t have easy access to 30+ miles of trail for training. Also, I’m not counting all the miles I walk and jog with the dogs. Our total mileage could easily be doubled, since I walk them more than I run them.

I am running a “sprint team”, based on my current circumstances. There’s nothing wrong with that.

I do look forward to the day that I get into distance running. Mostly because I love being out with the dogs so much. I want to spend hours out in the woods, just me and the mutts. I think I’d even like distance races. The races I’ve participated in are fun, don’t get me wrong, but they are fast and chaotic. Not a whole lot of time to stop and take in the scenery, that’s for sure.

Distance races aren’t without their challenges, of course. The strength and endurance needed to stand on runners for hours at a time is something I have yet to experience and appreciate. But I am determined to make it happen – even if it’s a goal set 10-15 years in the future.

In the meantime, I’ll keep on trucking along with my two goobers. I’m trying to take advantage of the remaining cool mornings with runs nearly every day. The upcoming forecast has eliminated all possible hope for more snow. At this point, we’ll be lucky if March has cool enough temperatures to do anything at all. Knox will hit the six month mark in less than two weeks, and I’d really like to try a three dog team before the season ends.

2011-2012 Mileage to Date: 106.53