Last Big Weekend Before Capt'n Karl's

This weekend was a three day weekend and my family was out of town so I had plenty of time for some good training.

On Friday I went out to Flower Mound to train on roads. I walked a potential new course for our TNT group (I didn't like the new course so we'll have to keep looking). The route was about ten miles. I returned to my car to refill my pack and then went out to do 11 more miles on the South Course. I stayed steady most of the workout but started dragging on the uphills at the end. I wanted to stay below a 12:00/mile pace and ended up with an average 11:58.

On Saturday I coached the team. I walked and ran with various people on the course and ended up doing seven miles. My pace varied from running 8:00/mile to walking 17:00/mile. As always, training was fun and it was great to be out with the team. The parents of one of our mentors made pancakes after training, and they were delicious.

Sunday morning I went to Rowlett Creek Preserve to get some trail and hill training. I started in the dark with my flashlight, and I got turned around on some of the new trails. I eventually found my way out and did a little over a 10 mile loop of the north side of the park. I stopped at my car to refuel and then headed out for another loop. The problem with RCP is that ten miles is a little too far for me to go without refilling my fluids, and there is no place to do that except the parking lot. So on my second loop I ran out of water and got a tad deyhdrated. I had planned to do one more loop but I was just beat and it was starting to get hot. I didn't want to run out of water again so I called it a day. My pace on the trails and hills was about 13:32 for 21 miles, which is pretty good for me walking on trails.

Now it's time to taper and get ready for Capt'n Karl's All Nighter (12 hour). I would like to get 50 miles but I'm not sure that's realistic right now so I'll just play it by ear. Also, that would depend on how they handle the end of the race. In some timed races with large loops there will be a short loop that can be used for the last hour of the race. That way you don't have to worry about being in the middle of the long loop when the 12 hour limit is reached (you wouldn't get any credit for the miles you completed on the partial loop). I don't know if Capt'n Karl's will have a short loop at the end. The course is seven miles long which means I would have to do 49 or 56 miles. I don't think 56 is realistic. So, long story short, if there is no short loop at the end I will try to get 49 miles. If there is a short loop, I'll go for 50+. I don't know if my current level of training is enough to get me there, but it's worth a shot.