2010 Running Log

Distance: 12.6Miles
Location: Xterra 20k Trail Run, Estrella Mountain
Duration: 2:22.09
Finish Time: 9:23 am
Monthly Total: 12.6Miles
Yearly Total: 681.3Miles
Yearly Duration: 115.10 Hours

Looking back on sundays run, the XTerra 20k Trail Run at Estrella Mountain Park, I come away with many observations as well as many questions. I showed up at the park with relatively high expectations of a good run, yet those feelings quickly changed shortly into the race which was held high up in the shadows of Phoenix International Raceway. I found myself staying right at my predetermined race pace(9:45) up through the first 5 miles of the race but quickly realized that my energy levels, especially on the hills, were extremely lower than normal. Sleep deprivation, lack of caloric consumption, and an underdeveloped training schedule leading up to the race could have figured into the reasons for this but I found that it almost seemed like I just didnt have the will to compete, I had lost the desire on this cool, fall morning in the Avondale desert. It continued through the remaining mileage complete with an almost shutdown of my lower extremeties around mile 11.5 when both quads and calves cramped up violently with less than a mile to the finish. After finishing the race in an ungodly time I realized that I was only to blame for the mindset I had put myself into. The culmination of poor diet and poor training reflected now in my desire to continue in something that in the recent future I had held so highly, meaning running in general. Looking back now I realize that I had fallen far from the mountain top of fitness that I could humbly declare earlier in the year. I now have the desire to climb up once again and enjoy the forbidden fruits that tasted so sweet in late winter.