I Guess Rehab Isn't THAT Bad

It's easy for me to complain about being stuck running short rehab runs every night, but sometimes I forget how lucky I am to have such a scenic loop directly across the street from my house. Sure, it's no mountain backdrop, but as far as man-made views go, it's tough to beat this route. I grabbed my camera on the way out the door tonight (still light at 8:50 p.m.!) to give everyone an idea of what my daily views are like on my runs...

I head out my front door and run 1 block up the street to the Library of Congress steps (where I also work). From there I have this view of the back of the Capitol Building (which used to actually be the front, but we'll save the history lesson for another time!).

From the LoC steps I run up the newly landscaped back lawn of the Capitol to pick up the grassy path on the side. From there I head down the long hill that leads soft dirt paths of the National Mall (excellent for rehab, I might add).

You can tell I was chasing sunlight tonight, but even without proper lighting or a fancy camera, you still get the idea. If you click on this picture, you can see the Washington Monument on the other side of the Mall. Since it's about 2 miles from my house to there, that makes for a convenient 4 mile rehab loop!

Guess who can't hold the camera still while running?

Got there just in time to squeeze out the last bit of sunset for lighting. If I had any kind of real camera, you'd see that the monument is actually lit beautifully at night. If anyone is ever in DC would like a personal running tour in the evening to see it for yourself, by all means drop me a line!
One more close up from the Washington Monument before turning around and heading home!

...and here's the home stretch as I head back to the Capitol finish line! Just another ho-hum rehab run around my front yard!

Ultra Entertainment

This week I've realized that there's something horribly wrong with going for a 3 mile run. Under my own rehab rules, I've limited myself to that distance this past week (until today's mighty 6er), and while I know it's for my own good, it's over before I even get a chance to enjoy the fact that I'm running. One great thing about my situation this week is there are tons of great distractions from the world of Ultras that are keeping me entertained when my running has to end:

First off, if you haven't read "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall, you should probably do so today. If you don't read it, you'll run the risk of being the only one in your group on the trail in your next race not contributing to the conversation. Sort of like showing up for a Scientology meeting with Dianetics still unread on your bookshelf. You may already know the story of the Tamahuara indians, or the benefits of barefoot running, or the history of human evolution, but this book ties it all together with an interesting story that makes for a great read. Whether or not you agree with all the "scientific" points being made throughout the book, I think the last quote from Caballo Blanco perfectly sums up the spirit of ultra running (or at least how I view the sport): "Running isn't about making people buy stuff. Running should be free, man."

In other Ultra news, how about that US 100k team ripping it up in the World Championships this weekend in Belgium?!! Oregon's Kami Semick WON the race for the ladies and led the way for Team USA to win the female championship. Not a bad follow-up to the 24 Hour team taking 2nd place in Italy last month - Nice work ladies!! The men also put up a great showing with Micheal Wardian taking 6th overall in the race and Todd Braje cracking the top 20 w/ a 19th overall showing. It's great to see the US establishing itself on the world level in these races!

Adding one more thing to the list of great ultra distractions this week, is there anyone out there not buzzing about the insane talent ready to face off at Western States next weekend? Talk about a line-up of serious contenders on both sides (20+ deep for the men, 10+ deep for the ladies), Holy Cow! I won't get into a detailed list here since so many other blogs are already setting up polls and such (like irunfar and AJW), but I will mention that one guy in particular seems to be slipping under radar in all the chatter. I know he doesn't run 100s too much, but Leigh Schmitt is the real deal when he does move up to that distance (he still holds the VT100 course record), and I'm pulling for him to represent the east coast with a top 3 finish out there in CA.

That's all for now...I'm going to get some pizza - Hey, it's not like it'll affect my mighty 3 mile "training" right now, right?!

Testing...Testing 1, 2, 3....

Today marks 5 (FIVE!) full weeks off from running for me. Since my stubborn shin refused to heal during three months of half-training and elliptical work between Feb-May, I realized I needed to stop all training in order to let it heal properly. It was a tough decision to make, but being forced to run at 50-75% speed was only making me more frustrated. With five weeks now having passed since that decision, I'm ready to test the leg and see how it feels.

First off, to celebrate the regained use of my legs, I'm skipping work tomorrow to go for a nice hike in the Massanutten range. No running, just a nice hike on a course I love. After that I will begin running every other day for a week to see how my shin responds. I have surgery scheduled to remove a non-cancerous tumor in my neck in two weeks (it's a "schwannoma" that has grown at the site of my original lymphoma surgery 5 years ago) , but hopefully after that all the obstacles will be out of the way and I'll back running 100% again.

I'm still hoping to run the full 100 miles of the Viaduct Trail race in August, but I'm perfectly ready to shift that to 50 or 75 in the name of proper training if my legs aren't quite back at that point. I'm also looking forward to running the Cheat Mountain Moonshine Madness 50 miler in WV at the end of August as well. My super-fast running friend Adam Casseday is RD-ing this race for the second year in a row, and on top of being held on some great WV trails, the race features a 9 p.m. start time. After what is hopefully a long and healthy summer of running, I'll certainly look forward to running without the need of a hat and sunglasses!