Coach didn't say it's gonna be easy. Quite frankly he said it's gonna be hard for the next few weeks. And I had to remind myself about that many times during the workout. I didn't wanna do this. I was sore. I knew it's gonna hurt physically and more mentally. It's very hard to have this mindset of "I have to do better than I did last time". I have to run faster, harder, better...than the last time I did this workout. Otherwise it's a failure. I knew this is gonna be a "failure" 100%. Last time I ran my fastest 1K ever. That's not happening today. I had whole 30mins of warm up to try to change my mind that it's okay to be "worse" than that today. And if I give it my all, all I have today, that's more than good enough. I started bit slow. But legs were moving pretty good. I felt okay-ish but I knew I still have 2 more to go. Second one was painful but still felt like I was able to hold about the same speed. I always try to go all in on the last one but there wasn't much left. As soon as I started to run I was in the pain cave. I tried to hold on so bad! I was screaming in my head 'Don't be such a b*tch! Work harder! It's only 5mins! It should be hard and you can do hard things! Keep the legs moving, let's fuckin go!" Omg it was awful, I felt like I'm gonna throw up, sh*t myself and pass out all at the same time hahaha. It was over tho. I did it. Now "only" 15mins running easy left. I even clocked in the second fastest 1K today! According to Strava. So that's cool! I can do hard shit. But not as hard as mountain legs. I skipped those today thinking I'd do some strength in the evening....but I didn't. I suck.
Coach also said that if I'd Rockwall on Saturday I could skip the hill repeats today. I really really wanted to but there was no announcement about it. Yet. So I had to go and do those stupid hill repeats. At first 8 felt like a lot. But I tried to think about it like strides. I usually do up to 6 strides and they are also 30secs. I can definitely do that! Also, think about it this way. Let's do 3. And then another set of 3. And then it's only 2. One almost all in and then just the last one, all in! It worked out pretty well. I started really slow tho. Legs were still sore and especially after those intervals yesterday I was tired. But I kept going faster and faster with each. Then some more easy running and I was done. Whew.
The last workout of this week was a 6K progression run. I've always tried to do these pretty intensely. Big gaps between those K's and running as fast as possible, obviously. But not today. Today I decided to save my legs and myself and went for an easy progression run. Started very very slow and each K was just a tiny bit faster than the previous one. Finished really strong and felt good about it. Progression is a progression. I don't have set up paces so I can do what ever I feel like. And today I felt like taking it easy but still completing the workout. I think coach was proud. He threw some bombs at me this week. But I picked them up and smashed them right back at him. :)
I was hoping to do Rockwall this weekend. When I ran with RunUphill they said they usually do it over the August long so I was patiently waiting...but unfortunately, that never came. They were doing something else. I was checking the weather obsessively through the whole day and playing in my head where should or could I go. Berg lake? Can I still pull that off? Probably not anymore. Assiniboine finally? The weather doesn't look very good and I'm scared. Pharaoh Peak and then also something bit better than 2hrs on Monday? Should I go back to Lake O'hara? Seems like many choices but not many of them actually possible. I also got an invite from Gemma to do Rockwall on Sunday with them. I thought about it, but I was bit afraid that they gonna do it "slower" than what I would like to do. Which is completely fine, just not what I wanna do there or for how long I'd like to be on my feet. The weather changed again when I looked in the evening. Assiniboine didn't look as bad anymore, quite frankly, it looked pretty good with possibly no rain until late afternoon. Should I go then? I got some encouragement from Tara. Also, I've already missed out on this one, twice. I know someone said they would maybe go with me next weekend but what if that doesn't work, not to mention, next weekend will be Northover ridge, which is another of my bucket list runs. So I decided go for it. It was already pretty late so I had to be fast to prep everything. Went to bed bit too late. Oh well, 6hrs of sleep or so will do.
Okay, this is it, we are doing it! I mean, I am doing it. Left early, to try to start before 8am. Drive was fine, I felt okay, bit worried but okay. Did nice pre run stretch, got everything ready, talked to some backpackers that arrived just after me and was on my way. I know the first 5 or so K as I've skied that few times in the winter. It's bit rolling. Tried to run easy but it felt harder than it should. My legs felt very heavy but sometimes it's like that and then it gets better later on so I just kept going. I was yelling AAA-YOOOO every few mins or turns, depends. Came across only one couple going in and that was it. Soon I arrived at this sign saying that I'm entering grizzly bear area where hikers have surprised bears and got seriously injured. Yay, really something I wanna see. So I started yelling even more and more often and carried my bear spray in my hand, ready to use it rather than in my vest. Soon I got to the first campground, used the bathroom and was on my way again. Legs felt still very heavy and there was lots of running now. Finally some views too and maybe 2 more groups hiking back. Otherwise noone and nothing. I got bit lost around the intersection with the part of the trail that's closed. Backtracked, checked AllTrails and off I went. Saw another couple there so I asked them if I'm on the right trail and I was. One bear poop. When I finally got up Assiniboine pass I was cooked. My legs were just done. And I wasn't even half way. But the viewwwwwwws. Omg, this is what I came for. It finally opened up and it was gorgeous! I was thinking about not going up to Nublet but I'm too damn stubborn and stupid so even tho I knew it's not a good idea and I'm gonna regret it later, I felt like I gotta do it cause that was the plan. Almost forgot to fill up my water so the first little pond I saw in the meadow, I went there and filtered some. Took few pics and was on my way. It was steep and I was not okay 😅. Reached the first viewpoint and thought Oh this isn't it yet, I gotta go all the way up there! (in fact, that was it according to Tara - I was trying to go based on her map, but this is where I got the extra 3K or so as hers was 53K in total and mine was 56K). Anyways, that was painful, steep and rocky. Made it to the top of Nublet. Views were great but clouds too low so I didn't see Assiniboine. Oh well, gotta come back one day. I sat down for a bit, filtered more water, had a snack, took pics and slowly made my way down. My leg started to hurt again, that spot between my ankle&shin, swollen again but I gave it a quick massage and it seemed to help. My stomach was going south at this point too and I wasn't interested in really drinking or eating much. Assiniboine lodge and the views are beautiful. Maybe one day I'll be lucky enough to stay there. Up to Wonder pass. Name was fitting. Cause I was wondering why the fuck am I doing this again 😂. And why am I feeling so bad again. One foot in front of the other. What a beautiful section tho! I wish I could enjoy it more. Soon I got up there and now this flowy single track down. Would be better if I felt good but it is what it is. It felt pretty neverending and I didn't see very many people there, one couple, one single guy and then group of 3. But the way along Marvel lake is SO long. I was glad the sun was behind clouds most of the time cause otherwise I'd get cooked there. Didn't really enjoy this part. I was also trying to think about Oh if I'm already 40K in, that means only 10K to run and then I can just walk in the 3K. Trying to hype myself to stay hard, work hard cause nobody cares 😁. Finally got to the intersection and saw 4 guys going down towards Marvel telling me to go that way too, I checked the map and honestly it was the same distance almost but I decided to just go where the map was telling me. Popped out of the trees in a meadow across the warden cabin I passed in the morning. Crossed the creek and was supposed to go right - "shortcut". I thought about it for a sec cause the trail to the cabin was straight ahead and looked nice but again, map says to go right so I went right. Omg what a mistake. I regretted that almost instantly and thought about turning around. The trail was SO overgrown, I was in this bush tunnel. All I could think about was if there is a bear somewhere here, I'm gonna walk right into his butt, I couldn't see anything. Lots of loud Aaayoos there. I felt like I'm in the middle of nowhere and that closed cabin I came across didn't ease my mind either 😅. I was talking out loud to myself about Just let me get home... 😂 I finally merged onto the main trail that will take me back to Shark. And that's where I also passed the sign saying it's 13.5K back. That doesn't seem right. That means it's gonna be over 56K, not 53...what?! That can't be true!!! So anyways, I just kept going, yelling and feeling like crap. I think all the yelling and being so alert all the time drained SO much energy from me. It was exhausting. I stopped at the creek at the first/last campground, refilled my water bottle, splashed some water on myself and knew, I still had 9K to go. That went on for ever. Especially the last 6K or so. When everything hurts&sucks, it feels that much longer. I was SO happy to reached the parking lot. Spent some time stretching and just getting myself together and left just before this storm rolled in. What an experience. Assiniboine forever checked off of my bucket list. I will be back. But not anytime soon! Now we rest...
The night after an ultra is always the worst. Can't fall asleep really, can't sleep, every movement hurts, it's really hard to get up. I eventually did. And didn't feel as bad tbh. It was time to take Lucy for a hike. The weather didn't look very promising but I thought I found a spot where we should make it without a rain. We left late. It looked okay when we arrived but I could see some clouds coming. Oh well. Lucy was again slow as heck. I didn't mind, slow, easy warm up was needed. Overall I felt pretty decent. Until she started to go faster in the more steeper areas haha. We made it to the top, snapped few pics and then....then it started pouring rain and that didn't stop until we got back to the car. Lucy was pissed! But thanks to that she was moving pretty fast on the downhill haha. The whole trip only took us 2hrs. Usually it's way more than that. It was good tho, easy moving on those tired leggies.
91.5K / 13:22 TOF
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