The last picture below shows debris from a significant storm the week before. I was doing the Pogue Overlook run and planning on doing a long spur from the end that goes down into the canyon to get the >1 hr I needed. I passed a guy and asked him what he knew about this lower trail and kept going. I was stopped due to the debris in the pic below when I heard a crashing behind me. He was running down the hill to stop me because he saw a mother bear and her cubs and the mother was going over the hill right where I was heading. He was trying to save my life! AND he might have been one of the best looking men I have ever seen in my life – like a real life hero! So the running adventures and exploring continue.

This is the year of the comeback and seeing what is possible. I am three months into a new training program starting from a point that I could not run around my cul de sac. Last week I did a 3.5 hr run and am deadlifting over 200 lbs so gaining back some strength and endurance. I am struggling with speed, never feeling strong in any run and having the energy to run plus do strength work. I wake up and am so tired I can barely move. Every day.

Pillars to speed and endurance I believe are:

• Recovery: My sleep has improved but not yet great, an hour more a night on average than pre-retirement. Need to focus also on stretching and more post workout cold stream sessions like the one heading this article!
• Nutrition: Average – need to meal prep more and measure intake. It is difficult to work so hard running, and also cut back on calories to lose the 30 lbs I know I need to. This may be a big factor into my tiredness – not eating enough or the right stuff. I am adding trying to be vegetarian plus fish, which puts a kink into my normal food.
• Weight loss: No progress on weight loss. I can’t lose weight when I am so exhausted all the time (between traveling to TN to help mom or just the hard workouts combined with gardening which wear me out). These extra 30 lbs make everything harder. Must. Prioritize. Nutrition.
• Well crafted workouts: I am going to talk with my coach about more strides but have been doing long runs, 3-8 min interval training (too long?), hill repeats (too long?). I give each workout my all.
• Strength: This I am sure is a key to toughness/durability and why, even without tons of miles every week, I succeeded in the past. I need to focus on this.
• Mental toughness: The stress of dealing with an aging parent is signifcant and perhaps worse than work because it is so personal. We are doing the best we can. During my most recent two week trip, mom went back into the hospital and all the kids got together for the first time in a while.

I read a famous cave divers’ book, Jill Heinerths “Into the Planet”. She is a true explorer. More people have gone to the moon than to the places she has been. I want to be a real explorer too! I just have to have some energy when I wake up 🙂