The Road to 100: Part 2

(Read Part 1 here)
The weeks following my meltdown were much improved. It's amazing how something little like turning off Facebook can really help you focus on what's important. I think I cleaned my apartment for the first time in months. More importantly, there was nothing stopping me from running now. Not even the biggest timesuck humanity has ever produced. The legs felt ready and the mind was more than willing(to be distracted from itself).

Day by day, and week by week, I began to slowly and steadily establish that the Red Loop at Shawnee Mission Park was now my bitch. In other words, my new definition of “short run” was 8 miles. We had some good weather, and then some shitty weather. It was getting so hot that running at 6 am just wasn't quite early enough to avoid 90 degree temps. I rediscovered my love for....no... my obsession with... no... my addiction to...YES! My addiction to Sonic cherry limeades. There's honestly nothing better, more satisfying, or more flavorgasmically awesome than an ice cold cherry limeade after 12 miles in ridiculous heat and humidity.

MmmmmmmmmOHMYGOD!!!!!!

The runs weren't fast, but luckily speed wasn't the focus here. I needed to be covering miles and not hurting. In that respect, I was succeeding. I continued regular massage to work out all the little aches and pains that came with it, and I was astounded at the overall results. On one of my many red loop runs I had an interesting run-in with mother nature.

As I plodded along, something darted across the trail. Just another squirrel, at first glance. But a closer look revealed a kitten! But then a more further evaluation indicated that it was actually a baby bobcat! The nose was much too broad and the paws were enormous! I immediately stopped and looked around for momma bobcat, as I didn't quite feel like getting mauled on THAT particular day. After assessing my surroundings and becoming fairly certain we were alone on the trail, I snapped a quick video on my phone and got the hell out of there! 

Seeing as how I was seemingly back on the wagon for Ozark Trails, I had to take a hard look at my calendar and figure some things out. I basically had two months to pick up where I left off in May and build up to 50-60 miles a week with some back-to-backs thrown in for good measure. I had to build mileage fast, but intelligently. I trusted that the base I had built in January through May would allow me to skip square one, so I had started with 25 miles the first two weeks. The plan has been to add 5 miles per week, and with one exception because of travel, I've stuck with it. Now it is October and after two weeks spent getting sweaty and breathless at altitude with some amazing people, I am still absolutely terrified of the goal I have set for myself. But my confidence grows by the day. *

Mentally, I'm back to my baseline of merely being kinda bummed about things in my personal life, but at least I'm not being crushed by them.

Travel? Altitude? Um...Danny...are you just gonna mention those things and not explain yourself? We 10 readers demand to know what you've been up to for the past 2 weeks.

I'll think about it.

To be continued...

*Update: As of today, I'm having to cut out my final week of high mileage and taper early due to a sore ankle. This has been a really hard decision because it might just be a little niggle, but it might get worse. The OT100 course is notorious for being technical and covered with leaves...so as Bad Ben would say "Trail By Braille". The last thing I need is to bring a bad ankle into a race full of hidden ankle rollers. 

As you might have figured out from Part 1, this is obviously not having a positive effect on my state of mind. Taper blues are bad enough, but when you layer them on top of a tendency towards depression, things can get hairy. I predict the next 3 weeks are not going to be my best.