Running above the clouds.
You might notice a skip in days — that’s because my wife and I went to Robbinsville, NC (Snowbird Lodge to be exact) to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. And as much as I enjoyed the relaxation and the good food, part of my brain worried I’d fall out of shape. That’s what Paul Lacoste does to your brain. So what did I do about it? I ran up and down a mountain for three days. On Friday, I ran the my longest run — 7.2 miles up a 9% grade. I went from 2,800 ft to 4,000 ft in 3.6 miles on the Cherohalaskyway. The air was thin and my lungs burned. So did my legs. But I got it done. And I had the bonus of running above the clouds. I also added 50 sit-ups and push-ups into the mix. And we kayaked two of the days and hiked the third.
I ate like a pig, too. But I think I compensated.
So this morning wasn’t bad as I thought it would be. The only trouble I had was with planks. I pulled my back lifting the kayak back onto the trailer on Friday. Planks felt like someone was sticking a screwdriver into my back.
But that’s about it on the negative. We ran and bear crawled a lot. Line four started with the weight room and finished on the track. We did Chaz’s new cone drill (which included bear crawls) and Wayne’s cone drills (which also included more bear crawls.). I had been hiking at 5,600 ft. worried about seeing a bear. Now I was acting like one.
I kept up ok. The bear crawls winded me a little bit — but they always do. I spend the whole time on the track catching up to the leaders of my line. But I did at the end. I ran off the field today with my head held high. It was good to be back in the saddle again.
But I do miss the Snowbird Lodge — even running up a mountain.