DWD taper

An easy pace run both yesterday & Saturday is all the training for the past week in preparation for the 2^nd running of the Dances With Dirt in Gnaw Bone, Indiana this Saturday. I would have liked to have had a tempo run in like before the John Bryan 50K but I’m thinking DWD at 50 miles with some hills needs a different approach.

After getting sick in and after this race last year, I shut down ALL running till I recovered & till the heat of summer subsided. With the record high temperatures all the way thru August & much of September, that meant 3+ months of no running & a loss of the fitness I had built up after many months of training (it didn’t help that I hurt my back over the summer also). This year I’m considering an event each summer month to keep from losing what I have gained back since last September. No attempts at PR’s, just maintenance type running with the emphasis on surviving the heat.

First though, I’m hoping to have a better showing at Gnaw Bone & to finish not bending over. I was hoping they would keep the same course so I could have something to compare to, but according to the website, there have been course changes. Some portions of the same trails will be used as last year, but basically it’s another new course. So much for an advantage for knowing the course – which was a factor in the 1^st running of the race last year. I didn’t get lost, but I did go the wrong way several times, and I definitely wasn’t the only one that did that. I was used to having a trail flagged well when the course moves off a main trail/road onto a smaller side trail, unfortunately that wasn’t how I felt the course was marked last year (unless someone took down some flagging, which is not unheard of). I’m planning to be better prepared in that regard this year – also, like when I’m in the middle of a long line of runners, I won’t assume that everyone is paying attention to the course flagging – keep the head up & be alert & not act like sheep!