The long and winding road (with a few twists too)

This weekend we ran at Mt. Tamalpais in Mill Valley, CA and our run started at the Pan Toll Road Ranger Station. I have been out this way several times, but only to Stinson Beach. Once we actually found our way to the right place (hey - it was only about a 25 -30 minute detour) it was well worth it. Our scheduled run for the day was to run 5 hours or about 20-22 miles. I was feeling pretty good and was looking forward to a good strenuous run in a new place, which is always fun, for those of us that is who are a little strange, you might say:) Anyway, the run was beautiful and we got to go through a variety of woodland areas, grassy areas and even a tiny bit of road running! I fared pretty well and was able to do in the full distance of 22 miles in the allotted time. The only issue I had with my run was I kept falling and twisting and turning my ankles; mostly in the grassy area. The path through the grass was extremely narrow and there were little animal holes (mole, gopher, snake - gasp) right at the edges of the grass. I actually fell twice and twisted each ankle, but it was nothing that stopped me from continuing to run. The second fall actually included a bit of a barrel roll down a little hill, but still nothing major than a scraped hand. As mentioned, I also got my foot stuck in a little hole, twisted my ankle and tripped on a root and yes, one of these falls must just be chalked up to clumsiness. I felt a bit off balance on this run, like my equilibrium was off, but I think it was the terrain as a lot of other teammates seemed to fall as well.

Its Sunday now and I am not sore at all except for my ankles from all the extra twisting that they experienced yesterday. My teammate Kim and I walked a nice hilly 6 mile loop today and I am glad that I did because I feel much better! 40 miles this week - getting up there. Only three more months to the ultra event and I am feeling really strong. I am going to focus on being consistent, cautious about injuries and overtraining and continuing to build endurance.