West Rim Trail

It has been a busy few weeks to say the least, and I let stress get the better of me.  My weekly mileage has been between 35-45 miles.  Not bad for bouncing back into 50ks....but not quite where I want to be for the 50 miler.  With the June 8 Cayuga race officially about a month out, I want to be careful about pushing too many long runs, and make sure I give myself a solid taper after the West Rim Trail attempt.

Pine Creek Gorge- I can't wait to see this!

          I went from a 42 mile week into about 35 last week...a decent taper into our West Rim Trail unsupported speed record attempt.  As I had mentioned in a previous post, my friend Erik and I are planning on setting a new record there.  I officially posted on the FKT site and we are heading out tomorrow (4/30) to camp over night and are starting out on Wednesday morning for the attempt.  I don't know why I even say attempt...to be honest whatever time we pull out will be a record, as nothing has been posted previously.
     It will be pretty cool to have a record like that.  I have to remember to take it semi easy however...if I go out too hard and don't recover well, I could potentially screw up the next few weeks of training into the 50 miler.  It will be my last long run before the 50, as well as the longest run yet this year.  I won't lie and say I'm not nervous though.  We're already planning to go out and run it again in the fall to see if we can best our times.
    I'm excited though.  I've been getting my gear together and picking out clothes, gels and all that over the past few days.  I loaded the audio tracks from the certification onto my ipod so I can get some "study" time in while I'm running, and I'm feeling good.  I went out for a nice and easy 10 with Matt this morning-might as well get in one back to back before the 50!
   So there it is...I will post a follow up with some pictures and info about the trip.  This will be my first time on the trails up there!  Here's to the West Rim Trail!!