Greg's Running Adventures: Taking a Step Back

About my blog

Welcome to my trail running site. I enjoy being on the trail where I can take in nature and clear my mind. I prefer running in the mountains, but anywhere rural will do. In years past, I have completed four 100 mile trail races and many other ultramarathons. I spend countless hours running in the Franklin Mountains and the surrounding desert in far West Texas, which I call my church. My little Mexican hairless dog, Taz tags along sometimes. I am slowing down in my old age and am mostly running 50K trail races these days.

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Taking a Step Back

I’ve taken a step back from my long distance training and am focusing on recovery and getting faster at shorter distances. All of my ultras were slower than in previous years and I was beginning to think I was overtraining or burning out (which may be the case). A few things came to light this summer though. Recent blood work showed that my vitamin D level was low while I was also experiencing low energy levels. I finally discovered, after several wheezing episodes, that I am also having food sensitivity or allergy issues which means I have to rework my race nutrition strategy. I will spare you all the boring details, but I’m confident that after some readjustments, I’ll be back in the saddle training for some future ultra trail races

Last month I enjoyed running a flat road 10K honoring Forrest Leamon, a DEA special agent who was killed in a counter-narcotics operation in Afghanistan. It was a muggy morning, but I was able to finish in around 56 minutes even though I missed the turnaround and ended up getting some extra mileage. Nevertheless, I came in fourth place in my age group. A few weeks later I ran another 10K along the Rio Grande levee with the Run El Paso Club. This one was a handicap race where everyone started at a different time depending on their projected finish time. Slower runners started first and the fastest runners last. The goal was for all of the runners to finish around the same time with everyone having a chance of being the “winner”.

Borderland

I also spent a fair amount of time on the trails this summer and enjoyed running the Franklin Mountains and along the border, river levee and canals. The monsoon rains have turned the plants a lush shade of green and there was plenty of wildlife. I was frequently out with my camera and took many photos that I will share below. See you on the trail.