April Is Gone

A quick tallying of the numbers:

April Totals:
-Miles: 673
-Hours: 101h 19min
-Vertical: 120,400'
-Green: 35
-Bear: 5
-SoBo: 2
-Days off: 0

2010 Totals (Day 120)
-Miles: 2209
-Hours: 329h 50min
-Vertical: 406,900'
-Green: 133
-Bear: 7
-SoBo: 2
-Days off: 0

April was obviously an excellent month of running.  My right knee held together all month even as I methodically increased the duration of my long run each weekend, starting with a 4xGreen/5hr effort the first weekend of the month and ending with a 7h30/50mi/13k' vert outing two weeks ago.  Although I still get the odd twinge in that joint every now and then, the fact that it survived such a rigorous 50 miler with essentially no issues gives me a lot of confidence and joy in the fact that I've finally made it back to a place where I can engage in ultra adventures with a measure of peace of mind.  It's been a while.

Overall, this month I made it to the tops of some peaks a bunch of times (42 times, actually) and ran a bunch of miles, all while tapering the final week of the month, i.e. no summits, no runs/days of more than an hour, and no vertical.  That's cutting back for me.  Enough to make me slightly cranky, bored, unmotivated, and rested.  Must be time to race.  I can't wait to see what May holds for me.

(The last time I took a competitive stride: leaving Winfield, CO August, 2009.)

Finally, starting next week, I'll be posting some additional content (once a week or so) on a new blog over at Running Times, for those that are interested.