The Gut Buster

My second week following Peter Reid's Wildflower Plan. It was a build week. Last week was 13.5 hours and this week was 17.5. The increase in time was largely on the bike. There were three solid ride days listed (I already wrote about the Tuesday Night Bloodletting) then there were two more days of 3 hour plus rides in some hilly terrain. At any rate, the week was progressing as planned - I was getting tired.
Yesterday was big day. 3.5 on the bike (lots of hills) followed by a 45' run (lots of hills)
I was to finish the ride climbing Mt Doug as I did last week and then do my 45' on Mt Tolmie as I did last week.
Only yesterday it didn't go as I planned but I have a feeling it went as Peter planned. He wrote in the log "attack to the top of Mt Doug from the fire hydrant - if you can!" I couldn't. I just didn't have anything in the legs. I slugged my way to the top. It was all I could do.
Then came the 45' run - loops on Mt Tolmie. Last week I was to keep it in Zone 2 for the first 30' - which was a chore. I was feeling good and wanted to unleash. This week he wrote "Don't worry about the HR - just run." When I read that, my thoughts were - Alright, I'm gonna rip that bitch apart!!!" I realized when I got started that he didn't want me to worry about my HR because my legs were so damn shattered that I couldn't get my numbers out of zone 2 for nothing. I shuffled through the 45'. The bitch did not get ripped.
And let me tell you what I was thinking about during this final run - I was thinking about The Gut Buster. The Gut Buster is an 11K single track trail run out in Collwood. I'd heard it was a tough run - going up or going down. I thought it would be great training for Wildflower and the timing was good - at the end of a two week build. I suggested it to Pete and he agreed. I suspect he agreed with a smile on his face.
So I'm STRUGGLING through this little brick run, wondering how the hell I was going to get through the Gut Buster the next day!
I did the best I could to stay off my feet the rest of the afternoon - which wasn't so easy because my father showed up with a half a yard of gravel for my back yard. Two hours of shoveling would have to be my warm down for the day.
Thankfully I slept well (not always the case when I'm getting in solid hours) and, as is par for the course, arrived at the race with barely enough time for a warm down.
I surprised myself by racing the whole race. Didn't set any records out there but it sure was fun and to top it off I won a very cool Nathan fuel belt.
The plan today was to get in 2:05 of total running time - so after the WU, race and CD I was at 1:35. Headed out this evening to get my last 20'. Getting out the door for that second run after a tough one in the AM is always difficult but it always feels good once you get out there. Tonight was no exception - however to my utter dismay at 15' the wheel fell off in a big way. I could hardly move my legs for the last 5'. But I managed to get home and now I've got one relaxed week looking me in the face.
I can honestly say, I've not felt this fit in almost 20 years. I can't wait to see how far I can take it. Pete has a way of pushing you the extra mile - taking you to the very edge but just shy of going over.