I am fitter than ever. Simple enough. I am faster, stronger, fitter, heart rate is lower, weight is dropping. I mean, in layman’s terms, this is the best shape I have been in (not talking aesthetically).

I took this weekend to do a reconnaissance run of the course I will be running come November for the Centurion Wendover 50. The race is 5×10 mile loops so I decided to go back out there to run a loop and a bit to jog my memory of the hill savagery that I so fondly remember from January. The loop is about 16.7km with close to 700m of vertical gain per loop.

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The course is TOUGH. It is relentless in the fact that you are either ascending or descending and has very, very, little flat terrain. It is going to be hard on the quads and ankles and I am going to love it.

This weekend wasn’t a “race” strategy run but rather running off feel. It was the end of a heavy week of training and the day before had been a big brick double (1.5 hours threshold session on the bike followed by a 7km Z2 run). However, I ran better than expected, and faster than I could have imagined.

In January I set a PB for the loop at 2:01:15 which I thought was pretty respectable. Afterall, it was a tough course and I was still new to this whole trail running thing. My friend Owain had ran a 1:43:09 during a double loop training run, but he is an animal. Seriously, he is inspirational and he is one of my big motivators in licking the stamp and just sending it. He has done some incredible things in running and I am always excited to see what he does next (Oh, and he MAY crew me in November (pretty please?)).

Anyway, my PB was a lonesome 2:01:15 so this weekends long run I set myself the goal of breaking 2, running fun, and trying some new nutrition. I took a High5 gel and a Tribe Protein Bar and both caused no gastro issues and seemed to do me well for the loop. No complaints there so I am pretty damn happy about that. In terms of the loop my legs were very heavy, it was hot and humid, but I still managed to clock a loop in 1:35:51. That is right, a near 26 minute PB…I am still in shock about it. I NEVER thought I would have dropped that amount of time on the loop, let alone in 6 months with everything else going on. This just shows me that the fitness IS coming and that I am on the right path.

Strava activity can be seen here