June Summary (Black Hills Final Thoughts)

June Totals:
Total Miles 251 (1360 for year)
Total Vertical Miles 7.2 (42.2 for year)

Trail (10 runs, 226 miles, 7.2 vertical, 55 hours)
Road (3 runs, 8 miles, 0 vertical, 1 hour)
Track (2 runs, 13 miles, 0 vertical, 2 hours)
Treadmill (1 run, 4 miles, 0 vertical, 1 hour)
Weight Training (5 sessions, 7 hours)
Rest Days (14)

Biggest mileage month of the year so far, with 105 miles last weekend having the most to do with that.  Took the rest of the month off after finishing Black Hills.  My body is slowly getting back to normal and I am looking forward to getting back on the trails.  Exertional rhabdomyolysis was the diagnosis given to me after the race, along with being severely dehydrated.  Could have lead to something serious, such as kidney failure.  It does make you want to think twice about taking Ibuprofen (or any NSAIDS) during a 100-miler, which I did not do this time or ever will in the future.  The combination of "rhabdo" and Ibuprofen has put some athletes in pretty bad shape before as that causes major stress on the kidneys.

For now I am just excited to getting back to some summer running on my Colorado trails, exploring some new ones and revisiting some old ones.  I'll try to get higher in altitude as our snow is still slowly melting.  I got a date with Pikes Peak on August 21.

It's been nice putting some names to the faces from all the great people I met before or during the race in the Black Hills.  Adam Schwartz-Lowe ran a smart race being patient and not letting anyone else dictate his race.  There were plenty of runners ahead of us coming into Dalton that either didn't finish or finished behind Adam.  Phil Lowry, you are an animal, and I had a blast making those stream crossings with you heading out.  Go Ranger!  Alistair Munro and Andy Pele were making it look easy through the Crooked Tree section.  It was nice meeting you Alistair at the pre-race meal. I'm not sure what took you out of the race late, but I'm sure you will run strong another day.  Thomas Etter, you said this was just a training run so no worries on the DNF.  It was great sharing some trail time out there and best of luck with the adventure races.  Laura Range, I thought you were done lying there on the cot at Dalton on the way back, and then I couldn't shake you for 29 miles.  Great job!  Finally, it was great sharing some of the last few miles with Casey Lopez.  I enjoyed seeing Casey's Dad at all those aid stations at night when I was struggling, and then I finally get to meet you Casey near the end.  Well done!