Another setback

I slept in Sunday, waking up at 8:30 to head out for an 18-mile run. It's Laramie, it's February, so I figured it would be cold, maybe a little windy.

Yep, I was right. I still set out in shorts, UnderArmour, vest and gloves. I went south with it in mind to run out for 1:15, back in the same time, barring wind. Within 20 minutes I was plodding forward at about 11 minutes a mile, leaning into the bitter wind, and my left arm was numb. I headed back after 30 minutes, went to the apartment, zipped the sleeves back on my vest, put on tights, and headed back out again. This time I headed back after 37:30, turning around at the legendary steakhouse, The Calvaryman. As it happened on the first lap, my heart rate dropped 10 beats (167 to 157) within two minutes of regaining the tailwind.

So I don't know what I gained from this. Poking around on MapMyRun, I figure I did between 14 and 15 miles, but I don't think bailing on a long run two weeks in and 10 weeks out is going to break my marathon. Next week I plan on running 16 on some trails above Laramie -- another 1,000 feet above Laramie. I'm not making up mileage; I don't believe in obsessively trying to hit a mileage target every week. It just seems like a good idea to get off the asphalt and see if I can go a little longer than the 14 regularly scheduled, and especially in the thin air.

Otherwise, I just finished a book called "Running with the Buffaloes," by Chris Lear, a chronicle of the 1998 cross country season for the University of Colorado men's cross country team. While the greatest insights came from what forges a top-level team comprised of bad-ass Division I-calber distance runners (100 miles a week? In college? Seriously?), there were so many copy editing errors it was hard to take the book seriously; the editor never sleeps, you see. Dick Patrick of USA Today said the book is to college cross country what John Feinstein's "Season on the Brink" was to basketball, and I agree. Hell of a season to cover.

Last night, I couldn't sleep at all (Yes, the Fifth Dimension reference was intentional) so I typed up a list of all the triathlons and marathons I've done. You probably know me well enough to know I have a mind like a steel trap, so with few exceptions I even knew the distances of those races. Could've been wrong, though. Anyway, the count is at 38 triathlons in 16 states over the course of 20 years. Including Ironmans, I've done six marathons in six states. The goal is 50 states on both counts, but as for sheer numbers I'll stop when someone in a white lab coat holding a clipboard tells me to. No, scratch that. I'll stop after the third medical professional tells me to. I'm stubborn like that.

And the lack of sleep plus a night assignment today scrapped my easy four-mile run for this morning. I might do it on the dreadmill and then show up all stinky for my night assignment. Wouldn't that be professional of me?