Weekly Review: Happy 4th

View while running home on Thursday morning

July 3–July 9
Monday: rest
Tuesday: RUN #1: 3 mi + RUN #2: 4 mi (TNT) + WALK: 1 mi
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: RUN 3.5 mi + WALK 1 mi
Friday: rest
Saturday: WALK 1 mi
Sunday: RUN 13.15 mi (Missoula Half)

Total RUN: 23.7 miles / 538 ft

I barely remember last week. What I do remember: Fireworks. The city allows three days of fireworks, but folks set them off for 5 days straight. Tobias was freaked out at first, but eventually got used to it. More when I get to the night of the 4th...

I ran 3 miles early Tuesday and it was already suuuuuper hot, so I figured that night's Tuesday Night Trails (TNT) would be a scorcher. As soon as we arrived to the $5 informal race (complete with bibs!), I knew I'd finish towards the back. Everyone looked SO FAST.

Before sweating through my red, white, and blue

Mini recap of TNT: We ran the Highland Glen trail while cows roamed. It's kind of hilly, with one big climb and I trucked along behind one guy for about 2-2.5 miles with another right behind me. Our pod was probably 5th from last and Alex was somewhere in the middle. It was 87º and full sun, so around mile 3 I broke down and walked an uphill. Luckily, our pod took turns walking, so we stayed together (and caught a few other people).

(When I took this photo some old guy asked if I was taking a selfie, like it was the worst thing ever.)

It was a tough 4 miles, made tougher knowing if I'd done the same trail race in Ohio, with the same mile times (9:00-9:40), and over the same climb (221ft) I would have at least finished in the middle. On the plus side, everyone was so friendly. Post race, they had a cookout and raffle. It was a great event, but I felt l a little sad about my fitness level and worried I'd have to walk a ton during Sunday's half. (It feels really weird not knowing what to expect while running.)

The sled hill. Sorry, no good fireworks photos.

Later that night we walked to the closest city park, sat on the sled hill, and watched all of the civilian fireworks before the official city fireworks began. People are nuts here! A few rich folks had "shows" that went on for so long they seemed professional. Bozeman is in a valley so we had a 360º view of all kinds of displays. I have never in my life seen so many fireworks at one time. It was cool that night, but got pretty old during the other 4 days of non-stop noise.

I made a cake for Alex's birthday. 

On Thursday, I drove the car to the shop and ran home. I did a "fun reminder" from a Kara Goucher half plan, which is 2x1mile + 2x800, all at goal pace (with rests). It was hot and my first mile was slow, but my second was way too fast. I guess it balanced out? Later that night, we went out for Alex's birthday and then took the dog on a walk to see the sunset.  

On Saturday in Missoula, before feeling sick

On Saturday we drove to Missoula and made it just in time for the Montana Volée pizza picnic. I met some new folks, then picked up my packet before we checked into our hotel. Afer we dropped off the dog, we went back into Missoula for beer, BBQ (The Notorious P.I.G. -haha), and fro yo. Later in the afternoon I got a terrible, throbbing migraine (I get them about 2-3 times a year), felt nauseous, had stomach issues (...), and couldn't eat more than chips for dinner. Yikes! Needless to say, I was pretty worried about Sunday's 4am wakeup.

Volée team photo before the start of the race. 

I'll do a full recap of Sunday's half in a separate post, but I'll spoil it a bit: Despite my horrible night of sickness, I got a solid sleep from 11pm-4am and ran through my sour stomach. I was in a really good mood for some reason and was able to stay with, then pass the 2:00 pace group. It wasn't a PR, but it was pretty flippin' close -- on limited training and at about 3,200ft! All of the hiking in Bozeman (which is higher up) must have worked in my favor!

Did you run a race on the 4th?
Does your city have a ton of civilian fireworks? 
Ever get sick the night before a big race? (I thought I might DNS!)

Linkups
Once again, I'm joining Hoho Runs and MissSippiPiddlin's Weekly Wrap linkup, plus Courtney's training linkup. Be sure to visit the hosts if you haven't already!