June 8 - 14, Cup Holders, & Beyond

I have zero miles this week! That's right zilch, not even one, nothing. I was sick this past Monday and still pretty tired Tuesday. I stayed home both days and began to get caught up on yard work. I did manage to get our yard mowed. This is no small task as we mow about 3 acres. I am so very grateful for my Cub Cadet riding mower with it's 50" deck and cup holder. I can almost sleep while mowing. In fact sometimes the yard looks like I was sleeping while mowing. Maybe it's that I insist on using the cup holder so often. That's probably it. If you ever hear that I've had my hand cut off it'll be safe to assume I fell off the mower while drinking and driving. It will also be safe to assume that although I lost a hand, I didn't spill the beer. (It was already empty)
Sorry...back to running. Let's see...no miles this week. That makes for some well rested legs, so I suggested to Joel that we do our first 50 miler this coming Monday. Even after he did over 27 miles on the road while I slept last Monday, he agreed with little hesitation. So, the plan is to be at Afton, ready to run by 6:00am. We'll do most of the miles within the park, but in order to ease the monotony of the countless hours we've already done on those trails we'll venture out onto the local roads. These road miles will also give us the opportunity to run more consistently as the trails in the park have some hills that are just too steep for us to run.
We'll each carry enough food and water to get us through at least 20 miles. This allows us to plan for an "aid station" break at the car no more than twice in 50 miles. Monday's weather looks good so far. It looks like we'll have partly cloudy with a high in the low 70's. This is exactly what we need!
Our time goal will be anything less than 12 hours. I know we'd both like to see a time much closer to 10 hours and I'm sure we'll be working towards that, but at this point it's about logging the miles more than the speed.
I'm not sure where Joel's at with his mental preparation for Leadville, but I know I need this 50 miles as much for that, if not more than I do physically. Logically, when I look at miles run so far this year, while paying attention to long runs, I think I'm ahead of last year. But mentally I was in a much better place last year. I was driven, focused, ready for the fight. This year...not so much. The difference is probably that this year I know what I'm in for. Last year 100 miles was a concept. I suppose since I didn't actually achieve 100 miles last year it's still a concept. But now I have a better understanding of what I'm in for.
Monday will be very good for me. It's time to begin the mental prep. Time to truly focus on what's ahead.