Well things seem to be winding down training-wise for me. Not too sure if that is good or bad as it has been kind of forced. Friday and Saturday I only got out for about 9 miles each day and then Sunday nothing at all. Today will most likely be 0 miles as well unless I get on the trainer for bit.

The little one has my excellent running itinerary all messed up! She's been up late which limits my sleep for the night. No big deal really, just need to HTFU and run tired and feeling like crap. However now she is getting up randomly between 4 and 7am. This was the nail in the coffin for my training. My only window of opportunity are those few hours in the early morning.

Well I guess it's ok since I am winding down mileage towards the North Downs Way 50. In all reality anything I do from this past weekend until race day really will have limited affect on my race performance anyway. However there is always that thought in the back of my head wondering or really getting me down about missing workouts and missing the only "me time" I get when I run.

So in the past I mentioned I bought an UltrAspire handheld and had complained about the crap bottles they come with. Well I bought a Specialized Purist bottle yesterday and they work perfect in the UltrAspire handeld. Definitely recommend that setup. The Purist bottle is similar to the classic Specialized bottles so well known in the cycling community but they have a valve that prevents water from shooting out unless you squeeze the bottle, similar to the Ultimate Direction Kicker Cap. So, if you leave the top open while running it won't spit water out with the up an down motion. I was really psyched that this set up worked!

Oh, so I may end up sneaking in another ultra this fall. The wife and I have considered plans to head up to Scotland to visit her mother on the Isle of Arran. I'm hoping I'll be able to sneak in the River Ayr Way Challenge, a 41 mile footrace from inland Scotland to the ocean along the River Ayr in, well, Ayr, Scotland. Later after the race we'd catch the ferry over to Arran to see the mother-in-law and her husband. Sounds like it could work out.

The wife was born in the area and could visit relatives while I was running, she would be managing the little one and also isn't really into spectating or chasing from aid station to aid station. Then the coolest part would be that we are on the Isle of Arran. Super beautiful island, coastline and mountains with lots of trails! I'm psyched to get back up there to run. There are some pretty cool possibilities for rad loops in pretty rugged terrain. We'd be in Kildonan on the south end of the island so I'd need to figure out the bus system or find a ride to the main trail heads but that shouldn't be too much of a problem. Only thing is that I'd most likely have to start later in the morning. Buses on an island that is 65 miles around most likely don't start at 5am! There's also a Buddhist retreat on another sub-island off of Arran that would be cool to check out, Holy Isle. It would be cool to check it out and run around the island. I'll need to see when the ferry runs.