March runs into April

Sometimes I wonder if I've recovered from HURT even yet!

I took it really easy for 6-7 weeks after the race. Not counting the race itself I only ran 180 miles total in January-February, about what I normally do in a month. My goal was to do about 280 in March to prepare for the Diablo 50M with it's 12,000' of climbing (and descent) on April 12.
My body had other ideas and I kept lowering my sights: 270... 250... 240...

I ended up with 234 but 90% of my runs were slow hard slogs: sore legs and minimal energy.

Now I'm starting to taper and feeling a little better and I'll probably do alright; might even be able to keep up with Steve. Last time (2004) I finished in 12:23, middle of the pack, but I was taking it easy since it was two weeks after I'd set a PR at the AR 50 mile and two weeks before I ran the super-tough Miwok 100K (I was training for Hardrock). I even spent a half hour sitting around at the midpoint waiting for my pacer to show up.

So, I'm not in peak condition, but if I start slow and then taper I should do fine; hopefully even beat my old time. Mainly I'm just hoping that it won't be long before running is fun again!