Flat and Vert

So, I was supposed to race a trail half marathon yesterday.  The race director, Sam, was kind enough to shoehorn me into the event at the last minute.  Since I have a good chunk of overtime at work this week, I asked to come in at noon to give me time to run the event and get back.  Had my detailed, written directions and was off at 6:30am (race start 8am) which should’ve given my plenty of time since the race was only 34 miles away.  Unfortunately, I’m challenged with navigation on roads, ironic, really because I have several specialty certificates for scuba diving and one of them is…navigation, of course that’s under water in the North Atlantic, not on a major highway.

I literally couldn’t find the exit, driving back and forth on the highway until I had 70 miles on the cycle for that little trip and decided at 7:50am that I would give up on it.  I just kept a good attitude about it and changed my mindset to put in another longish run on my own.  It must be a sign that I’m not ready for racing just yet.  I’ll be VERY ready in four weeks for the 50k.  I haven’t felt this good physically and mentally in a very long time and am eager to do well in races.

So, I did a steady state run of 15 miles in 1:55 over very flat trails yesterday (hot and humid at 90 degrees).  Today I wasn’t sure what I’d be up for, so I wanted to get in some hill work early on in case I bailed.  Starting at 0 elevation I climbed the little “mountain” near my place topping out at 1,000 ft.  Feeling good, I kept going traversing along a fire road to another set of hills before dropping back down into a park/campsite and finally back out to the road along the water, which leads back to my place.  Surpizing myself, I pulled a mini George Zack and ran past my normal turn up the hill to home and kept going for a few minutes out and back to round it out to 15 miles in just over 2 hours.  So, 30 miles in 24 hours and feeling super, like I could go out again today for another run if I didn’t want to hold back.

Oh, Dave Mackey won the half marathon yesterday.  I’m certain I would’ve taken 2nd only because he finished 20 minutes ahead of 2nd (a huge margin for a half).

Stretch-i-n-g

Should you stretch or not for running?

Desperate for running-related material, I picked up  the latest Runner’s World and read the piece on “myths” or contradictory  running beliefs and was perked by the one on stretching.   The article altogether was an eye opener for me.  It simply points out that respected runners and coaches don’t follow all the same rules some others take as foundation for running.  Massage, no massage, stretch, don’t stretch, run many miles, run less miles, etc.  I seem to have the same pains even though I do stretch (after runs), so I half believe what they’re saying.  Maybe the stretching I’ve been doing religiously has been the cause of my injuries and overuse pains (mostly hip, glutes, and hamstrings).  I do have to say I personally know VERY accomplished ultra runners who don’t stretch or do any sort of chiropractic work on their bodies.  One who I respect a lot said of chiropractic techniques, “I don’t want to crack the seal on that just yet.”  I’m not sure what that means but the guy is never injured.

I’m interested to learn what other folks do or don’t do to keep running pain and injury free.

More Please

There are runs that are for exploring, socializing, and just meant to enjoy.  Then there are runs that are purely for training.  Today was the latter for me.

To be fair, it was fun and with beautiful scenery, but I had specific intentions for this one and focused on nothing other than accomplishing the plan for the day.  The plan was 20 miles at about 1:30 faster per mile pace than my goal pace at the 50 miler in Oct.  Goal pace for that race is sub 9 min miles and hoping for closer to 8:30 pace, so today was meant to maintain sub 7:30 pace, which is a comfortable, conversational pace, at least for a few hours.

To do this I had to find trails that are flat, really flat, central lower farm land Michigan flat.  I found some in a salt marsh that is a protected habitat for birds.  The elevation changes today were around 7 feet with the highest elevation peaking out at the vertigo-staggering height of 17 feet.  There are various loops and several miles of trails in that marshy area but I found a simple out and back of a bit more than 4 miles round trip.  It took 3 miles of road to get there and I stashed my bottles in the shade of a tree at a three trail intersection.  I did four cycles of the out and back with times of 30, 29:30, 29 and 32 (faded a bit on the last one).  Overall, I ended up with 23 miles in 2:52.  I won’t lie and say I felt strong at the end.  I was (am) hurting, mostly hip flexors and gluteous medius-ish areas.  Even though I only took 300 calories in the form of drink additions, I still had plenty of energy, so I know the stamina is there.  I just need more work on getting the lower body used to the miles again.

Long runs over the last three weeks are 15 miles in 2 hours, 18 miles in 2:30, 23 miles in 2:52.  The first two were hilly trail and road running which accounts for the slower pace.  Today was pure steady state running with a couple of longer stints at around 7 min pace.  Next week I’ll take it easier with a long one of 2 hours, then pop a 3.5 hour run on Sept 6th (three weeks before my 50k on Sept 27th).  Hopefully, everything will hold together.

Timmy Parr is for real with his win at Leadville yesterday.  The grouchy old man in my mind says that I’d be more impressed with it if it were in the mid 16 hour range, but with it being his first 100, I suppose it’s respectable (there’s a bit of sarcasm in there…).  Truly, I’ve been in two races that Timmy also ran and the boy can run trails.  He gave Mackey the run of his life at Moab in Feb, and then I saw him shred the Sageburner course, so I know he’s capable of a 16 hour (or faster) at Leadville.  I feel badly for Anton but with the course redirection, if he would’ve run under Carpenter’s record time, it wouldn’t have been official anyway.  I want to see him run a 15:30 there next year.  There’s no doubt in my mind he can do it.

Off to go lay on the floor, stare at the ceiling and listen to the baseball game on the radio.

Leadville.

Well, I’ll be working tomorrow and won’t be able to follow the race across the sky.  I think that:  Anton won’t be challenged and will set the course record (regardless of course changes).

Some are born to run specific races, distances, and circumstances.  Carpenter’s race in Leadville ‘05 was epic but Krupicka seems made for the distance and terrain of Leadville and the like.

Watch for Garett Graubins this year.  He’s run well there and is coming off his win at the Bighorn 50 miler.  Top 5 for him.

Hope everyone has a great weekend of running and living.

update:  looks like Anton is running about an hour off pace at 74 miles of LT100.  Odd to learn that he’s actually human and can cramp like the rest of us.

Dodging Mountain Bikes

First, congratulations to all the participants in the Pikes Peak ascent and marathon – That’s got to be a head bursting race to run.  I’m looking forward to seeing whether Anton will break 15:40 at Leadville next weekend…!

Pushing on and progressing more this week highlighted by my longer run today of 2.5 hours and 18 miles (1 hour 25 mins of steady road running, 30 mins of single track trail with steep hills and rollers, and then another 30 mins of steady roads).  The single track was peppered with mountain bikers, lots of them.  Being one myself, I know for a fact it’s more difficult to stop the bike and move aside for a runner, so I made sure to step (or jump, mostly) aside well in advance of oncoming riders.  They were all very courteous and friendly.  It actually made the trail running go by quickly.

Section of single track today

I wore the race hydration vest today and ate a clif bar for nutrition during the run since I was out of gels and unsure where to buy them around here.  It seemed to work well and was a little more satisfying than syrupy gels.   For the most part the run was uninterrupted except for one stop to flip my sock inside out because a rare blister was forming on my toe.  Finished up the week with 49 miles with a tempo day, a med/long run trail day, a long run, and a couple maintenance runs.

Easy, tough guy. Really, this tells me how much I need some new running clothes. Black cutoff shirt, blue shorts, brown socks, worn out North Face shoes (that I got for free) and a $12 casio watch...nice.

Envision

Sweet abundant sunshine

Sunday’s run took more out of me than I anticipated, which is good.  I needed to push myself hard, since I haven’t in a very long time.  I think I was using the strenuous, long climbing “runs” in Colorado as an excuse to lag behind and generally be lazy on my runs.  I’ve had basically no zip to my pace several months.  My move to flatter running towards the end of my time in Boulder and now carrying on with faster, flatter, more steady running has done wonders for my running in general.  I can feel I’m on the verge of cracking into the next level (a level suited to train harder and longer for a 50 miler).  Sunday’s run was nearly perfect and then I followed it up with a “heavy” (i.e. a bit longer than) 7 miler over flat ground with what I call cruise intervals (basically longer intervals of 5-6 mins at a bit faster than 10k pace effort).  My legs were toast for the rest of Monday with my quads and hammies sore from the heavy dose of elevation gain/loss on Sunday, so I took yesterday off completely and caught up on my nutrition, since I was feeling a bit weak and skinny-ish.

Today the intent was a 1:20 length run or 10 miles.  I felt a little dull but focused on steady efforts, which I managed by using a trick I often employ, pretending I’m in an upcoming focus race (the North Face Challenge in Oct.).  I imagine I’m out front by 100 meters, sometimes behind by 10 mins, sometimes a mile from the finish with someone gaining on me.  It sounds silly, but if I do it enough, then race day seems familiar to me and I can adjust to conditions and competition quickly without getting stressed about it.  I ended up completing the run feeling stronger towards the end.

Speaking of the North Face Challenge 50 miler…. my reporting ears perked up and I came away with one of the biggest scoops of ultrarunning this year (probably).  I heard the outlook for the San Francisco NF Championship (yeah, the $10,000.00 first prize championship) is not good.  I knew that budget problems were putting a hold on many events in California.  I spoke with a park official who said they’ll have a better idea of the cuts and future of the parks after Labor Day but “It doesn’t look good for the big one we have coming up in December sponsored by North Face.”

I’m assuming the event organizers are aware of this and hopefully making contingency plans for another locale for the championship.

Signing off for now – Footfeathers.

Getting Into the Groove

So, I headed out on my run this morning with the hopes of:  1) running at least an hour and 45 mins and 2) practicing my nutrition/hydration, since I haven’t raced in over 3 months.

It was abnormally warm here today at a high of 85 degrees but I was running by 8:25am, so not a big deal until the end of the run.  Unless I ride or drive to a run, all my runs start and end with at least a 2.5 mile road run, so I had a nice warm up leading to the trails.  Once on the trails, I climbed and descended from 20 ft elevation to 1,050 ft elevation three times with numerous ups and downs in between.  I would download the data and altimeter stuff from my Suunto but I can’t find the cable for it just now.

I started with two hand helds (40 oz total) and just two gels.  The point was that I knew I’d only be out for a couple hours, so I wouldn’t suffer too much on just two gels.   I did, however, make mental checks of when I would normally take in gels or nutrition (every 20-30 mins) and took in 4-5 oz of water every 10 mins or so.  The hills were surprizing, since I was basically exploring for most of the run on trails I’d never seen before.  I committed to running hard throughout the run and only speed hiked on two short occasions when the incline allowed for faster walking than “running”.

My guess is that this could be considered a hilly run.   I made a point of running the last 3 miles of road home hard at a solid pace.  I have a feeling (‘feeling’ only because I refuse to worry myself with the ridiculous maps on the North Face Challenge website) that the course is runnable consistently with short rollers and a lot of non technical fast trail.  We’ll See if that pans out but I’m going there to run hard and if it’s flatter to rolling, then look for a speedy 50 miler.

15 miles in 2 hours.  Felt good enough to keep it rolling at the end but will save it for next week’s longer run.

Fun and Work

Walking in peace with Gandhi

I Walked for several miles in the City yesterday, counting my little run in the morning, I ended up with about 14 miles on my feet.  A visiting friend and I then made our way to the ballpark to watch last night’s game.

6th inning

Got back home exhausted and finally got a good night’s sleep after a week of sporadic sleep/insomnia.  So, this morning I headed out for a run with an open mind.  Within five minutes I knew I was in for a good one.  After a good warm up of 15 mins, I bumped it up to 10k pace and held that tempo for 20 mins.  I haven’t felt this good on flatter fast runs in over a year.  I’m beginning to honestly think the uphill mountain running was slowing my overall running.  Anyway, I had to force myself to slow after 20 mins even though my legs were yelling, “let’s keep rolling!”

Still, I have a long way to go.  Today’s run was only 7 miles.  I’ve gone back to the ‘old’ way I used to run.  Run 4 miles every time until it feels too short and easy, run 5 miles until it feels too short and easy, etc.  Right now 7 miles feels a bit easy and short.  This week I’ll try to hit 50 miles and keep it there for three weeks with a long run of 12-14-17 each week.  Then the last Sunday of August I’ll shoot for 60 miles with a long run over a marathon distance or 3.5 hours.  The first week of Sept.  I’ll do a 4 hour run, then begin a slight taper (maintain 60 mile weeks with a long run of 20 each week) until the Santa Cruz Mountains 50k.  That will be my last long-hard run before NF in WI.

On to more important things…  I haven’t posted a parking putz piece in a year (since leaving the South).  I think that’s about to change.  I’ve noticed a lot of mis-parked cars and other dumb driver things here over the last month.  Just yesterday I spotted this little sweetie.  I usually reserve photos and posts like this for my other blog, timespassenger.blogspot.com but I was eager to get this photo up and couldn’t wait to collect more for a normal-sized post.

Hey, Smokey, the Bandit called and he wants his car back.  I think the mixture of the “compact” sign, the equator parking job (splitting two spots) and the general dumbness of this make of car gives this photo a special aura.  Once I looked at it I also noticed the sweet fighter jet wing on the [correctly parked] car next to this one.

Focused training gets underway tomorrow morning…