Posts
10 years ago
Friday, September 26, 2008
Time to disregard the spreadsheet for a few days
Tired, cranky, unmotivated... my ambitions following the Run Rabbit Run 50 Mile were a bit ambitious. My system is taxed and doesn't want to let me train, so I suppose I will listen to it. The plan to hit 100 this week is totally out the window; when did I become a slave to mileage? I still really enjoy running, but can't seem to mark down a 0 next to a scheduled workout. Today will be different, I'm going to rest, and maybe tomorrow as well. My running following the race has been fairly pathetic and probably lacks much more than some aerobic benefit - not a lot of performance advancement going on, if any. It's hard to remember that my fitness will remain relatively intact and this rest/recovery thing should pay off. I know I'm not the only one who fears that after a taper and recovery period it will take extreme amounts of work to get back to the mileage I'm accustomed to. Just a bit bummed. Oh well, run (or not run) today so that you can run tomorrow... right?
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
9.17-23.08 and Centennial Cone Park
W- 10
Th- 5
F- Rest
S- 5
Su- 14
M- Rest
Tu- 17
Total = 51 miles
Feeling pretty good considering how trashed my legs were after Steamboat. Ran at Centennial Cone Park just outside of Golden on Tuesday - it kicked my ass since I woke up too early and was a bit dehydrated. Over a 17 mile loop I got about 2700' of good quality climbing. There isn't a great deal of shade, but that allows for some nice views of the hills outside of Golden in the Clear Creek Canyon area. The loop hits a few parking lots with porto-johns, but there isn't really anything in the way of water along the route, so bring plenty if you'll be out there in the heat of the day. It's a fun run - up, down, up, down, up, down... Probably should lay off of the hills while "training" for the 24 Hours of Boulder. Going to try to hit a 100+ mile this week with a few back-to-backs and then taper off a bit for Boulder. I'm not really racing (mostly because I'm not ready for it), just getting a taste of being on my feet for that long.
Th- 5
F- Rest
S- 5
Su- 14
M- Rest
Tu- 17
Total = 51 miles
Feeling pretty good considering how trashed my legs were after Steamboat. Ran at Centennial Cone Park just outside of Golden on Tuesday - it kicked my ass since I woke up too early and was a bit dehydrated. Over a 17 mile loop I got about 2700' of good quality climbing. There isn't a great deal of shade, but that allows for some nice views of the hills outside of Golden in the Clear Creek Canyon area. The loop hits a few parking lots with porto-johns, but there isn't really anything in the way of water along the route, so bring plenty if you'll be out there in the heat of the day. It's a fun run - up, down, up, down, up, down... Probably should lay off of the hills while "training" for the 24 Hours of Boulder. Going to try to hit a 100+ mile this week with a few back-to-backs and then taper off a bit for Boulder. I'm not really racing (mostly because I'm not ready for it), just getting a taste of being on my feet for that long.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
This Ultra thing is a blast (9.10-16.08)
W- 0
Th- 4.5
F- 0
S- 52.5
Su- 0
M- 6
Tu- 0
Total = 63
I can't wait until the next race! I won't bore you with a blow-by-blow account but will say that I learned a great deal about the difference between sore and injured, that I have a tendency to spend a bit too much time at aid stations (I could cut probably 5 mins from my finishing time), and my stomach can tolerate solids first and gels as a chaser. The only problems I had, outside of the obvious stuff, was the need to fertilize the forest 4 times in the first half of the race. I had been slightly sick all week and I think that my illness was to blame. There was one period of time between 40-44 miles where I was wondering what I had gotten myself into, and then the PB and Js stared to do their thing and I was actually looking forward to the rest of the race, and not just to get it over with. To be honest, I was dreading the 6+ mile decent at the end with approximately 600 ft of vertical loss per mile (mostly because it was on hard packed service road and not technical single track - I love rock hopping), but got over it and just dealt with my pissed off quads. At the end there was an intimate group of folks cheering me on as if I had just won the thing, which I did not. My goals for this race were to finish in 10 hrs or under and if possible and in the top ten overall. I didn't achieve either one of those and still feel great about the experience. Really, I simply wanted to finish what I started and know that the longer distances are within my grasp. The boost of confidence from finishing such a daunting distance is amazing.
Once again I thank all the folks involved with the event, they did an outstanding job!
12th place, 10:26 (It is well within my ability to hit 9:15 - 9:30 next year - I will be back)
Results - 2008 Run Rabbit Run 50 (actually 52+) Mile Trail Run
Th- 4.5
F- 0
S- 52.5
Su- 0
M- 6
Tu- 0
Total = 63
I can't wait until the next race! I won't bore you with a blow-by-blow account but will say that I learned a great deal about the difference between sore and injured, that I have a tendency to spend a bit too much time at aid stations (I could cut probably 5 mins from my finishing time), and my stomach can tolerate solids first and gels as a chaser. The only problems I had, outside of the obvious stuff, was the need to fertilize the forest 4 times in the first half of the race. I had been slightly sick all week and I think that my illness was to blame. There was one period of time between 40-44 miles where I was wondering what I had gotten myself into, and then the PB and Js stared to do their thing and I was actually looking forward to the rest of the race, and not just to get it over with. To be honest, I was dreading the 6+ mile decent at the end with approximately 600 ft of vertical loss per mile (mostly because it was on hard packed service road and not technical single track - I love rock hopping), but got over it and just dealt with my pissed off quads. At the end there was an intimate group of folks cheering me on as if I had just won the thing, which I did not. My goals for this race were to finish in 10 hrs or under and if possible and in the top ten overall. I didn't achieve either one of those and still feel great about the experience. Really, I simply wanted to finish what I started and know that the longer distances are within my grasp. The boost of confidence from finishing such a daunting distance is amazing.
Once again I thank all the folks involved with the event, they did an outstanding job!
12th place, 10:26 (It is well within my ability to hit 9:15 - 9:30 next year - I will be back)
Results - 2008 Run Rabbit Run 50 (actually 52+) Mile Trail Run
Monday, September 15, 2008
9.3-9.08, and a brief Run Rabbit Run report
W- 8
Th- 10
F- 10
S- 0
Su- 7
M- 7.5 (am) in Denver / 2.5 (pm) in Steamboat
Tu- 0
Total = 45 miles
Just kind of jogged around for this week before Run Rabbit Run (9.13.08), nothing too hard. As mentioned in the previous post, we left for Steamboat on Monday to hang out and enjoy some thin air. I'll post a short but sweet race report in a few days - for now I'll just say that I had a blast at my first 50 (the course was actually 52+) and met some great people at a great race, put on by awesome race directors (Fred Abramowitz and Betsy Kalmeyer who just finished her 10th Hardrock posting a time of 33:25 - she's amazing), with the best volunteers I've come across yet. Thanks to everybody! Congratulations to the overall winners Ryan Burch and Jenna Gruben (she was also the Volunteer Coordinator!)...
...and masters winners Allen Hadley (he completed Wasatch the previous weekend in 28:29 - what a guy!) and Chris Poland (I will try to find a photo of her finish).
Th- 10
F- 10
S- 0
Su- 7
M- 7.5 (am) in Denver / 2.5 (pm) in Steamboat
Tu- 0
Total = 45 miles
Just kind of jogged around for this week before Run Rabbit Run (9.13.08), nothing too hard. As mentioned in the previous post, we left for Steamboat on Monday to hang out and enjoy some thin air. I'll post a short but sweet race report in a few days - for now I'll just say that I had a blast at my first 50 (the course was actually 52+) and met some great people at a great race, put on by awesome race directors (Fred Abramowitz and Betsy Kalmeyer who just finished her 10th Hardrock posting a time of 33:25 - she's amazing), with the best volunteers I've come across yet. Thanks to everybody! Congratulations to the overall winners Ryan Burch and Jenna Gruben (she was also the Volunteer Coordinator!)...
...and masters winners Allen Hadley (he completed Wasatch the previous weekend in 28:29 - what a guy!) and Chris Poland (I will try to find a photo of her finish).
Monday, September 8, 2008
Off to Steamboat
Heading to Steamboat this afternoon to relax a bit and acclimate to the altitude. I don't pretend to be in any kind of shape to win this thing, but would like to have a great first 50. Nora and I are fortunate enough to have friends living near Steamboat, so we'll be having some fun hanging out with them and helping to remodel one of their homes. There may even be time to do a bit of camping. I will miss TK (the kitty) and Pasha (Nora's mom is taking care of him - thanks Ruth). I fully expect some stealthy attacks from TK when we get back as he can be an ornery little cuss.
The race hasn't reached capacity yet and I think that based on reports from last year's Run Rabbit Run (www.steamboat50.com) it is well worth the entry. This promises to be a race of beautiful terrain and fantastic support. One note: there will be no gu/gel at the aid stations due to the problem of litter - all of the other regular aid will be provided. Come one come all!
The race hasn't reached capacity yet and I think that based on reports from last year's Run Rabbit Run (www.steamboat50.com) it is well worth the entry. This promises to be a race of beautiful terrain and fantastic support. One note: there will be no gu/gel at the aid stations due to the problem of litter - all of the other regular aid will be provided. Come one come all!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
More tunes
Here's some more music to check out. I rarely run with music but if I do it's usually hip-hop and bluegrass. For the next music appreciation post I'll put some of my favorite pickin' on the blog.
Pharcyde (they put on a great live show)
Ya Mama
Passin Me By
Summertime (Sublime and The Pharcyde)
DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince (as a former DJ I have a lot of respect for Jeff)
Pharcyde (they put on a great live show)
Ya Mama
Passin Me By
Summertime (Sublime and The Pharcyde)
DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince (as a former DJ I have a lot of respect for Jeff)
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Love the taper (8.27.08 - 9.2.08)
W- Rest
Th- 6 miles
F- Rest
S- 13.25 miles (am) / 4.75 miles (pm)
Su- 6 miles
M- 8 miles (am) / 5 miles (pm)
T- 8 miles
Total = 51
This week showed a huge drop from my average weekly mileage, far more than I had scheduled to begin the tapering process. However, due to my recent disinterest in training and the concrete that has taken place of the muscles in my legs, I decided to just kind of go with how I felt each day and take it easy. It's been nice. The 20 and 30 mile runs on my spreadsheet didn't get done but it's probably for the best, I don't really think that that those runs would have done anything but cause fatigue at this point.
Why do folks get so weird about tapering? Is it lack of direction during their free-time? Could it be that they now can't eat everything in sight because there might actually be weight gain that accompanies a decrease in calorie expenditure? Or maybe they are just that stoked to get to race day and tear it up. I know that I have been prone to the taper-blues and a mental state that looks an awful lot like extreme OCD during a taper, but I have begun to really enjoy the time. My hormones begin to balance out and my body isn't in a constant state of fluctuation of weight (due to water retention following long runs). Just ask my girlfriend what I'm like when I am pushing through the third week of a build-up phase - it ain't pretty. Of course I have it much easier than some other runners I know - I barely have to work, being in school is fairly enjoyable, and my life is without major complications. What the hell would I look like if I had more to deal with? So my hat goes off to all of you who work 40+/wk, or have kids, or have serious life issues to deal with, but can still rock out on the trail.
Th- 6 miles
F- Rest
S- 13.25 miles (am) / 4.75 miles (pm)
Su- 6 miles
M- 8 miles (am) / 5 miles (pm)
T- 8 miles
Total = 51
This week showed a huge drop from my average weekly mileage, far more than I had scheduled to begin the tapering process. However, due to my recent disinterest in training and the concrete that has taken place of the muscles in my legs, I decided to just kind of go with how I felt each day and take it easy. It's been nice. The 20 and 30 mile runs on my spreadsheet didn't get done but it's probably for the best, I don't really think that that those runs would have done anything but cause fatigue at this point.
Why do folks get so weird about tapering? Is it lack of direction during their free-time? Could it be that they now can't eat everything in sight because there might actually be weight gain that accompanies a decrease in calorie expenditure? Or maybe they are just that stoked to get to race day and tear it up. I know that I have been prone to the taper-blues and a mental state that looks an awful lot like extreme OCD during a taper, but I have begun to really enjoy the time. My hormones begin to balance out and my body isn't in a constant state of fluctuation of weight (due to water retention following long runs). Just ask my girlfriend what I'm like when I am pushing through the third week of a build-up phase - it ain't pretty. Of course I have it much easier than some other runners I know - I barely have to work, being in school is fairly enjoyable, and my life is without major complications. What the hell would I look like if I had more to deal with? So my hat goes off to all of you who work 40+/wk, or have kids, or have serious life issues to deal with, but can still rock out on the trail.
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