This past week was my last one of basebuilding before I officially begin a 24 week training plan for the Lean Horse 100 on August 27th. I guess it's fitting that I close out basebuilding with my highest mileage week in quite some time.
Sunday - 10 miles
Monday - 6 miles in the morning, 5 in the afternoon.
Tuesday - 10 mile progression run. I ran the same loop that I always run for this workout but I ran it backwards. It seemed like it was harder that direction because of where the hills are located, but my overall average pace actually ended up being faster than the last time I did a progression run.
Wednesday - 8 miles in the morning, 6 in the afternoon. I fully intended to run a full 14 in the morning, but I was thwarted by several inches of fresh snow. On some streets, there weren't even tire tracks to follow, I was just blazing my own trail. Eventually, that took it's toll and I was pretty whipped by the time I returned home after 8 miles. By the time I ran the 6 miler in the afternoon, most of the snow had melted off and the streets were mostly just wet.
Thursday - 10 miles. Kind of a repeat of yesterday except the roads were more slick than snowcovered. I would've been better off with ice skates on some stretches.
Friday - 21.2 miles. Finally, the weather broke and it was actually fairly nice outside (sunny, mid-40s). I mapped out a huge 21 mile loop on mapmyrun.com and headed out. Several miles of this loop were totally foreign territory to me. One of the dangers of running on roads you've never been on before is you don't really know what the terrain is like. The first 8 miles of this looped featured almost constant ups and downs, with more up than down. At one point, just before reaching the high point of the loop, I passed a sign that said "Minimum Maintenance - Travel at Your Own Risk). Awesome. And they weren't lying. The next mile or so of road was sloppy, muddy, slushy, snowy and rutted from where people had attempted to travel at their own risk. It was actually kind of fun. After that section I had a net downhill for the remainder of the run (13 miles) but for some reason I hit a rough patch at around 15-17 miles. Don't really know why, but my slowest splits were in that stretch and then I recovered a little and managed to finish the last few miles fairly strong.
Saturday - 8 miles. Felt remarkably good after the tough long run the day before.
Total - 84.2 miles
So, there you have it. Basebuilding is done and now the real work begins. I probably won't be logging any higher mileage than what I have during basebuilding, I'll just be structuring my weeks differently. Mondays will be rest days and Tuesdays through Fridays will be fairly easy mileage with no runs longer than 10 miles. I plan on doing some sort of quality work (tempo run, intervals, progression run) every Wednesday to keep my legs from getting to used to the slow easy pace I'll be running the rest of the week. The bulk of my weekly mileage from here on out will come on the weekends, with a long run (25-40 miles) on Saturday and a shorter run (up to 15 miles, depending on how long Saturday is) on Sunday. I'd like to start doing some of those weekend runs on trails if the friggin snow would ever melt off. The basic idea is that I need to start teaching my body to move forward for longer periods. Hopefully it wants to learn. Otherwise this is gonna suck.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Spring? Maybe not...
March is finally here. This is the month where winter finally starts to lose its grip on South Dakota and spring starts to take over. Of course, we inevitably get nailed by one last spring blizzard (or maybe three, like last year) in later March or early April (or even early May). But, for the most part the days are getting longer and the high temps are getting higher (but not too high). This last week was a good example of that. Highs were generally in the 40s all week punctuated by a couple of inches of new snow on Friday night, which promptly melted away when the temperatures rose again on Saturday (but not before my long run, as you will see).
Sunday - 10.3 miles
Monday - 10.2 miles, played basketball at lunchtime (the first time I've done so since spraining my ankle playing three on three last month...I escaped unscathed)
Tuesday - 10 miles w/ 6 tempo. Nothing spectacular. It went reasonably well, but it did feel good to run outside in shorts and a t-shirt.
Wednesday - 14 miles. Did this one early in the morning, in the dark and fog. About halfway into it, I was running down a relatively lonely stretch of highway (all stretches of highway are relatively lonely in South Dakota at 5 AM). As I normally due, I was running facing traffic, but I would also scoot over to the opposite side of the road whenever a car approached me, always making sure I was on the shoulder on the opposite side of the highway from any vehicles. As I was happily cruising along, a cop car pulled up to me, lights flashing and all, so I stopped and the friendly officer rolled down his window to tell me I should stay on the side of the road so I wouldn't get hit. Well, no shit, Sherlock. I told him that's what I was doing and he drove off. Must've been a slow morning in Belle Fourche.
Thursday - 6 miles in the morning, another 5.5 in the afternoon. After the tempo run on Tuesday and the 14 miler on Wednesday, this was definitely a recovery day. The morning run especially was really slow, but I intentionally did it that way. I think I've been running my recovery runs too fast lately just because it felt alright, so I wore my heart rate monitor and made sure to keep my HR under 130.
Friday - 8 miles, more basketball.
Saturday - 18 miles. It had rained off and on all day Friday and when I awoke on Saturday morning I discovered that that rain had turned to snow. Yippee. There was a couple of inches of fresh, wet snow on the ground when I headed out for my run at about 9:30. The footing wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible either. A few stretches of busier road were actually clear, just wet, but the side streets and back roads were snow covered at first and then slushy toward the end of the run, which is even harder to run on than snow. It's not solid, like snow can be, but it also doesn't give way totally and after 16 miles or so, running on it can be pretty damn tiring. Lucky for me, the slushiest section of road I encountered was in the final mile. Up until that point, my feet were still dry but by the time I finished that last mile, my shoes and socks were dripping wet from slogging through the slush. Despite all that, I had a pretty good run with a solid long run pace and amazingly consistent splits. Of course, if I would've waited until after lunch I could've run on wet streets instead of snowy/slushy ones but, whatever, at least I got it over with.
Total - 82 miles
This coming week marks my last week of basebuilding. On March 15th, I officially began training for the Lean Horse Hundred. Hard to believe. It still seems so far away, especially given the weather. But in 25 short weeks I'll be slogging through a hot August day and night wondering what in the hell I've gotten myself in to. Should be a hoot.
Sunday - 10.3 miles
Monday - 10.2 miles, played basketball at lunchtime (the first time I've done so since spraining my ankle playing three on three last month...I escaped unscathed)
Tuesday - 10 miles w/ 6 tempo. Nothing spectacular. It went reasonably well, but it did feel good to run outside in shorts and a t-shirt.
Wednesday - 14 miles. Did this one early in the morning, in the dark and fog. About halfway into it, I was running down a relatively lonely stretch of highway (all stretches of highway are relatively lonely in South Dakota at 5 AM). As I normally due, I was running facing traffic, but I would also scoot over to the opposite side of the road whenever a car approached me, always making sure I was on the shoulder on the opposite side of the highway from any vehicles. As I was happily cruising along, a cop car pulled up to me, lights flashing and all, so I stopped and the friendly officer rolled down his window to tell me I should stay on the side of the road so I wouldn't get hit. Well, no shit, Sherlock. I told him that's what I was doing and he drove off. Must've been a slow morning in Belle Fourche.
Thursday - 6 miles in the morning, another 5.5 in the afternoon. After the tempo run on Tuesday and the 14 miler on Wednesday, this was definitely a recovery day. The morning run especially was really slow, but I intentionally did it that way. I think I've been running my recovery runs too fast lately just because it felt alright, so I wore my heart rate monitor and made sure to keep my HR under 130.
Friday - 8 miles, more basketball.
Saturday - 18 miles. It had rained off and on all day Friday and when I awoke on Saturday morning I discovered that that rain had turned to snow. Yippee. There was a couple of inches of fresh, wet snow on the ground when I headed out for my run at about 9:30. The footing wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible either. A few stretches of busier road were actually clear, just wet, but the side streets and back roads were snow covered at first and then slushy toward the end of the run, which is even harder to run on than snow. It's not solid, like snow can be, but it also doesn't give way totally and after 16 miles or so, running on it can be pretty damn tiring. Lucky for me, the slushiest section of road I encountered was in the final mile. Up until that point, my feet were still dry but by the time I finished that last mile, my shoes and socks were dripping wet from slogging through the slush. Despite all that, I had a pretty good run with a solid long run pace and amazingly consistent splits. Of course, if I would've waited until after lunch I could've run on wet streets instead of snowy/slushy ones but, whatever, at least I got it over with.
Total - 82 miles
This coming week marks my last week of basebuilding. On March 15th, I officially began training for the Lean Horse Hundred. Hard to believe. It still seems so far away, especially given the weather. But in 25 short weeks I'll be slogging through a hot August day and night wondering what in the hell I've gotten myself in to. Should be a hoot.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Marathon and Beyond
Well, this past week I officially became a published author. Back in 2008, just after I qualified for Boston in Missoula, I sat down and hammered out the story of how I became a runner, and then a marathoner, and then a marathoner trying to qualify for Boston. I emailed it to the editor at Marathon and Beyond and basically forgot about it. A couple of months later, I had a publishing contract and, finally, this past week the article appeared in their March/April issue, which includes a special section on the Boston Marathon. It's not like I can quit my day job anytime soon, but it was pretty cool to actually see it in print. If you'd like to check it out, your best bet is to visit your local running store and see if they carry it (Marathon and Beyond doesn't have the widest circulation in the world). I know some Barnes and Nobles carry it too, but not all of them. If you're really desperate to read it, you can order back issues directly from the Marathon and Beyond website (www.marathonandbeyond.com).
I did some running this week too. After three straight weeks of 80+ miles, I took a planned cutback week (although I didn't really feel like I needed it, but I guess the point is to do it before you feel like you need to....kind of like drinking before you feel thirsty). I'm in an incredible groove right now (knock on wood). The majority of my runs lately have been around 30 seconds per mile faster than I normally would run but the pace feels effortless. Don't know why that is, but I really don't give a damn either. I'll just roll with it as long as it continues.
Sunday - Rest. Didn't want to, but I made myself.
Monday - 6.3 miles in the morning, 5 in the afternoon.
Tuesday - 9 miles with 8x800 intervals. Had to run it on the indoor track, which kinda sucked, but it ended up going alright.
Wednesday - 7 miles.
Thursday - 9 miles.
Friday - 16 miles. This one was a doozy. I ran a loop that I pretty much always negative split because of the terrain (all the biggest, longest uphills are in the first half). This time, I didn't glance at my Garmin at all between the halfway point and about mile 13, I was just running by feel. When I did take a peek, I realized that I was running sub-8 pace and that my overall pace was 8:08, over 20 seconds faster than I would normally run a long run. But it didn't feel like I was pushing at all. So, I decided to see if I could get my overall pace under 8 minutes for the entire run and did push the pace for the last 3 miles. I ended up running a 6:35 final mile (that pace was hurting by the end) and ended up with a 7:57 overall pace.
Saturday - 8 miles. Expected to feel a little sluggish after the long run on Friday but I didn't. Ended up running 8:08 pace and it felt like 9:08 effort. When I finished the 8 miles I didn't feel like I'd even really run.
Total - 60.3 miles
Ramping the mileage back up this week and hoping things keep on clicking like they are. I would gladly stay in the this groove for a long, long time if it was up to me.
I did some running this week too. After three straight weeks of 80+ miles, I took a planned cutback week (although I didn't really feel like I needed it, but I guess the point is to do it before you feel like you need to....kind of like drinking before you feel thirsty). I'm in an incredible groove right now (knock on wood). The majority of my runs lately have been around 30 seconds per mile faster than I normally would run but the pace feels effortless. Don't know why that is, but I really don't give a damn either. I'll just roll with it as long as it continues.
Sunday - Rest. Didn't want to, but I made myself.
Monday - 6.3 miles in the morning, 5 in the afternoon.
Tuesday - 9 miles with 8x800 intervals. Had to run it on the indoor track, which kinda sucked, but it ended up going alright.
Wednesday - 7 miles.
Thursday - 9 miles.
Friday - 16 miles. This one was a doozy. I ran a loop that I pretty much always negative split because of the terrain (all the biggest, longest uphills are in the first half). This time, I didn't glance at my Garmin at all between the halfway point and about mile 13, I was just running by feel. When I did take a peek, I realized that I was running sub-8 pace and that my overall pace was 8:08, over 20 seconds faster than I would normally run a long run. But it didn't feel like I was pushing at all. So, I decided to see if I could get my overall pace under 8 minutes for the entire run and did push the pace for the last 3 miles. I ended up running a 6:35 final mile (that pace was hurting by the end) and ended up with a 7:57 overall pace.
Saturday - 8 miles. Expected to feel a little sluggish after the long run on Friday but I didn't. Ended up running 8:08 pace and it felt like 9:08 effort. When I finished the 8 miles I didn't feel like I'd even really run.
Total - 60.3 miles
Ramping the mileage back up this week and hoping things keep on clicking like they are. I would gladly stay in the this groove for a long, long time if it was up to me.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Hat Trick
I scored the trifecta this week, hitting 80 miles for the third week in a row. After struggling earlier in this year to get to that number, it's now become almost routine. Funny how that works.
Sunday - 7 miles. We had spent Saturday night in Rapid City after watching the Rush hockey game and I had planned on going for a trail run on M Hill Sunday morning with a couple of other guys, but the -10 windchill put the kaibash on those plans. Two of us met in the parking lot and while waiting for the 3rd guy, we talked ourselves out of actually running. The third guy did eventually show up, after we had left, and he manned up and ran, so I guess we shoulda stuck around a little longer instead of wimping out. Oh well. After getting back to Belle that afternoon, I found that the wind was much calmer there and was able to get a run in.
Monday - 12 miles. Headed out planning on doing 10 but I was feeling good so I ran a slightly longer loop.
Tuesday - 10 miles. The miles are clicking by.
Wednesday - 14 miles. Had to do this early in the morning (as in 4 AM) because I had a class in Rapid City all day long. Early morning medium-long runs are always kind of dicey because it's usually hard for me to get my body going that early. This one went pretty well though, although I could feel myself fading considerably the last 4 miles....my pace didn't suffer much, but it felt like I was nearing the end of a 20 miler instead of just 14.
Thursday - 7 miles. This one was slow...definitely feeling the aftermath of the 14 miles the day before.
Friday - 8 miles in the morning, another 4 in the afternoon.
Saturday - 18 miles. This was one of those runs that remind you why you love running. Right from the start, the pace was effortless, but fast (for a long run). I ran the same Belle to Walmart route I ran a few weeks ago, but hammered this one out 20 seconds per mile faster than last time.
Total - 80 miles
After three weeks of 80 or more miles, I'm taking a planned cutback this week. I don't know that I really want to because things are feeling really good right now, but I forced myself to rest yesterday, no run at all. One thing I've learned about running is that if it's something I don't really look forward to doing then it's probably worth doing, even if that means taking a rest day.
Sunday - 7 miles. We had spent Saturday night in Rapid City after watching the Rush hockey game and I had planned on going for a trail run on M Hill Sunday morning with a couple of other guys, but the -10 windchill put the kaibash on those plans. Two of us met in the parking lot and while waiting for the 3rd guy, we talked ourselves out of actually running. The third guy did eventually show up, after we had left, and he manned up and ran, so I guess we shoulda stuck around a little longer instead of wimping out. Oh well. After getting back to Belle that afternoon, I found that the wind was much calmer there and was able to get a run in.
Monday - 12 miles. Headed out planning on doing 10 but I was feeling good so I ran a slightly longer loop.
Tuesday - 10 miles. The miles are clicking by.
Wednesday - 14 miles. Had to do this early in the morning (as in 4 AM) because I had a class in Rapid City all day long. Early morning medium-long runs are always kind of dicey because it's usually hard for me to get my body going that early. This one went pretty well though, although I could feel myself fading considerably the last 4 miles....my pace didn't suffer much, but it felt like I was nearing the end of a 20 miler instead of just 14.
Thursday - 7 miles. This one was slow...definitely feeling the aftermath of the 14 miles the day before.
Friday - 8 miles in the morning, another 4 in the afternoon.
Saturday - 18 miles. This was one of those runs that remind you why you love running. Right from the start, the pace was effortless, but fast (for a long run). I ran the same Belle to Walmart route I ran a few weeks ago, but hammered this one out 20 seconds per mile faster than last time.
Total - 80 miles
After three weeks of 80 or more miles, I'm taking a planned cutback this week. I don't know that I really want to because things are feeling really good right now, but I forced myself to rest yesterday, no run at all. One thing I've learned about running is that if it's something I don't really look forward to doing then it's probably worth doing, even if that means taking a rest day.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
In a groove
One thing I've learned over the past several years of running is that my body goes through streaks. I'll have a week or two where things just don't feel good and every run is a struggle followed by a stretch where everything is clicking and the miles are effortless. The only thing that keeps me going through the rough streaks is knowing that eventually I'll bust out of it and into a good streak. Well, right now I'm definitely in one of the good ones (although things weren't necessarily bad before, just so-so).
Sunday - 8 miles total, including 2 mile warmup, 4 mile race (Freeze Your Fanny, which I already wrote about last week) and a 2 mile cooldown.
Monday - 6 miles in the morning, 5 in the afternoon.
Tuesday - 10 miles
Wednesday - 12 miles
Thursday - 10 miles in the morning, 4 in the afternoon
Friday - 20 miles. I usually do my long runs on Saturday, but I pushed this one up a day because I had the day off and the weather forecast wasn't looking good for the weekend. It ended up going very well. I ran a negative split and the last mile was the fastest (by far).
Saturday - 8 miles. Was glad I wasn't going 20....it was fairly warm out when I ran, but it had snowed overnight and was still snowing when I ran, so the footing was kinda crappy (I actually wore my trail shoes for extra traction). Regardless, this run felt surprisingly good, especially considering the 20 miles the day before.
Total - 83 miles
So, two weeks in a row now over 80 miles. Can I make it three?
Sunday - 8 miles total, including 2 mile warmup, 4 mile race (Freeze Your Fanny, which I already wrote about last week) and a 2 mile cooldown.
Monday - 6 miles in the morning, 5 in the afternoon.
Tuesday - 10 miles
Wednesday - 12 miles
Thursday - 10 miles in the morning, 4 in the afternoon
Friday - 20 miles. I usually do my long runs on Saturday, but I pushed this one up a day because I had the day off and the weather forecast wasn't looking good for the weekend. It ended up going very well. I ran a negative split and the last mile was the fastest (by far).
Saturday - 8 miles. Was glad I wasn't going 20....it was fairly warm out when I ran, but it had snowed overnight and was still snowing when I ran, so the footing was kinda crappy (I actually wore my trail shoes for extra traction). Regardless, this run felt surprisingly good, especially considering the 20 miles the day before.
Total - 83 miles
So, two weeks in a row now over 80 miles. Can I make it three?
Monday, February 8, 2010
Hitting 80 and Freezing My Fanny
Well, I finally broke the curse this week. After several weeks where driving to Montana or getting sick or spraining my ankle prevented me from hitting 80 miles, I finally did it this week. And my reward? Well, nothing. It's just an arbitrary number, which just goes to show that runners can be obsessive about pretty stupid crap. But that doesn't mean I'm not gonna try to hit 80 again this week.
Sunday - 6.25 in the morning, another 4 in the afternoon. The afternoon run was split (2 miles each) with my two dogs. They each run fine alone, but not so well together. Plus, Molly is fat and out of shape and can't really handle more than 2 miles. Vedder, on the other hand, could go all day.
Monday - 6.25 in the morning, 4.5 in the afternoon.
Tuesday - 10 miles with 5x1200m intervals. Had to do this one on the indoor track (200m) at Black Hills St. University because all of the outdoor tracks are snowed under. This was the only run of the week where I really noticed my ankle. Towards the end of the run, it started getting a little sore, I presume from the constant turning. I also played two games of 3 on 3 basketball with my team in the evening. We lost both.
Wednesday - 11 miles in the morning, 4 in the afternoon.
Thursday - 9 miles.
Friday - 7 miles.
Saturday - 18 miles. Ran from my house in Belle to the Walmart in Spearfish, which is really only 16 miles, so I had to tack a couple on to the beginning of the run. This route is pretty much uphill the entire way, although it's very gradual for the first 10 miles or so. Then, after a monster hill (one where power hiking is just as fast as running) just before mile 10, the next 4 miles are constantly rolling hills. The kind of hills where you can see what appears to be the top at the next curve in the road and then when you get there you see that it just keeps going up. Finally, it tops out on another big hill and the final 2 miles are a nice downhill cruise into Walmart. I met Shannon there, finished up some grocery shopping and drove home. I have never run there and back, but with ultra training coming up, it might be something to consider.
Total - 80 miles
In addition to all that, I also ran the Freeze Your Fanny 4 mile race in Sundance, WY yesterday. Technically, that should go on next week's post since it's a new week, but I might as well report on it while it's fresh in my mind. I didn't have huge expectations coming into the race, which should be pretty evident from the fact that I ran 18 miles the day before it. I had taken 2nd place overall there last year, running a 26:02 (6:51 pace), which is pretty slow considering I ran my half marathon PR at 6:44 pace. But, the footing was pretty horrible last year, making it difficult to really push the pace. I was hoping this year to run something faster than that, but wasn't sure if the footing would be any better or how my legs would respond after the 18 miler.
As the name implies, it's typically pretty cold in Sundance in early February and this year was no different, but it wasn't horrible. The temp was about 25 with a light wind out of the east. There was less snow on the road than last year, you could actually see the pavement this year, but it was still a little slick in some spots. When the race started, I immediately found myself behind 7 high school cross country runners. Within the first mile, I managed to pass a couple of them and was sitting in 5th. Right at the 2 mile mark, the course heads up a short but fairly steep hill. I was able to catch and pass the 4th place kid here and started gaining on the 3rd place runner as we headed down a long downhill stretch after the summit. This is where my mind started playing with me. I knew that they were only giving away trophies for the top 3 overall runners and not age group awards (last year, they had age group awards, but no overall awards). So, now I found myself in 4th, right on the tail of 3rd, and I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to out race this high schooler who probably has much fresher legs (I'm guessing he didn't run 18 the day before) and a much faster kick. For awhile, it seemed like he was slowing down, so I slowed down too and just drafted off of him heading down the hill. As we hit the final mile, I pulled alongside him, stayed there for awhile, and then tried surging to see if he would follow. He did. Damn. So, we hit the final turn side by side and were faced with a 3 block sprint to the finish, which is exactly the situation I didn't want. I pushed with all I had left and for the first two blocks we stayed dead even. Then we hit the final block before the finish and the kid took off like he was shot out of a cannon. I had absolutely nothing left, so backed off a touch and cruised in in 4th place, maybe 5-10 seconds behind him. Ended up with a 25:38 (6:39 pace), 24 seconds faster than last year, but 2 positions lower and just outside the trophies. All in all, a pretty decent race considering the circumstances.
Sunday - 6.25 in the morning, another 4 in the afternoon. The afternoon run was split (2 miles each) with my two dogs. They each run fine alone, but not so well together. Plus, Molly is fat and out of shape and can't really handle more than 2 miles. Vedder, on the other hand, could go all day.
Monday - 6.25 in the morning, 4.5 in the afternoon.
Tuesday - 10 miles with 5x1200m intervals. Had to do this one on the indoor track (200m) at Black Hills St. University because all of the outdoor tracks are snowed under. This was the only run of the week where I really noticed my ankle. Towards the end of the run, it started getting a little sore, I presume from the constant turning. I also played two games of 3 on 3 basketball with my team in the evening. We lost both.
Wednesday - 11 miles in the morning, 4 in the afternoon.
Thursday - 9 miles.
Friday - 7 miles.
Saturday - 18 miles. Ran from my house in Belle to the Walmart in Spearfish, which is really only 16 miles, so I had to tack a couple on to the beginning of the run. This route is pretty much uphill the entire way, although it's very gradual for the first 10 miles or so. Then, after a monster hill (one where power hiking is just as fast as running) just before mile 10, the next 4 miles are constantly rolling hills. The kind of hills where you can see what appears to be the top at the next curve in the road and then when you get there you see that it just keeps going up. Finally, it tops out on another big hill and the final 2 miles are a nice downhill cruise into Walmart. I met Shannon there, finished up some grocery shopping and drove home. I have never run there and back, but with ultra training coming up, it might be something to consider.
Total - 80 miles
In addition to all that, I also ran the Freeze Your Fanny 4 mile race in Sundance, WY yesterday. Technically, that should go on next week's post since it's a new week, but I might as well report on it while it's fresh in my mind. I didn't have huge expectations coming into the race, which should be pretty evident from the fact that I ran 18 miles the day before it. I had taken 2nd place overall there last year, running a 26:02 (6:51 pace), which is pretty slow considering I ran my half marathon PR at 6:44 pace. But, the footing was pretty horrible last year, making it difficult to really push the pace. I was hoping this year to run something faster than that, but wasn't sure if the footing would be any better or how my legs would respond after the 18 miler.
As the name implies, it's typically pretty cold in Sundance in early February and this year was no different, but it wasn't horrible. The temp was about 25 with a light wind out of the east. There was less snow on the road than last year, you could actually see the pavement this year, but it was still a little slick in some spots. When the race started, I immediately found myself behind 7 high school cross country runners. Within the first mile, I managed to pass a couple of them and was sitting in 5th. Right at the 2 mile mark, the course heads up a short but fairly steep hill. I was able to catch and pass the 4th place kid here and started gaining on the 3rd place runner as we headed down a long downhill stretch after the summit. This is where my mind started playing with me. I knew that they were only giving away trophies for the top 3 overall runners and not age group awards (last year, they had age group awards, but no overall awards). So, now I found myself in 4th, right on the tail of 3rd, and I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to out race this high schooler who probably has much fresher legs (I'm guessing he didn't run 18 the day before) and a much faster kick. For awhile, it seemed like he was slowing down, so I slowed down too and just drafted off of him heading down the hill. As we hit the final mile, I pulled alongside him, stayed there for awhile, and then tried surging to see if he would follow. He did. Damn. So, we hit the final turn side by side and were faced with a 3 block sprint to the finish, which is exactly the situation I didn't want. I pushed with all I had left and for the first two blocks we stayed dead even. Then we hit the final block before the finish and the kid took off like he was shot out of a cannon. I had absolutely nothing left, so backed off a touch and cruised in in 4th place, maybe 5-10 seconds behind him. Ended up with a 25:38 (6:39 pace), 24 seconds faster than last year, but 2 positions lower and just outside the trophies. All in all, a pretty decent race considering the circumstances.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Salvaging some miles
Apparently, you can run with a sprained ankle. I had heard that you could, and was actually told by the doctor I finally saw on Tuesday, that you could, but it seems kind of far fetched. It actually seemed very far fetched early in the week, as every time I tried my foot tightened up and threw off my stride, which made running uncomfortable, but not painful. After an extra day of rest (and a trip to the doc to make sure it was nothing more serious than a sprain), I gave er another try and it was all systems go from there. I did back off on the mileage from what I had on the schedule, but by the end of the week my ankle was basically a non-factor, giving me hope that I can finally break that magical 80 mile mark this week.
Sunday - Headed out for a planned 6 miler and hobbled home after 1.25. Nothing hurt, but every once in awhile my foot would tighten up and I couldn't stride normally on it, so I decided to bag it and give it the day off.
Monday - Fresh snow and cold convinced me not to risk slipping and injuring myself further, so I headed to the indoor track for 6 miles. Again, I had the foot tightening issue but I decided to power through it this time. Looking back on it now, I'm not sure why I did that, but I did end up with one of the slowest 6 milers I've ever run.
Tuesday - Didn't feel like putting myself through the previous day's run again, so I took a rest day and went to see the doctor instead. He confirmed that it was a sprain and not a break, gave me some ankle strengthening exercises to do and told me I could run on it, but should "take it easy". Obviously, he does not know me. I also played basketball again in the evening with my 3 on 3 team. I played fairly cautiously and with a brace on my ankle and managed to not injure myself further. And, again, we one won and lost one.
Wednesday - Made another attempt at running and this time made it through 6 miles without any foot issues.
Thursday - Tried for 8 miles this time and again had no issues.
Friday - Well, I'd gone 6 and 8, might as well try for 10, right? I actually went 10.25 and again no issues and actually my foot was feeling better and better each day.
Saturday - Decided to limit my "long" run to 14 miles, so headed out for an out and back run. My foot felt great, almost unnoticeable, but otherwise I just felt like crap in general. It's a pretty shitty feeling when you reach mile 8 of a run and you have 6 miles to go and you feel horrible and you really have no choice but to plod forward. I don't know what it was, but I just did not have any energy and that 14 miles ended up feeling like at least 20.
Total - 45.5 miles
So, knock on wood, it appears I've made it through the worst of this ankle thing. I'm targeting 80 miles this week and wondering what's gonna happen THIS time to prevent me from getting there.
Sunday - Headed out for a planned 6 miler and hobbled home after 1.25. Nothing hurt, but every once in awhile my foot would tighten up and I couldn't stride normally on it, so I decided to bag it and give it the day off.
Monday - Fresh snow and cold convinced me not to risk slipping and injuring myself further, so I headed to the indoor track for 6 miles. Again, I had the foot tightening issue but I decided to power through it this time. Looking back on it now, I'm not sure why I did that, but I did end up with one of the slowest 6 milers I've ever run.
Tuesday - Didn't feel like putting myself through the previous day's run again, so I took a rest day and went to see the doctor instead. He confirmed that it was a sprain and not a break, gave me some ankle strengthening exercises to do and told me I could run on it, but should "take it easy". Obviously, he does not know me. I also played basketball again in the evening with my 3 on 3 team. I played fairly cautiously and with a brace on my ankle and managed to not injure myself further. And, again, we one won and lost one.
Wednesday - Made another attempt at running and this time made it through 6 miles without any foot issues.
Thursday - Tried for 8 miles this time and again had no issues.
Friday - Well, I'd gone 6 and 8, might as well try for 10, right? I actually went 10.25 and again no issues and actually my foot was feeling better and better each day.
Saturday - Decided to limit my "long" run to 14 miles, so headed out for an out and back run. My foot felt great, almost unnoticeable, but otherwise I just felt like crap in general. It's a pretty shitty feeling when you reach mile 8 of a run and you have 6 miles to go and you feel horrible and you really have no choice but to plod forward. I don't know what it was, but I just did not have any energy and that 14 miles ended up feeling like at least 20.
Total - 45.5 miles
So, knock on wood, it appears I've made it through the worst of this ankle thing. I'm targeting 80 miles this week and wondering what's gonna happen THIS time to prevent me from getting there.
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