The most exciting thing that happened last week really had nothing at all to do with running. After 142,000+ miles, I traded in my 96 Ford Taurus for a newer, more dependable ride. That Taurus had been in the family for its entire existence. I still remember the day my mom bought it back in September of 1995. I was a senior in high school at the time and it was the day before our first home football game of the season. I had no clue she was considering buying a new car until I got home from football practice and saw it sitting in the driveway. It was passed down to me about a year and a half ago as my mom began driving less and less and then the transmission went out on my 1992 F-150, leading me to junk it rather than pay far more than its value to have it repaired. The Taurus was a good car for a long time, but a series of relatively minor problems and subsequent repairs prompted me to start shopping for something newer and I finally found it last weekend: a 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe. I was looking for something a little bigger than a car but still with somewhat decent gas mileage (especially with prices rising every damn day), and the Santa Fe fit that description pretty well. Plus, it's maroon and dark grey, which are basically the University of Montana's colors (maroon and silver, officially, but the football team starting using dark silver last year). First time I've ever owned a foreign vehicle. Very happy with it so far, but I was kind of tripped out when I opened the fuse box and everything was in Korean and English.
Anyway, back to the running thing. Last week was a cutback week. It ended up being a little bit more of cutback than what I intended, but maybe that's a good thing.
Monday - Rest. First rest day in a few weeks. My plan is to take one day off completely every four week cycle.
Tuesday - 7 miles. For the life of me, I can't remember a single thing about this run.
Wednesday - 8 miles. My hope every winter is that my last indoor track run will take place in February. That hope was crushed this year as negative windchill sent me scurrying inside.
Thursday - 10 miles. I had an appointment in Rapid City after lunch so took my running gear with and ran on the bike path after the appointment. A decent enough run, but I didn't allow enough time after lunch to do it, so if felt like I had a bag of rocks in my gut. It was also warm....after running the previous day on the indoor track, I ran this one outside in shorts and a t-shirt. Such is spring in South Dakota.
Friday - 6 miles. Again, don't remember much about this one. Just a recovery run.
Saturday - 7.1 miles. Hoped to get in 10+ but it was a crazy day with trading the car in and getting the new one and driving home and grocery shopping etc., etc. Plus, once again, it was cold outside and while I did run outside, it wasn't all that comfortable.
Sunday - 11.9 miles. Met with Jerry and Ryan in Spearfish. Jerry tagged along for a couple of miles and then Ryan and I continued on a loop around Lookout Mtn. (not on trails, just on the roads that circle the base of the mountain). Pretty cold again, but it's more bearable when you're running with someone. Legs felt pretty good overall.
Total - 50 miles
Needless to say, I'm pretty damn sick of winter by now. It's March damn it, and I'm ready for the snow to go away. The Collegiate Peaks 50 is only two months away now, and I've got a lot of work to do if I'm gonna survive 50 miles in the mountains at elevation.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
The weather rollercoaster
Eventually, spring will grab hold and maintain its grip, but until then the weather is just going to be difficult. The craziest thing about the weather these last couple of weeks is the extremes we've been alternating between. It goes from 40s and 50s (warm for this time of year) to below zero (cold for this time of year) with very little in between (i.e, there is no "normal"). This past week was a good example.
Monday - 12.7 miles. Met up with Paul, Nathan and Ryan to run the Centennial Trail. The four of us are all running the Collegiate Peaks 50 in May and Paul and Nathan are both running the Black Hills 100 (the 100k for Paul, the 100 mile for Nathan). It was pretty cold out (teens with some wind making it feel closer to 0) and there was some fresh snow (6+ inches in some areas). Honestly, if I hadn't made plans to run with other people, there's probably no way in hell I would've opted for a trail run in those conditions. But, not wanting to wuss out, I manned up, made myself some screw shoes to prevent a repeat of the previous Saturday's hard fall on the Centennial, and headed out. I had planned on going 10, Nathan and Ryan were going for more like 15 and Paul I think was going for 10ish too. After a few miles, we got spread out on the trail with Ryan and Nathan ahead together, myself in the middle and Paul not far behind. About seven miles in, while running across an open area exposed to the wind, I started getting pretty damn cold so decided to turn back (I had planned on running until I met Ryan and Nathan on their way back). I met back up with Paul shortly after but then we split apart again as he decided to follow the trail back up over a big hill and I opted for a faster dirt road route to try and get out of the wind sooner. I ended up with 12.7 miles and by the time I was done my calves were trashed. Running through the fresh snow, which was over ankle deep in most areas and even deeper in some, caused me to run up on my toes, putting more strain on my calves. But, on the bright side, I didn't fall or even slip a single time, so I guess the screw shoes worked.
Tuesday - 6.8 miles. My calves were more sore than they have been in a long time...felt like I'd run a marathon the day before. But, interestingly, when I headed out for my run (on relatively flat roads and bikepath), they felt perfectly fine. Just goes to show how different my stride is under different conditions. Apparently I don't work my calves much at all during a "normal" run.
Wednesday - 10.2 miles w/ 6 tempo. Again, my calves were still sore but felt fine once I started running. I ran a fairly hilly loop (for a road run) so the pace on the tempo miles varied quite a bit, but I felt good overall. Temp was near 40 for this one.
Thursday - 6 miles AM, 4 PM. After relatively balmy weather on Wednesday, the bottom fell out on Thursday and both runs ended up being on indoor tracks (2 different ones) because of negative windchills.
Friday - 6 miles. Again, frigid cold. Again, indoor track.
Saturday - 5.1 miles. It was 6 degrees out and sunny when I ran and it felt friggin tropical compared to the last two days. The screw shoes worked great on the snowpacked city streets.
Sunday - 20.2 miles. Again, wore the screw shoes although the streets were slightly more clear (it was all the way into the 20s by the time I got done), so running on bare pavement with them was kinda awkward. Never felt great during the run, but felt okay for the first half. For some reason, I hit a little wall after 10 miles, but still didn't really feel bad. Just okay.
Total - 71 miles
Monday - 12.7 miles. Met up with Paul, Nathan and Ryan to run the Centennial Trail. The four of us are all running the Collegiate Peaks 50 in May and Paul and Nathan are both running the Black Hills 100 (the 100k for Paul, the 100 mile for Nathan). It was pretty cold out (teens with some wind making it feel closer to 0) and there was some fresh snow (6+ inches in some areas). Honestly, if I hadn't made plans to run with other people, there's probably no way in hell I would've opted for a trail run in those conditions. But, not wanting to wuss out, I manned up, made myself some screw shoes to prevent a repeat of the previous Saturday's hard fall on the Centennial, and headed out. I had planned on going 10, Nathan and Ryan were going for more like 15 and Paul I think was going for 10ish too. After a few miles, we got spread out on the trail with Ryan and Nathan ahead together, myself in the middle and Paul not far behind. About seven miles in, while running across an open area exposed to the wind, I started getting pretty damn cold so decided to turn back (I had planned on running until I met Ryan and Nathan on their way back). I met back up with Paul shortly after but then we split apart again as he decided to follow the trail back up over a big hill and I opted for a faster dirt road route to try and get out of the wind sooner. I ended up with 12.7 miles and by the time I was done my calves were trashed. Running through the fresh snow, which was over ankle deep in most areas and even deeper in some, caused me to run up on my toes, putting more strain on my calves. But, on the bright side, I didn't fall or even slip a single time, so I guess the screw shoes worked.
Tuesday - 6.8 miles. My calves were more sore than they have been in a long time...felt like I'd run a marathon the day before. But, interestingly, when I headed out for my run (on relatively flat roads and bikepath), they felt perfectly fine. Just goes to show how different my stride is under different conditions. Apparently I don't work my calves much at all during a "normal" run.
Wednesday - 10.2 miles w/ 6 tempo. Again, my calves were still sore but felt fine once I started running. I ran a fairly hilly loop (for a road run) so the pace on the tempo miles varied quite a bit, but I felt good overall. Temp was near 40 for this one.
Thursday - 6 miles AM, 4 PM. After relatively balmy weather on Wednesday, the bottom fell out on Thursday and both runs ended up being on indoor tracks (2 different ones) because of negative windchills.
Friday - 6 miles. Again, frigid cold. Again, indoor track.
Saturday - 5.1 miles. It was 6 degrees out and sunny when I ran and it felt friggin tropical compared to the last two days. The screw shoes worked great on the snowpacked city streets.
Sunday - 20.2 miles. Again, wore the screw shoes although the streets were slightly more clear (it was all the way into the 20s by the time I got done), so running on bare pavement with them was kinda awkward. Never felt great during the run, but felt okay for the first half. For some reason, I hit a little wall after 10 miles, but still didn't really feel bad. Just okay.
Total - 71 miles
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Spring or winter??
We now enter the time of year in South Dakota where it seems as though Mother Nature is going through menopause with mood swings as wild and severe as a hungry school of piranhas that just smelled blood in the water. Early last week, temps were spring-like, with afternoon highs in the 50s and 60s...Rapid City even set a record high of 64 or something like that one day. Hell, overnight lows were in the 30s and 40s, which I'm usually pretty happy with as the high temp this time of year. Of course, that couldn't last and as quickly as it left, winter returned in the form of a winter storm that rolled in on Saturday, dropped temps to the teens with negative windchills and left behind over 6 inches of fresh snow (to add insult to injury, almost all of the snow we had before had finally melted by Friday). Son. Of. A.....
Monday - 7.1 miles. Beautiful day, had every intention of heading up Lookout Mtn. at lunchtime. Only problem was that I forgot to pack a shirt with my running gear in the morning. So I had to settle for a road run after work.
Tuesday - 6.2 miles in the morning, 6 in the afternoon. Made damn sure to pack a shirt for the afternoon run this time and did get up on the Lookout Mtn. trails. They were mostly free of snow, but there were some pretty slick ice patches and one section of still deep snow near the top.
Wednesday - 10.2 miles with 6 tempo. The term "tempo" takes on a new meaning during ultra training. Back when I would actually focus on a marathon, my tempo pace was faster than my marathon pace by 20 or 30 seconds. Now, I'm just happy if I can actually get to what used to be my marathon pace. Doing a tempo run early in the morning doesn't help matters any....just can't get my legs to turn over that fast that early.
Thursday - 6 miles in the morning, 4 in the afternoon. A little chillier out. Nothing at all remarkable about either run.
Friday - 6 miles. Back up on Lookout Mtn. The snow and ice was much reduced since Tuesday, but it had been replaced by mud. I managed to slip on said mud once, but also fell onto the same patch of mud, so a pretty soft landing.
Saturday - 15.2 miles. Got up at the buttcrack of dawn to meet up with Ryan in Sturgis and run the Centennial Trail. We ran the first section of the Black Hills 100 course, starting at Woodle Field and following the trail out and back. Like Lookout, the trail was mostly clear but had a few patches of ice in the shady areas. With about 2 miles left in the run, I managed to find one of those ice patches and fell. Hard. Landed on my left side, with my upper buttcheek (for lack of a more technical term) taking the brunt of it. Usually when I fall on a run I bounce back up and keep going (while looking around to see if anyone saw me fall). This time, though, I had to sit there on the trail and catch my breath for a little bit before I got up. I knew nothing was seriously damaged, but it sure as hell hurt. After the initial pain wore off, I felt fine running back to the vehicles but after I cooled down it got pretty sore.
Sunday - 7 miles. The winter storm struck in earnest overnight, dropping at least 6 inches of snow. My butt was sore from the fall the day before and the weather/road conditions left me with very little motivation to run outside, nor was the idea of running 15 miles (as I had planned for the day) on the indoor track all that exciting. I seriously contemplated ditching a run altogether and just calling it a rest day, but I finally forced myself out the door in the afternoon and managed to get 7 miles done on the indoor track. My legs (and sore butt) felt fine, but I just was not into it mentally, which is half the battle.
Total - 67.7
So, three trail runs this week, which isn't bad for February. Of course, if the weather would cooperate that number could increase, but I won't hold my breath on that one.
Monday - 7.1 miles. Beautiful day, had every intention of heading up Lookout Mtn. at lunchtime. Only problem was that I forgot to pack a shirt with my running gear in the morning. So I had to settle for a road run after work.
Tuesday - 6.2 miles in the morning, 6 in the afternoon. Made damn sure to pack a shirt for the afternoon run this time and did get up on the Lookout Mtn. trails. They were mostly free of snow, but there were some pretty slick ice patches and one section of still deep snow near the top.
Wednesday - 10.2 miles with 6 tempo. The term "tempo" takes on a new meaning during ultra training. Back when I would actually focus on a marathon, my tempo pace was faster than my marathon pace by 20 or 30 seconds. Now, I'm just happy if I can actually get to what used to be my marathon pace. Doing a tempo run early in the morning doesn't help matters any....just can't get my legs to turn over that fast that early.
Thursday - 6 miles in the morning, 4 in the afternoon. A little chillier out. Nothing at all remarkable about either run.
Friday - 6 miles. Back up on Lookout Mtn. The snow and ice was much reduced since Tuesday, but it had been replaced by mud. I managed to slip on said mud once, but also fell onto the same patch of mud, so a pretty soft landing.
Saturday - 15.2 miles. Got up at the buttcrack of dawn to meet up with Ryan in Sturgis and run the Centennial Trail. We ran the first section of the Black Hills 100 course, starting at Woodle Field and following the trail out and back. Like Lookout, the trail was mostly clear but had a few patches of ice in the shady areas. With about 2 miles left in the run, I managed to find one of those ice patches and fell. Hard. Landed on my left side, with my upper buttcheek (for lack of a more technical term) taking the brunt of it. Usually when I fall on a run I bounce back up and keep going (while looking around to see if anyone saw me fall). This time, though, I had to sit there on the trail and catch my breath for a little bit before I got up. I knew nothing was seriously damaged, but it sure as hell hurt. After the initial pain wore off, I felt fine running back to the vehicles but after I cooled down it got pretty sore.
Sunday - 7 miles. The winter storm struck in earnest overnight, dropping at least 6 inches of snow. My butt was sore from the fall the day before and the weather/road conditions left me with very little motivation to run outside, nor was the idea of running 15 miles (as I had planned for the day) on the indoor track all that exciting. I seriously contemplated ditching a run altogether and just calling it a rest day, but I finally forced myself out the door in the afternoon and managed to get 7 miles done on the indoor track. My legs (and sore butt) felt fine, but I just was not into it mentally, which is half the battle.
Total - 67.7
So, three trail runs this week, which isn't bad for February. Of course, if the weather would cooperate that number could increase, but I won't hold my breath on that one.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Collegiate Peaks/Bighorn Week 1
It's the dead of winter, so must be time to start cranking out some miles and training for spring races, right? Nothing like kicking off training for two trail runs in mountains than by running laps around a perfectly flat indoor track. The last couple weeks have seen a similar weather pattern around here.....colder than sin early in the week and then warmer over the weekend. Running on the indoor track a few days a weeks sucks, but better that it happens early in the week rather than when I have my long runs planned.
At this point, I'm going forward with the notion that Collegiate Peaks is basically a training run for Bighorn. I've never run a marathon as a training run for another marathon before, much less a 50 mile as a training run for another 50 mile, but I'm gonna give it a shot anyhow. Bighorn has been in my crosshairs ever since the moment the friendly aid station volunteer cut my bib off my shorts last year, so it will remain my focus during training. Before I registered for Collegiate Peaks, I had planned on running 30/10 that weekend....now, I'm just running an extra 10 miles that weekend but doing it all on one day.
In any case, here's how the first week of "official" training shook out:
Monday - 6 miles on the indoor track.
Tuesday - 6 miles indoor track in the morning, 4 miles with 8 strides indoor track in the afternoon (different indoor tracks though....a little variety to running in flat circles).
Wednesday - 10 miles indoor track (115 laps of pure, unadulterated fun).
Thursday - 6 miles. Finally got to run outside and it felt horrible. For one, I expected it to be much warmer than it actually was, so I was underdressed and consequently cold. For another, I just didn't have any energy and my stomach felt off.
Friday - 6 miles in the morning, 4 miles in the afternoon. Both outside and felt much better.
Saturday - 15 miles. Totally effortless. Got done and felt like I'd run 5 miles.
Sunday - 15 miles. Took more effort than on Saturday, but still felt pretty good. The 20-30 mph wind sucked hardcore, but overall a pretty decent run.
Total - 72 miles
The biggest thing missing from last week were trail miles. With two long trail runs coming up, I need to get away from the indoor track and city streets as much as possible and get the trail legs going. Unfortunately, Mother Nature makes that a difficult endeavor this time of year. But, the temperature is supposed to be in the 50s and maybe even 60s for most of this week, and was in the 50s over the weekend, so massive melting is occurring. I plan on heading out for a trail run this afternoon and getting as many in as the weather allows for the next few months. I'm guessing today's run is going to be a snowy/muddy mess, but that's just part of the fun of trail running, right? Better than running in tiny circles, for sure.
At this point, I'm going forward with the notion that Collegiate Peaks is basically a training run for Bighorn. I've never run a marathon as a training run for another marathon before, much less a 50 mile as a training run for another 50 mile, but I'm gonna give it a shot anyhow. Bighorn has been in my crosshairs ever since the moment the friendly aid station volunteer cut my bib off my shorts last year, so it will remain my focus during training. Before I registered for Collegiate Peaks, I had planned on running 30/10 that weekend....now, I'm just running an extra 10 miles that weekend but doing it all on one day.
In any case, here's how the first week of "official" training shook out:
Monday - 6 miles on the indoor track.
Tuesday - 6 miles indoor track in the morning, 4 miles with 8 strides indoor track in the afternoon (different indoor tracks though....a little variety to running in flat circles).
Wednesday - 10 miles indoor track (115 laps of pure, unadulterated fun).
Thursday - 6 miles. Finally got to run outside and it felt horrible. For one, I expected it to be much warmer than it actually was, so I was underdressed and consequently cold. For another, I just didn't have any energy and my stomach felt off.
Friday - 6 miles in the morning, 4 miles in the afternoon. Both outside and felt much better.
Saturday - 15 miles. Totally effortless. Got done and felt like I'd run 5 miles.
Sunday - 15 miles. Took more effort than on Saturday, but still felt pretty good. The 20-30 mph wind sucked hardcore, but overall a pretty decent run.
Total - 72 miles
The biggest thing missing from last week were trail miles. With two long trail runs coming up, I need to get away from the indoor track and city streets as much as possible and get the trail legs going. Unfortunately, Mother Nature makes that a difficult endeavor this time of year. But, the temperature is supposed to be in the 50s and maybe even 60s for most of this week, and was in the 50s over the weekend, so massive melting is occurring. I plan on heading out for a trail run this afternoon and getting as many in as the weather allows for the next few months. I'm guessing today's run is going to be a snowy/muddy mess, but that's just part of the fun of trail running, right? Better than running in tiny circles, for sure.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
I'm Back
Hey, it's only been two months. Give me a break. Nothing really exciting happened anyway. I managed to exceed my 2010 mileage goal of 3,300 with just over a week left in the year. 2011 has gotten off to a slower start, thanks largely to a voluntary (and minor) surgical procedure that I underwent on New Year's Eve and resulted in taking the first 8 days of 2011 off. Once I started running again, it was low mileage for the first week to make sure everything as A-OK and then I ramped it up from there, hitting 70 miles for each of the last two weeks.
I guess the biggest news is that I seem to have settled on a race schedule for 2011. In fact, just today I registered for the Collegiate Peaks Trail Run 50 mile in Buena Vista, CO. This race wasn't even really on my radar until this past weekend when Black Hills 100 co-director and occasional running partner Ryan mentioned that he was probably going to do it along with two guys who are using it as a training run for the BH100 and asked if I wanted to tag along. The seed was planted in my head and festered from awhile before I gave in and registered (I held out for all of three days....such willpower). It's six weeks out from the Bighorn 50, which is my main goal race for the summer, so hopefully if I don't go too crazy I'll have some time to recover and still exorcise my Bighorn demons. I've been intrigued by the Colorado ultras (and admittedly intimidated by the high elevation) for a couple of years now and CPTR seems like a good place to test the waters. Ultimately, I couldn't pass up a running road trip to the Colorado Rockies.
Other than CPTR and Bighorn, I'm planning on running the Missoula Marathon for the 5th time (i.e., every year it has existed). And that's about it. I'll try and hit as many of the local Black Hills Trail Running Series races as I can (and am directing one of them, the Crow Peak Ascent on 7/31). And, of course, there's the big debut of the Black Hills 100, which I'm co-directing with Ryan and Jerry Dunn, on 6/25. Two 50s and a marathon in a two monthish span seems sufficient right now. I would like to run another 100 sometime, but don't think it's in the cards for this year. Maybe Bighorn or Leadville (if I overcome my altitude fear at CPTR) next summer...
I guess the biggest news is that I seem to have settled on a race schedule for 2011. In fact, just today I registered for the Collegiate Peaks Trail Run 50 mile in Buena Vista, CO. This race wasn't even really on my radar until this past weekend when Black Hills 100 co-director and occasional running partner Ryan mentioned that he was probably going to do it along with two guys who are using it as a training run for the BH100 and asked if I wanted to tag along. The seed was planted in my head and festered from awhile before I gave in and registered (I held out for all of three days....such willpower). It's six weeks out from the Bighorn 50, which is my main goal race for the summer, so hopefully if I don't go too crazy I'll have some time to recover and still exorcise my Bighorn demons. I've been intrigued by the Colorado ultras (and admittedly intimidated by the high elevation) for a couple of years now and CPTR seems like a good place to test the waters. Ultimately, I couldn't pass up a running road trip to the Colorado Rockies.
Other than CPTR and Bighorn, I'm planning on running the Missoula Marathon for the 5th time (i.e., every year it has existed). And that's about it. I'll try and hit as many of the local Black Hills Trail Running Series races as I can (and am directing one of them, the Crow Peak Ascent on 7/31). And, of course, there's the big debut of the Black Hills 100, which I'm co-directing with Ryan and Jerry Dunn, on 6/25. Two 50s and a marathon in a two monthish span seems sufficient right now. I would like to run another 100 sometime, but don't think it's in the cards for this year. Maybe Bighorn or Leadville (if I overcome my altitude fear at CPTR) next summer...
Monday, December 6, 2010
Just putting in miles
Nothing spectacular about last week, just getting the runs in and accumulating some mileage for a yet-to-be-determined goal race (although it's appearing more and more likely, for a variety of reasons, that the Bighorn 50 will be my "big" race of 2011...but a return to Lean Horse may also be in the cards).
Monday - Woke up. Looked outside. Looked cold. Checked temp. Negative windchill. Didn't feel all that inspired to run at the gym, so went back to bed. About a half hour later I hear the answering machine pick up a phone call saying school has been canceled. I hold out hope that the office will also be closed, but eventually accept the fact that I have to go to work. I waffled back and forth about whether to run at all, but finally forced myself to the gym after work for 6 miles on the track.
Tuesday - Another 6 track miles in the morning. Warmer temps are supposed to be coming, but they haven't arrived as of 5:00 AM. I tacked on another 6.4 miles at lunchtime running with my friend Jerry and his friend Bob. That run was outside and it was still pretty damn chilly, but much better than running in circles.
Wednesday - Ran outside and was determined to get in 10 miles, even though I really did not feel all that good. Legs were really heavy and the pace was pretty pathetic, but I did finish the 10.
Thursday - Another double, 6.2 in the morning and 5.4 in the afternoon.
Friday - Only had to work 6 hours, so worked through lunch and then ran a big 12.1 mile loop from the office around the backside of Lookout Mtn. and then back through Spearfish. It's a nice loop with some good variety of terrain (lots of hills in the first 7 miles) that I've only run twice ever, for some reason.
Saturday - This was one of those cruise control runs. I started running, my body took over and I flew through 8 fairly quick miles with very little effort. If every run was like this, I'd run 200 miles a week.
Sunday - I knew I wanted to run kinda long, but I was sitting at 60 miles for the week so knew in the back of my head that I only needed 10 to get to70. So I told myself I'd go at least that far and see how I felt. I ended up feeling pretty good (not as good as Saturday, but still good) and ultimately ran a big loop around Belle Fourche that totaled 16.2, so the necessary 10 plus a bonus 10K.
Total - 76.3 miles (biggest week since Lean Horse)
Monday - Woke up. Looked outside. Looked cold. Checked temp. Negative windchill. Didn't feel all that inspired to run at the gym, so went back to bed. About a half hour later I hear the answering machine pick up a phone call saying school has been canceled. I hold out hope that the office will also be closed, but eventually accept the fact that I have to go to work. I waffled back and forth about whether to run at all, but finally forced myself to the gym after work for 6 miles on the track.
Tuesday - Another 6 track miles in the morning. Warmer temps are supposed to be coming, but they haven't arrived as of 5:00 AM. I tacked on another 6.4 miles at lunchtime running with my friend Jerry and his friend Bob. That run was outside and it was still pretty damn chilly, but much better than running in circles.
Wednesday - Ran outside and was determined to get in 10 miles, even though I really did not feel all that good. Legs were really heavy and the pace was pretty pathetic, but I did finish the 10.
Thursday - Another double, 6.2 in the morning and 5.4 in the afternoon.
Friday - Only had to work 6 hours, so worked through lunch and then ran a big 12.1 mile loop from the office around the backside of Lookout Mtn. and then back through Spearfish. It's a nice loop with some good variety of terrain (lots of hills in the first 7 miles) that I've only run twice ever, for some reason.
Saturday - This was one of those cruise control runs. I started running, my body took over and I flew through 8 fairly quick miles with very little effort. If every run was like this, I'd run 200 miles a week.
Sunday - I knew I wanted to run kinda long, but I was sitting at 60 miles for the week so knew in the back of my head that I only needed 10 to get to70. So I told myself I'd go at least that far and see how I felt. I ended up feeling pretty good (not as good as Saturday, but still good) and ultimately ran a big loop around Belle Fourche that totaled 16.2, so the necessary 10 plus a bonus 10K.
Total - 76.3 miles (biggest week since Lean Horse)
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Running for pie
Hot on the heels of the first snow of the year came the first sub-zero temps, another dubious landmark that I'd rather not see each year, but is basically inevitable when you live in South Dakota. To top it off, it seems like the lower the temperature goes, the more the wind blows, which creates mind-numbing (literally) wind chills and results in me running in a bunch of circles on the indoor track at the gym. Ugh. You know it's getting bad when you get excited about the mercury breaking 20. In any case, enough bitching about the weather (well, not really, because I'll pretty much bitch about it for the next 5 or 6 months until it warms up and then I'll bitch about how it's too hot outside....it's a vicious cycle).
Monday - First run of the year on the indoor track. 7 miles (80.5 laps).
Tuesday - Even colder than Monday, so back to the track for another 10 miles (115 laps).
Wednesday - What sucks more than running 115 laps around the track. How about 161 (that comes out to 14 miles)? Actually, my legs felt REALLY good, which is why I ran so far, but I couldn't help but thinking how much awesomer (that's a word, trust me) the run would've been if it wasn't -15 outside and I could actually see some sights instead of the same four walls of the gym 161 times.
Thursday - Even though it was still cold enough that your spit might freeze solid before it even hit the ground, I ran outside. Why? Because I'll do damn near anything for the chance to win a pie. So I drove to Rapid City for the annual Turkey Trot and, thanks to the cold, there were more pies to give away than there were runners to win them, so I got one. Well worth it. Oh and I was reminded of why I haven't run a 5K in over a year....because they suck. I did run a 20:50, which is decent for me considering I haven't done speedwork since....uh....May?? I don't really remember. What I do know is that I'd much rather run far at a steady pace than short at a fast pace. I mean, if I run a marathon or ultra, I feel like hell afterward, but I also feel like I've freakin accomplished something. When I run a 5K, I still feel like hell and I've only added 3 miles to my training log. The cost/benefit analysis just doesn't work out. It's for that reason that I tacked on 3 miles of warmup/cooldown so I could at least claim 6 miles for the day.
Friday - I've always known that I'm not very good at doing math in my head, like trying to calculate splits near the end of a marathon. I found out on this day that I can't even do simple math. I headed out for a 10 mile loop (the temp had finally risen to a reasonable level) but got confused at some point and was somewhat surprised when I got home and my Garmin said 11 miles instead. Oh well, better to run too many than not enough.
Saturday - DOMS!! If you're not familiar, that stands for Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. It's a phenomenon where you put in a hard effort and feel fine the day after, but then 2 or 3 days after, you suddenly feel like crap. It happens a lot after a marathon, but I guess for me it happens after a 5K too (after all, my body is more adjusted to marathons by now). I set out to get my long run of 16 in, but immediately (like within one block) could tell that that was NOT in the cards. My legs were dead and sore in places that they haven't been sore in awhile (stupid 5K....but it was still worth it for the pie). So I ran an easy (albeit painful) 7 instead.
Sunday - Still felt a little of the DOMS, but better than Saturday so I made another attempt at 16. I made it through alright, although I was pretty damn glad when I got home that I hadn't set out for 17....or even 16.5.
Total - 70.2 miles
Monday - First run of the year on the indoor track. 7 miles (80.5 laps).
Tuesday - Even colder than Monday, so back to the track for another 10 miles (115 laps).
Wednesday - What sucks more than running 115 laps around the track. How about 161 (that comes out to 14 miles)? Actually, my legs felt REALLY good, which is why I ran so far, but I couldn't help but thinking how much awesomer (that's a word, trust me) the run would've been if it wasn't -15 outside and I could actually see some sights instead of the same four walls of the gym 161 times.
Thursday - Even though it was still cold enough that your spit might freeze solid before it even hit the ground, I ran outside. Why? Because I'll do damn near anything for the chance to win a pie. So I drove to Rapid City for the annual Turkey Trot and, thanks to the cold, there were more pies to give away than there were runners to win them, so I got one. Well worth it. Oh and I was reminded of why I haven't run a 5K in over a year....because they suck. I did run a 20:50, which is decent for me considering I haven't done speedwork since....uh....May?? I don't really remember. What I do know is that I'd much rather run far at a steady pace than short at a fast pace. I mean, if I run a marathon or ultra, I feel like hell afterward, but I also feel like I've freakin accomplished something. When I run a 5K, I still feel like hell and I've only added 3 miles to my training log. The cost/benefit analysis just doesn't work out. It's for that reason that I tacked on 3 miles of warmup/cooldown so I could at least claim 6 miles for the day.
Friday - I've always known that I'm not very good at doing math in my head, like trying to calculate splits near the end of a marathon. I found out on this day that I can't even do simple math. I headed out for a 10 mile loop (the temp had finally risen to a reasonable level) but got confused at some point and was somewhat surprised when I got home and my Garmin said 11 miles instead. Oh well, better to run too many than not enough.
Saturday - DOMS!! If you're not familiar, that stands for Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. It's a phenomenon where you put in a hard effort and feel fine the day after, but then 2 or 3 days after, you suddenly feel like crap. It happens a lot after a marathon, but I guess for me it happens after a 5K too (after all, my body is more adjusted to marathons by now). I set out to get my long run of 16 in, but immediately (like within one block) could tell that that was NOT in the cards. My legs were dead and sore in places that they haven't been sore in awhile (stupid 5K....but it was still worth it for the pie). So I ran an easy (albeit painful) 7 instead.
Sunday - Still felt a little of the DOMS, but better than Saturday so I made another attempt at 16. I made it through alright, although I was pretty damn glad when I got home that I hadn't set out for 17....or even 16.5.
Total - 70.2 miles
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