Eighty-nine has been a prevalent number for me the last couple of weeks. That's how many miles I ran each of the last two weeks and both of those weeks included runs on the Centennial Trail (Forest Service Trail #89). One of those runs was significantly longer than the other, but I'll get to that later.
The week started off on a downer. Monday afternoon I was running the trails on Lookout Mtn. and cruising down a nice section of trail through an oak stand. As I was barreling down the hill, my headphone chord got snagged on a branch that was sticking out partially across the trail. Of course, when the music stopped blaring in my ears, I stopped, thinking that the chord had merely been pulled free of my ipod shuffle, which was clipped the pocket of my shorts. Well. when I looked down, I noticed that the ipod was missing altogether; the branch had dislodged the chord from the ipod and the ipod from my shorts in one shot. I figured it would be easy enough to find a bright silver ipod (even though the shuffle is pretty tiny) amongst a bunch of brown grass and oak leaves, but I was wrong. Apparently, when it got ripped free of my shorts it also got sent flying. I spent a good 20 minutes searching for it, raking leaves around, walking a grid pattern...it was not where that it logically should have ended up. I mean, I know exactly the point on the trail where it was lost, but yet I could not find it. Finally, I gave up and continued down the trail. I did head back up Lookout on Friday afternoon hoping to search for it again, but a fresh skiff of snow that fell Thursday night was still holding strong in the shaded area where I lost it, so now it's both lost and lost and under some snow. My birthday's coming up in May, in case anyone is wondering what to get me.....an ipod with a heavy duty clip would be ideal.
Other than that, it was a decent week running-wise. Pretty typical week, really. A few doubles and a hard workout on Wednesday, which this week was 8x800 on the track. This workout always leaves me pretty wiped out for a couple of days afterward. I can run 30 miles and bounce back the next day just fine, but some fast intervals knocks me on my butt.
The long run this week was my last and, really, first big test before the Collegiate Peaks 50 in a couple of weeks. Ryan, Nathan and I met up in Sturgis and ran the first 29+ miles of the Black Hills 100 course to Dalton Lake. I was reminded just how tough the Centennial Trail is. There were a total of four good climbs on this route and they get harder as you go. I mean, obviously you get more tired as you go, but I honestly think that each successive climb is harder than the last, with the exception of the first and second. The first one is a pretty steep almost two mile long haul up some fresh timber harvest roads. Of course, since it occurs early in the run (starting at about mile 3), it's possible to run a good portion of it before power hiking near the top and then making a semi-controlled bombing run straight down the other side of the hill to the Alkali Creek trailhead.
The second climb starts a couple of miles later. This one is easier than the first merely because the trail switchbacks up the ridge instead of just heading straight up. Also, this is the section of the Centennial I've run the most times, so I know exactly what to expect and how to pace myself so that I can run the whole thing (I used to have to power hike some if it, which I guess is a good sign that I'm getting stronger). After that one, you drop straight down the hill to a creek bottom and after a little bit of nice, relatively flat single track running down in the gulch, the work begins. The third climb is a grind up rocky, loose shale that pretty much requires a good amount of power hiking. After that, another drop to the Elk Creek trailhead.
From that trailhead, there's some more nice, relatively flat running through the Elk Creek drainage, including five crossing of Elk Creek itself which, in late April, is approximately 33 degrees. Nothing like trying to run with numb feet. Luckily, there's some pleasant rolling trail after the creek crossings to get the feet warmed back up followed by a short uphill and then back down a bit again. And then it starts. The real climb out of the Elk Creek drainage begins and lasts for what seems like 10 miles (although it's probably more like three). It's a good uphill grind made all the harder by the fact that you can't really see what you're goal is...there's no hilltop to focus on as a finish point. You just keep huffing up the hill and every time you round a corner, there's more hill ahead. Of course, like I said, having legs with 20+ miles on them doesn't help matters much. Finally, you do top out on the ridge and then make another short climb before descending to Dalton Lake.
Overall, a good way to spend five and a half hours on a Sunday. I would've like to have been able to run a bit more of the uphills, but I was satisfied that I was able to run the flat and downhill sections fairly strong all the way through (that hasn't always been the case on past runs on the Centennial). I was also satisfied that Ryan remembered to leave both his vehicle and the keys at Dalton Lake the night before, because it was gonna be a long haul if we had to turn around and run back to Sturgis too.
The last big long run before Collegiate Peaks is in the books! Not sure if I'm tapering now or what. Guess I'll play that one by ear. Collegiate is, after all, a training run for Bighorn, but I probably will take it fairly easy the week leading up to the race. Don't want to drive all that way and come home with (another) DNF.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Slacking again
Oh man, I've been slacking again. Fortunately only as it pertains to blogging and not in the the running department. Things are moving right along as far as that's concerned. Rather than a day by day account of what I did the last few weeks, I'll just summarize.
As I think I've mentioned before, I've got my ultra training plan laid out in four week blocks, with the first two weeks of each block being high mileage (80+), the third week being moderate mileage (70-80) and the fourth being a cutback week (50-55). The latest block worked out almost perfectly in that regard with two weeks of 84-85 miles, a week in the mid-70s and then last week with 52. I've read numerous times that the rest days are really where you improve as a runner because it gives your body an opportunity to repair the damage you've inflicted upon it during training. I only take one rest day per four week block (the Monday of the cutback week), but I really did notice a difference during the cutback week itself. My legs felt fresh and I was running faster at an easy effort level than I normally do.
I felt so good, I decided to run a 4 mile road race the Saturday of that week, the Fools 4 Mile race put on by the Black Hills Runners Club. This is somewhat remarkable because I've recently (in the past couple of years) developed an aversion to short road races. As I began to delve deeper and deeper into the world of trail running and ultras (deeper and deeper into The Abyss, some might say), running a hard 5K or 10K on pavement just seemed less and less appealing. For one, it hurts. And I'm not really referring to the pounding of the pavement. I still do the majority of my training on pavement because it's just not logistically possible for me to get to a trail for every run, or even most runs. I'm referring to the physical pain of pushing that hard. Yes, there is physical pain involved with running for 30 or 50 or 100 miles, but it's different. At least after you've run an ultra, you have 30+ miles to show for it. After going through all that pain in a 5K, you've only got 3.1 miles to show for it. The cost/benefit value just isn't there for me anymore. But, since my legs were feeling good and I only had a 4 or 5 mile run planned for that day anyhow, I decided to run the Fools 4 Mile to see how the legs would respond. Turns out, they responded fairly well. I averaged 6:25 pace, faster than I've raced in awhile (although, like I said, I don't have many shorter races to compare to) and finished 3rd overall in a fairly small field (maybe 40-50 runners). For my effort, I got a $10 gift certificate to the local running shop. So, overall, a worthwhile experience (although I still don't have much desire to run another short road race anytime soon).
Despite hitting my weekly mileage targets, the one thing that's been missing thus far is some overly long long runs. Last year while using the same general plan while training for the Lean Horse 100, my longest long run was 40 miles. I don't plan on going that far this year since I'm only training for a 50 miler (two of em, actually), but I was hoping to get in a couple of 30 mile runs. Up until last week, I had only gone 25 miles once with a few 20 milers thrown in. So, last week I made it a goal to get in a 30 miler during the weekend. I was hoping to be able to do that on some trails, but the logistics of that just didn't work out due to kids' soccer games and the weather, so I ended up running 30 on mostly dirt roads. As usual, I started out with a run/walk ration of 10 minutes to 2 minutes and maintained that for the first 25 miles. At that point, I was feeling really, really good, so I just said to hell with it and ran the final 5 and was still feeling great when I got done. Best 30 mile run ever. Now I just need to get one of those done on some trails with significant elevation changes and I'll be set. I've been getting in a decent number of shorter (4-6 mile) trail runs and Ryan and I ran 20 on the Centennial a few weeks ago, but I really need to get something longer to prepare my body for being on the trail for several hours. Lucky for me, I'm planning on doing just that with Ryan and Nathan this weekend. We're hitting the first 30 miles of the Black Hills 100. After that it'll be time to taper a bit for Collegiate Peaks.
As I think I've mentioned before, I've got my ultra training plan laid out in four week blocks, with the first two weeks of each block being high mileage (80+), the third week being moderate mileage (70-80) and the fourth being a cutback week (50-55). The latest block worked out almost perfectly in that regard with two weeks of 84-85 miles, a week in the mid-70s and then last week with 52. I've read numerous times that the rest days are really where you improve as a runner because it gives your body an opportunity to repair the damage you've inflicted upon it during training. I only take one rest day per four week block (the Monday of the cutback week), but I really did notice a difference during the cutback week itself. My legs felt fresh and I was running faster at an easy effort level than I normally do.
I felt so good, I decided to run a 4 mile road race the Saturday of that week, the Fools 4 Mile race put on by the Black Hills Runners Club. This is somewhat remarkable because I've recently (in the past couple of years) developed an aversion to short road races. As I began to delve deeper and deeper into the world of trail running and ultras (deeper and deeper into The Abyss, some might say), running a hard 5K or 10K on pavement just seemed less and less appealing. For one, it hurts. And I'm not really referring to the pounding of the pavement. I still do the majority of my training on pavement because it's just not logistically possible for me to get to a trail for every run, or even most runs. I'm referring to the physical pain of pushing that hard. Yes, there is physical pain involved with running for 30 or 50 or 100 miles, but it's different. At least after you've run an ultra, you have 30+ miles to show for it. After going through all that pain in a 5K, you've only got 3.1 miles to show for it. The cost/benefit value just isn't there for me anymore. But, since my legs were feeling good and I only had a 4 or 5 mile run planned for that day anyhow, I decided to run the Fools 4 Mile to see how the legs would respond. Turns out, they responded fairly well. I averaged 6:25 pace, faster than I've raced in awhile (although, like I said, I don't have many shorter races to compare to) and finished 3rd overall in a fairly small field (maybe 40-50 runners). For my effort, I got a $10 gift certificate to the local running shop. So, overall, a worthwhile experience (although I still don't have much desire to run another short road race anytime soon).
Despite hitting my weekly mileage targets, the one thing that's been missing thus far is some overly long long runs. Last year while using the same general plan while training for the Lean Horse 100, my longest long run was 40 miles. I don't plan on going that far this year since I'm only training for a 50 miler (two of em, actually), but I was hoping to get in a couple of 30 mile runs. Up until last week, I had only gone 25 miles once with a few 20 milers thrown in. So, last week I made it a goal to get in a 30 miler during the weekend. I was hoping to be able to do that on some trails, but the logistics of that just didn't work out due to kids' soccer games and the weather, so I ended up running 30 on mostly dirt roads. As usual, I started out with a run/walk ration of 10 minutes to 2 minutes and maintained that for the first 25 miles. At that point, I was feeling really, really good, so I just said to hell with it and ran the final 5 and was still feeling great when I got done. Best 30 mile run ever. Now I just need to get one of those done on some trails with significant elevation changes and I'll be set. I've been getting in a decent number of shorter (4-6 mile) trail runs and Ryan and I ran 20 on the Centennial a few weeks ago, but I really need to get something longer to prepare my body for being on the trail for several hours. Lucky for me, I'm planning on doing just that with Ryan and Nathan this weekend. We're hitting the first 30 miles of the Black Hills 100. After that it'll be time to taper a bit for Collegiate Peaks.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Yup, Spring
I guess if it lasts for a week plus, it's safe to say that spring is here. Of course, there's still a significant chance that we'll get snow, and lots of it in a short amount of time, sometime in the next couple of months, but at least the weather has taken a distinct turn for the better. As a result, I was able to get out and hit some trails last week, which is something I desperately need to prepare for Collegiate Peaks and Bighorn.
Monday - 6.2 AM, 5 PM. First one was on roads, second one was on the Lookout Mtn. trails. Got to try out my new trail shoes, the Saucony Peregrine, for the first time. Felt good. Much more nimble than the Brooks Cascadias I've been wearing (and will continue to wear occasionally...they've still got a lot of miles in em). The trails were pretty muddy, but mostly free of snow and ice.
Tuesday - 8 AM, 5 PM. Same as yesterday basically. Still a lot of mud on Lookout, but it had dried some.
Wednesday - 10.1 with 8x800m intervals. I haven't done a true speed workout on the track since sometime last spring, probably in May. As such, I wasn't expecting much out of this one, so I was actually kind of surprised by how well it went. I was tired as hell by the end of the 8th interval, but I averaged somewhere around 3:10 for each one, which isn't much slower than what I ran these in when I was training specifically for marathons.
Thursday - 5 AM, 4 PM. Whoa. My legs were not happy about that track workout. Had no energy whatsoever in the morning. Felt a little better in the afternoon, but still had dead legs. Kept to the roads to keep the effort as easy as possible.
Friday - 6.5. Just an easy recovery run in the morning.
Saturday - 15. Didn't get out the door until after lunch and, even though I didn't really eat lunch but instead just had a light snack, it wasn't sitting all that well, so I had to deal with a side stitch for awhile. Eventually worked through it and started feeling better. Overall didn't go too bad, although I got pretty hot a few times when I had the wind at my back. This is actually pretty pathetic because it was all of 60 degrees and I was bitching about the heat. I would never make it at Badwater. And, come August, I'll be praying for 60.
Sunday - 19.7. Met Ryan in Sturgis and we ran an out and back (kind of) on the Centennial. We had planned on going somewhere between 20 and 25, but we hit knee deep snow after about 10.7 miles. It was the kind of snow that was almost solid enough to walk on, and in fact would support you for a couple of steps, but then you broke through to your knee (and scraped the hell outta your shin in the process). So, we turned back and then on the return leg decided to explore a different trail we hadn't been on before. It was actually a pretty good trail but it ended up cutting a couple of miles off of the run. I wasn't really complaining at the time (nor am I now) since my legs were feeling the effects of an afternoon 15 the day before combined with an early morning 19+. Still felt okay, just tired (which is kind of the point). Good day on the trails overall.
Total - 84.5. Like I said last week, almost identical mileage-wise, but I did get more trail miles in.
Back to back weeks in the mid-80s, which is pretty much exactly where I wanted to be. I'll be down into the 70s this week before a bigger cutback next week and then I'll start the whole cycle over again. Hopefully, this near perfect running weather holds on for the next, oh.....forever. One can dream...
Monday - 6.2 AM, 5 PM. First one was on roads, second one was on the Lookout Mtn. trails. Got to try out my new trail shoes, the Saucony Peregrine, for the first time. Felt good. Much more nimble than the Brooks Cascadias I've been wearing (and will continue to wear occasionally...they've still got a lot of miles in em). The trails were pretty muddy, but mostly free of snow and ice.
Tuesday - 8 AM, 5 PM. Same as yesterday basically. Still a lot of mud on Lookout, but it had dried some.
Wednesday - 10.1 with 8x800m intervals. I haven't done a true speed workout on the track since sometime last spring, probably in May. As such, I wasn't expecting much out of this one, so I was actually kind of surprised by how well it went. I was tired as hell by the end of the 8th interval, but I averaged somewhere around 3:10 for each one, which isn't much slower than what I ran these in when I was training specifically for marathons.
Thursday - 5 AM, 4 PM. Whoa. My legs were not happy about that track workout. Had no energy whatsoever in the morning. Felt a little better in the afternoon, but still had dead legs. Kept to the roads to keep the effort as easy as possible.
Friday - 6.5. Just an easy recovery run in the morning.
Saturday - 15. Didn't get out the door until after lunch and, even though I didn't really eat lunch but instead just had a light snack, it wasn't sitting all that well, so I had to deal with a side stitch for awhile. Eventually worked through it and started feeling better. Overall didn't go too bad, although I got pretty hot a few times when I had the wind at my back. This is actually pretty pathetic because it was all of 60 degrees and I was bitching about the heat. I would never make it at Badwater. And, come August, I'll be praying for 60.
Sunday - 19.7. Met Ryan in Sturgis and we ran an out and back (kind of) on the Centennial. We had planned on going somewhere between 20 and 25, but we hit knee deep snow after about 10.7 miles. It was the kind of snow that was almost solid enough to walk on, and in fact would support you for a couple of steps, but then you broke through to your knee (and scraped the hell outta your shin in the process). So, we turned back and then on the return leg decided to explore a different trail we hadn't been on before. It was actually a pretty good trail but it ended up cutting a couple of miles off of the run. I wasn't really complaining at the time (nor am I now) since my legs were feeling the effects of an afternoon 15 the day before combined with an early morning 19+. Still felt okay, just tired (which is kind of the point). Good day on the trails overall.
Total - 84.5. Like I said last week, almost identical mileage-wise, but I did get more trail miles in.
Back to back weeks in the mid-80s, which is pretty much exactly where I wanted to be. I'll be down into the 70s this week before a bigger cutback next week and then I'll start the whole cycle over again. Hopefully, this near perfect running weather holds on for the next, oh.....forever. One can dream...
Monday, March 14, 2011
Spring? For real?
A week that started out very winter-like ended in a spring-like fashion with the forecast for more mild temps ahead. Is spring really here? Probably too early to make that declaration quite yet seeing as how we often get hammered with a March or April (or even May) blizzard, but for now things are looking pretty good. The snow is pretty much gone from the lower elevations (aside from the huge piles that accumulated over a winter's worth of snow removal) and some of the lower trails are clearing up and becoming runnable. Hopefully, the trend continues.
Monday - 6 miles AM, 4 PM. Negative windchills in the morning sent me to the indoor track, something I despise normally but even more so once March arrives. It "warmed" up to 20 or so during they day, so I at least got outside for the afternoon run.
Tuesday - 8.2 AM, 4 PM. Still fairly cold, but better than the day before, so both runs were outside.
Wednesday - 10.1 with 6 at marathon pace. A little windy, but definitely warmer. Ran a hilly loop, so the first few miles of MP were a little rough, but I finished strong running (mostly) downhill with the wind at my back. For some reason, my quads took a real beating on this run. Not sure why...I've run this loop at MP (or faster) several times before.
Thursday - 6.6 AM, 4 PM. The temp continues to trend upward.
Friday - 6 miles. It was fairly warm in the afternoon, 40s and 50s, but the wind was also blowing 30 mph+. I got the run done early in the morning before the wind got too bad.
Saturday - 25.1 miles. Longest run since Lean Horse. With less than two months before Collegiate Peaks, it was high time I got in some miles. As I did last year while I was training for Lean Horse, I did a run/walk of 10 minutes/2 minutes. This isn't so much because I'm unable to run straight through for 25 miles, but more to give my body practice in incorporating walk breaks and walking at a fast pace, plus it gives me a good opportunity to eat and drink on a regular basis (if I'm just running, I tend to forget and consequently get dehydrated and low on calories). In any case, the run went great....seemed like I got stronger the further I went. Even with the walk breaks I still averaged 9:32 miles, so it's not like I was totally sandbagging it.
Sunday - 10.2 miles. My legs felt surprisingly fresh after the long run on Saturday. I didn't push the pace on this one, but I didn't really purposefully hold back either...I just took what came, which ended up being 8:17 pace overall. I noticed last year during Lean Horse training that my legs tend to feel pretty damn good the day after a really long run....in fact I ran a 10.4 mile race last year at sub-7:00 pace the day after a very hard 30 miler. One of those weird things you discover about your body when you start ultra training.
Total - 84.2 miles - first time over 80 in a very long time
This next week will look very similar mileage-wise, although I'm hoping to get in many more trail miles (of course, it's not hard to exceed the zero from last week). With the snow receding, I'll be hitting the trails as much as possible, hopefully including the longer run this weekend. Running long on roads is great and all, but nothing really prepares you for running long in the mountains except actually running long in the mountains. Crazy how that works...
Monday - 6 miles AM, 4 PM. Negative windchills in the morning sent me to the indoor track, something I despise normally but even more so once March arrives. It "warmed" up to 20 or so during they day, so I at least got outside for the afternoon run.
Tuesday - 8.2 AM, 4 PM. Still fairly cold, but better than the day before, so both runs were outside.
Wednesday - 10.1 with 6 at marathon pace. A little windy, but definitely warmer. Ran a hilly loop, so the first few miles of MP were a little rough, but I finished strong running (mostly) downhill with the wind at my back. For some reason, my quads took a real beating on this run. Not sure why...I've run this loop at MP (or faster) several times before.
Thursday - 6.6 AM, 4 PM. The temp continues to trend upward.
Friday - 6 miles. It was fairly warm in the afternoon, 40s and 50s, but the wind was also blowing 30 mph+. I got the run done early in the morning before the wind got too bad.
Saturday - 25.1 miles. Longest run since Lean Horse. With less than two months before Collegiate Peaks, it was high time I got in some miles. As I did last year while I was training for Lean Horse, I did a run/walk of 10 minutes/2 minutes. This isn't so much because I'm unable to run straight through for 25 miles, but more to give my body practice in incorporating walk breaks and walking at a fast pace, plus it gives me a good opportunity to eat and drink on a regular basis (if I'm just running, I tend to forget and consequently get dehydrated and low on calories). In any case, the run went great....seemed like I got stronger the further I went. Even with the walk breaks I still averaged 9:32 miles, so it's not like I was totally sandbagging it.
Sunday - 10.2 miles. My legs felt surprisingly fresh after the long run on Saturday. I didn't push the pace on this one, but I didn't really purposefully hold back either...I just took what came, which ended up being 8:17 pace overall. I noticed last year during Lean Horse training that my legs tend to feel pretty damn good the day after a really long run....in fact I ran a 10.4 mile race last year at sub-7:00 pace the day after a very hard 30 miler. One of those weird things you discover about your body when you start ultra training.
Total - 84.2 miles - first time over 80 in a very long time
This next week will look very similar mileage-wise, although I'm hoping to get in many more trail miles (of course, it's not hard to exceed the zero from last week). With the snow receding, I'll be hitting the trails as much as possible, hopefully including the longer run this weekend. Running long on roads is great and all, but nothing really prepares you for running long in the mountains except actually running long in the mountains. Crazy how that works...
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Cutback
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.
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 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.
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